What's working

I like to start a coaching partnership with a first session that focuses on "what's working". People are always happy to talk about their problems and weakness and all the things they think they "should" do. Fine, I say, we can do that later, but for the moment lets package them up and store them under the chair and look at what's working instead. We so easily get sucked into the past (and guilt, remorse or feelings of revenge) or the future (anxiety, worry, tension) and forget that right now we really can't do much about either -- so why not just focus on what we can do now instead.

Anyway, an email arrived today with a 90 page research study full of little jewels on Italians as global managers. Of course, it started by outlining the gaps, with quotes from Italian managers to back them up. But right now I would like to share "what works":

1. The capability to innovate through using different thought systems to understand a problem and creating alternative options.

2. The (even amazing) capability to respond and manage emergency situations.

3. Sensibility to factors that involve context.

4. Capability to manage complexity and expand perspectives.

Wow, I am impressed. This is a great place to be! Ok, so Italians may have some gaps on the administration and communication side and tend to elaborate and discuss while postponing action, but, the things that work are "formidabile"! As the world and its work becomes more complex and interconnected, these natural ways of being and working, could be leveraged to make Italian managers world leaders.


a domani,
E

Whose gender gap?

This post will get the comments rolling.

Sexism

The 2007 Gender Gap list by the World Economic Forum put Italy at the bottom of the European heap and way down at number 84 on a world list of 128 countries.This is the country of veline and vallette and very, very few women in politics.

Although actually my most recent encounter with male assumptions about what women can and cannot do, came from a Brit living in the US. His assumptions about Italian males, brought him to assume that I, a woman, would have difficulties working as a coach with a group of males in a business performance area. So does that mean that this job should, by fault, go to a man?

And who is being sexist here?

a domani,
E

Free to fail

I happened to have a wander on the US Embassy site while making an appointment for a passport renewal (a new addition to security over on via Veneto) and found Ambassador Spogli's July 4 speech to those lucky hundreds who enjoyed the gardens of Villa Taverna for the occasion. It is in Italian -- I would assume very few of the Italians present could understand English -- but I will share it with you anyway (click here).
because it is a good read. THe theme I liked was that of building on your failures and he opens with the story of the AMerican revolution as beginning with a defeat and becoming a success through perserverance. The lesson is that, Libertà non vuol dire libertà di riuscire, ma libertà di tentare, "Liberty doesn't mean the liberty to succeed but the liberty to try, then try and try again."

In his travels around Italy over the past three years, he has found an archipelago of outstanding centers of excellence in many sectors of the economy, but he also found that these islands have difficulty communicating with each other across the traditional channels available in order to forge synergies. Italy, he understands, is a country that is very tied to its traditions and therefore resources tend to flow through pre-established channels. The rigid system that exists today is due, in part, by the fact that a business failure is punished by a sort of social emargination that leads to the impossibility to access new capital for a new project.

So his parting words to Italy were to give young people the possibility to try, and to fail, and then to try again. Quoting Winston Churchill who said, "Success means passing from one failure to another without losing enthusiasm." Italian young people, he then noted, are too afraid of the consequences of their eventual mistakes. "We have to limit these consequences so that young people can continue to dream and look towards the future with enthusiasm. This is the energy that will take Italy into the future."

An applause from me, mother of two young men poised to enter that rigid, punitive system where fear of failing often stifles the desire to try. Then, of course, all this talk of rigidity is irrelevant if you walk into the family business where you are nurtured and can try and fail and try and fail and then have a huge success. Look at Lapo Agnelli. He will find his way, contribute to FIAT's success, and will be stronger for all his failures.

a domani,
E

Coffee time

Time has slipped by, but I am here. Finishing off with workers banging around and making dust, lots of traveling about, guests and such.

I have a page from the Repubblica newspaper business and finance section from a couple of weeks ago sitting by my computer just waiting its turn for a blog post. So here it goes.

There is a big portrait design of Howard Schultz in the center, and yes we are going to talk yet again about Starbucks (see here and here for previous discussion).

