Business culture in Italy

Business culture in Italy

When it is necessary business people in Italy work much time adapting life for circumstances. Heads come to work the first and go home back the last.

In Italy any company with number of employees more than 15 should have working committee which has the right to supervise investment plans and working conditions.

According to statistic 40 % of workers in Italy consist in the trade unions. The largest trade unions are Christian-democratic, communistic and social-democratic, but there are also smaller trade unions and working councils which organize strikes in public sector. About 25 % of a labor market in Italy aren’t regulated.

“The heart of success of the Italian companies are using of offered possibilities and risk, instead of planning”. They reveal and use market niches without any analysis of long-term prospects. It means that to reach the long-term agreement is not easy. In Italy there is a prejudice against long-term strategy. Italians look for reliable short-term profit.

The key of leadership is ability to make decisions in the majority of the countries. In Italy its main sign is the power. The head of a company to choice somebody, rely on them and trust them. Exactly these workers have a power. The manager in Italy is a person with whom the head of a company can work.

The management style is characterized by authoritativeness as the main model in the Italian economy is the family firm. Decisions are accepted by the senior management and are transferred for execution to the low management.

All policy and all decisions are defined only by the boss. As interest in the team is expected from him, he should be attractive, charismatic and creative person. But he should be resistant and reliable. The contract doesn’t influence on loyalty of workers because they support the boss. As a whole workers don’t trust to authoritativeness and challenge any model of work with which they aren’t agree.

The most important elements of leadership in Italy are execution and supervision. It is not enough instructions and procedures. You should achieve unanimity and agreement. Persuasiveness, persistence are important. They will bring abilities, a creative approach and a hard work. But a personal participation is important for that.

Starting to work with the Italian company it is necessary to study the structure of leadership in it but the official hierarchy can not reflect the true system of relations and decision-making. The clans based on the relationship, the marriage unions or wealth can keep the power in their hands. The best way to find out who is important to join into system, to be socialized and always to show your human side. It is vital to be kind and flexible and to do pleasant to people.

Rigidity, coldness and bureaucracy are accepted very badly, as well as everything that doing not with the heart. Understanding that everybody has weaknesses means that the Italian manager tries not to read moral sermons. Though he can insist on concentrating on the main business. He understands that everyone differ from each other every person can have different interest.

For the owner it is important to have ability to draw a clear line between creation of an attractive image and availability, on the one hand, and excessive proximity with the team with another hand. The head should give powers to people to whom he trusts but not in the form of statement of formal tasks. Practice of certification and the description of tasks using seldom. The major controllable parameters are cash movement, commodity turnover and gross profit.

The task of the manager is to show charm to achieve aspiration of workers to implementation of the project and the persistence and competence to finish it. The project is doomed to a failure without it. Procedures and the schedule of work don’t mean anything.

The multinational companies with the managers who have got international education run business according to the international procedures. In family business negotiations are conducted on much more personal basis. The hierarchy base on the personal unions. The Italian managers usually neglect procedures and rules relying on competence of workers and on direct personal control of performance the tasks.

Strategic planning is a rarity in the Italian companies. As a rule director know what they want and know how to reach it. The plan can be not exist. But if it is anybody doesn’t know about it, excluding the staff.  To reveal possibilities and to use them are the main points for the Italian manager.

Personal trust is very important for relations which exist only in profitable period of time. That is why it is necessary to aspire to creation of close personal contacts. Managers of the foreign companies should know how to do it.

It is clear that delegation of power to departments or officially appointed subordinates is improbable in such personalized system of management. Powers are transferred to representatives and organizational structure doesn’t include them. Feedback and estimates are especially personal.  The personal criticism is possible only in such environment. It is very difficult to estimate anybody in Italian firms. Results of work are estimated on a contribution to commodity turnover, movement of cash and profit.

Italians can do intuitive decisions. Initial decisions are accepted very quickly but after that they are discussed and can be changed. A part of decision-making process are a personal contact and personal feelings.

Foreign managers should know that decision-making only on the basis of figures and the business plan it is not the Italian style. A set of political, economic and personal factors plays a very important role in decision-making of Italian managers.

Teams are headed by the person is chosen on the basis of a seniority or experience. He should be respectable of all members of collective.