Seems that things haven't been going so well for Starbucks in the past few years and Howard is back to shape up the company by going abroad -- 43 countries with over 4500 locations to be exact, but not even one in Italy. There is a new deal for over 150 new shops in airports and train stations across England, France and Germany in the next three years, but none in Italy. There are even 71 shops to the South in Greece and another 39 to the north in Switzerland, but none in Italy.

Of course it is easy to say that importing caffè to Italy would be a scary prospect for any company, even Starbucks, and competing with Italian coffee culture, that has its roots back in the 18th century, a futile exercise. But after all we know about the difficulties of doing business in Italy, failed joint ventures, long lead times and such, maybe it is just another Air France story.

Or is Howard just biding his time, closing in from the north and south and waiting for his golden moment, before pouncing on his prey.

Starbuck's success in Italy would certainly crown his successful career!

a domani ( and yes, I am back),
E

Doing business

If you think that doing business in Italy is not an easy affair, you are right. I happened on a site called "Doing Business" that "provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 178 countries and selected cities at the subnational and regional level"and thought I would share the page on Italy.

Overall Italy currently ranks number 53 for "Ease of doing business", slipping three places from last year. The sub-areas that slipped positions the most this year include: ease in trading across borders, getting credit and starting a business. Ranked n. 1 overall was Singapore, followed by New Zealand and the U.S.. Italy is tucked in between Botswana (n. 51), Mongolia (n. 52) and "St Vincent and the Grenadines" (n. 54).

Without getting into the details (you can just "click" above, if the subject is of interest), it is enough to say that it was no surprise to find that "time" (sometimes twice as many days) and "costs" (up to 3 or even 4 times the OECD average for some procedures) stood out as the culprits.

Oh well, in the meantime, I'm picking up coaching clients worldwide via Skype and phone -- one way to avoid it all is to move up and out into cyberspace! Not many folk out there taking on the daunting task of Doing Business in Italy...

a domani,
E

A match unmade in heaven

Will Air France take over Alitalia in the end? Deadlines come and go, negotiations and posturing continue, and the final answer is still to see.

Italy's premier financial newspaper, Il Sole 24 ore, carried an interesting article yesterday that looked back to Alitalia's failed marriage to KLM over ten years ago for some insights into today's venture. It seems that, with hindsight, the numbers didn't tell the whole story. Just as the joint venture was taking form after a two-year trial period, the two companies put together a pre-nuptial agreement regarding the soft-side of their future life together -- the cross-cultural differences that needed to be addressed.

Alitalia managers described KLM with terms such as: "decentralized, planning, methodical approach, rigid, arrogant and agressive, propensity towards partnership, English-speaking." In addition, they were accused of eating dinner too early.
KLM managers described Alitalia with terms such as: "strongly centralized, priority attention paid to relationships, non-English speaking. Management is chaotic and not structured. THey enjoy life too much and excessively use cell phones during meetings."

THe match went ahead in any case, with the Italians reducing their cell phone activity and the Dutch eating later in the evening. The forces of the market were too strong and they needed to stay together to fend off surrounding sharks. The marriage though only lasted a year, finally spliting over the question of Milan's international airport, Malpensa. KLM had invested heavily in its development as a hub only to see growth in air-traffic blocked by government intervention following protests by Milan's local government and competing airlines. KLM (as AT&T and other multinations since them) was scared off by "those untrustworthy Italians" and the high level of uncertainty around the future of any agreement.

Will the French be patient enough to see this one through? Can they stand the uncertainty and ambiguity? Travel the complex and unfathomable route to a long-term relationship while patiently waiting for their counterpart to kindly finish his cell-phone conversation?

Un chappeau if the do!
We will have to wait (and wait) to see...although some real deadlines are coming up.

a domani,
E

Flexi time

While visiting friends and family, I discovered the obvious -- the US labor force is more flexible than its European counterpart and new technology has made it even more so. Everyone is on-ramping after off-ramping, working full or part time from home, job sharing and mixing odd skills together to explore new horizons in creative ways.

One friend has on-ramped to a full time VP position that includes a daily commute after many years of job-sharing an executive position with a colleague: 2.5 days / week plus a conference call or two. It worked for years and they both moved up the totem pole in the process.

Another friend is on-ramping into the creative art world after years of part time commercial art and being a stay at home mom. Our old group of college friends gathered for an opening with one of her works -- Brava! She is setting up a studio at home to start giving art lessons too.

A sister works from home as an editor, popping into the office once a month or so.

Another sister set up a business from her home.

The sister of a friend moved from Maine to Oregon and kept her job! By her choice she works a twenty hour / week schedule online as she keeps an eye on toddlers.

The other sister of the same friend makes money off a website and the friend herself works for a large pharmaceutical company, three days from home and two in the office (over an hour's commute) while her husband works four days a week from home in IT and checks into the local office only on Fridays.

The husband of yet another friend works most days from home, dropping by the office every so often for meetings. Then again, he travels a lot too.

Another friend has managed to keep a three day / week schedule as a doctor at a large medical center to be able to raise her children as a single mom.

My husband (a libero professionista) even wrote that he worked all day Saturday so that he can be free to pick me up from the airport on Monday.

The world of work is changing -- but at a much faster rate in the US. All those cumbersome labor laws and contracts based on categories of workers make this flexibility a dream for us. There is no way we could ever sit down with a boss and work out an individualized and mutually beneficial arrangement. It would have to fit into a pre-ordained state-dictated category of salary, obligations and benefits.

But as is true of everything Italian, there is secret route to flexibility -- the family business. It seems to me that this is the real reason there are few big businesses and a multitude of small and medium sized family-owned and run enterprises. Whatever stays in the family eludes the crippling inflexibility of outside forces. Your Dad would certainly let you attend your son's (and his grandson's) school play, increase and decrease hours as needed over the years -- while programing your growth in the company and prepping you for its management.

Ah yes, where there is a will, there is a way.

a dopo-domani from Rome,
Elizabeth

Mission impossible

Well, I did it. The forms have arrived, to be properly completed by our idraulico di fiducia (or family plumber), stamped, signed and returned. Then we will receive a mysterious phone call to set up a time for its arrival -- the Contatore (or gas meter) for a small apartment we are renovating to re-rent or sell. The saga of the gas line is long and involved with a bit of intrigue, insurmontable problems, heart-stopping miracles and finally an end in sight.

I got to play an important role in this play, "the ENI connection" with the mission impossible of getting a contatore hooked up once the line had been installed. For my coaching certification, I had participated in a "power tools" class on "game vs. significance" so I thought I would try this tool on myself and invent a game to keep me from getting frustrated and angry (and placing lots of "significance" on the whole thing).

I dutifully signed the "contract proposal" that had arrived by post and sent it off with a 249 euro payment before calling the 800 number as instructed.

call n. 1: "your contract proposal is not registered." She rummaged around, while I stayed on hold answering emails, before throwing up her hands and asking me to call back later -- the computer terminal was down.

call n. 2: very polite and helpful, listened to my story, and discovered that the proposed work had already been executed (without our approval and prior payment as required), but to make a request for the contatore she would need a PDR number (punto di riferimento). After further discussion about where I might find that number, I said I would call back.

Then the game started: how many calls would it take to make it happen? Every call was a point and if I get to 10, I will treat myself to an extravagant massage. 8, a lunch out with a friend, 6, leisurely coffee after the pool and so. Now I could enjoy the calls -- almost hoping they wouldn't end!

call. n. 3: to the head of the workmen to ask him to check for a little tag at the end of the gas line in the little box with ten numbers (the PDR) and call me back:

call n. 4: I called him back -- oops, so sorry but he had forgotten, tomorrow

call n. 5: There is a little yellow tag, but it only has six numbers -- a mystery. I take down the numbers anyway.

call n. 6: (wow -- a leisurely coffee earned!): "The numbers I read off were clearly NOT the PDR and she COULD NOT place the request for the contatore without these numbers."

so I got in the car -- 55 minutes of traffic(up the Cassia)and four flights later, all I could find was a yellow tag with six numbers. But I learned that NO ONE in the ENTIRE building had managed to get a contatore, although the gas line was clearly there. I was in good company and going for the lunch.

call. n. 7: to the building administratore -- maybe she would know something about the PDR, she had even been present the day the gas line was brought up to our apartment. I left a message.

call n 8: I left another message

call n. 9: I left a third message.