The hierarchy is very important in the team. Sometimes for new, young leader is very difficult to have respect of his employment. In this case the family model plays important role. The older members of the team offer to the new leader any useful advices. But sometimes it’s not happen. And conflict can be arising among the members.  One or two older colleagues can start to do everything to harmful a new leader. In this case there is only one way how to solve this problem. The leader should ask this people to find a new place of work.

Usually the members of collective like to work together. Hours of work aren’t fixed and activity isn’t regulated as it reduces motivation. Each member of team response to the maintenance of good relations with colleagues. It is important to show enthusiasm in work and to be sensitive to each other, sociable with colleagues, to have good sense of humor and to develop the benevolent relations. Paramount value is given to fidelity to collective.

It is possible to understand that good relationship is very important for motivation of work in team, especially in the south of Italy.  Fidelity to team and appeals to feelings have a great value. If you as the manager can to offer the purpose promoting success of collective and will help to members to reach them the personal purposes at the same time you will succeed.

In the Italian management smoothness of speech is very important. Managers are usually eloquent. At authoritativeness style the tone of their speech is usually friendly and statements can be very evasive. Therefore foreigners very often misinterpret nuances of conversation. Italians also think that the speech of the British and American partners is rough and excessively rectilinear.

Italians as a whole aren’t inclined to confrontation. In the same time they can object on everything which was told if you to start to criticize them directly. Especially they don’t like charges about inconstancy and disorganization.

In the north of the country feedback can be written, but in the south it will be oral. A key condition of successful feedback is ability to be interested in personal feelings and to be able to say about them. Therefore personal contacts are extremely important when there are any disagreements.

Italians are strong in oral exchange of information.  At communication with the Italian partner it is much better to use phone, than paper.

Italians are chatterers. In their speech there is a lot of rhetoric and ideas, but much less the facts. They can be also very energetic and frank and it can seem roughness or even unwillingness to continue conversation. They observe the maximum politeness in refusal.

Italians often use gesticulation. They can use strong emotional language and to be very figurative in expression of the feelings. For underlining of the positive moments they use words as «undoubtedly»,  «fantastic» and «absolute». Italians very often apologize. It is an important component of courtesy.

For success of personal contact with Italians in a business situation it is important to prove yourself as the personality. It is necessary to be sympathetic, to smile and show interest. When the relations are already established, the help to people in the solution of their problems and the story about the difficulties are appreciated. Ask the questions to show your attention and respond on personal information. In private life try to be closer to people.

Italians prefer to deal with people whom they know. They are more opened to business contacts than Frenchmen, but it is necessary for them, that the person with whom they meet for the first time was recommended by the client, embassy or the partners. The form of primary contact can be the official letter, but it should be accompanied by phone call and personal meeting.

The Italian heads especially in family firms usually don’t know foreign languages. That is why Italian managers usually use service of translator.

In Italy holidays are very important. During the period from the middle of July till the end of August all activity fades in the country.

Business hours in the North and the South of Italy differ from each other. In the north: from 8:30 till 12:45 and from 15:00 till 18:00 or 18:30, from Monday to Friday. In the Central and the Southern Italy: from 8:30 till 12:45 and from 16:30 or 17:00 till 19:30 or 20:00. Many organizations work on Saturdays from 8:30 till 12:45.

Your clothes should be conservative, but stylish, shoes should be a high quality. The elegant clothes are for Italians a sign of business success. Even the daily suit should be fashionable and smart.

Cards in Italy are printed by an accurate black font on a white background.  The person is more important when the card has little information.

It is accepted to make small gifts to all participants of the negotiations.  Therefore take care of inexpensive corporate souvenirs: handles, silver charms, daily logs or calculators.

Italians give attention to a small talk. They will ask you about a family and education.  It is a polite way of clarification of your roots and confirmation that you are interested in business because have public duties.

The opening speech on presentations in Italy usually is during about 30 minutes and after it there is a time for questions and discussion. Listeners welcome active and even rigid advertizing of ideas and products. The success of presentation depends on eloquence and qualities of the presented materials. At the beginning of performance it is necessary to use official language but later it is possible to use informal speech. Films and photos are welcomed. The look in eyes is necessary and rate of your speech should be brisk.

Italy is society where the great value is given to formalities. Italians have two forms of a personal pronoun: official “you” (Lei) and informal “you” (tu). While to you won’t suggest addressing by name use official Lei. It isn’t concern of children, teenagers and youth.