But I got a call back from her secretary who took notes and very efficiently called back later with a 20 number and letter sequence -- clearly not the ten number PDR but I thanked her anyway.

call n. 10: One last try to the ENI 800 number. The woman was kind and listened carefully to my story. Then she opened up our file and Voilà -- there was the PDR. Turns out it had always been there, for any of the previous diligent call center employees to uncover. She filled out the contatore request and here we are, happily filling out forms with lots of stamps and signatures.

Mission accomplished (or almost) and to top it off -- I get to have an extravagant massage!

What's the lesson to all this -- with a little pazienza and just enough calls, someone will figure it out.

a domani,
E

Pasta + cappuccino = joint venture

We had a lovely lunch at Lo Scoglio on the beach in Sabaudia today, just an hour's drive south from Rome. A family from England sat at the table next to ours and we got to talking. She is on assignment from her company in England to set up a joint venture with an Italian company based in Rome while her husband stayed back in England with their two children. She commutes back most weekends while he comes down with the kids once a month. A Grandmother helps out.

We shuddered (along with the Italian couple on the other side) as they proceeded to order: plain pasta with tomato sauce, french fries, coke and two cappuccino. My husband tried to intervene to help with the menu, but they would hear nothing about fish, clams and such. The waiter said that this was normal for the British and the Germans to whom he prefers the Russians who blindly order the most expensive item and champagne.

As we waited for our orders, I asked how working in Italy had been so far. She replied that, "We are a few months behind the roll out schedule," and that it had been "more complex than anticipated." Sounds familiar. But, once they had basically excluded the Italian management from the picture, things are moving along quite nicely.

Hmmmm. I thought to myself, I wonder how successful this venture will be once the Brits have gone home and left ongoing management to the Italian company that had no say in the start-up process.

We exchanged cards when I told her about cross-cultural coaching and afterwards I considered how I would have worked with this prototype client -- a perfect example of someone who would have certainly had a less stressful and more successful experience living and working abroad with a cross-cultural coach as a partner. Maybe she would have even dared to take the family along for the year if she had been able to count on support and guidance.

I am inspired for this new profession and the potential for helping people live and work abroad at a higher and more conscious level. Need to hurry up with classes for certification and hit the road.

a domani,
E

Surprisingly complicated

I have been doing some research on obstacles to foreign investment in Italy for an article I am preparing on cross-cultural challenges to doing business in Italy. This involved skimming a 163 document prepared by the commercial department of the US Embassy the other day. The opening paragraph introduced the Italian market as "surprisingly" complicated. Why "surprisingly"? As the sixth most important trade economy in the world and an active historic member of Western Europe, one would imagine it to be in line with its peers. I had not even started the document and already Italy stood out as being particolare.

Obstacles to foreign investment include: disparities between the North and the South in terms of distribution systems, a predominance of family-owned small and medium sized businesses (involving high distribution costs), a complex regulatory environment, a level of transparency that is not in line with other highly developed economies, uneven infastructure (guess where), low investment levels in R&D compared to other industrialized countries, lax enforcement of intellectual property laws and corporate governance that could be more "stringent".

Then there is, of course, inefficient delivery of public services (we all experience that), a slow judicial system (we all try to avoid this one), high corporate taxes, low labor flexibility with high labor taxes and last, but not least, bureaucratic red tape. Not to mention the unmentionble, corruption or bribes to tax officials when dealing with government procurement projects.

And everything has to be translated into Italian.

Italians are also very patriotic as we have seen with the Alitalia question, AT&T and a recent attempt by a Spanish company to enter into the Italian highway toll system. There is an underlying reluctance to allow foreign investment in large Italian government controlled companies, with what is called "golden share" regimes for privatized companies.

What do all of the above have in common? What are the underlying cultural perspectives? The "cultural challenges" to doing business in Italy?

Three areas come to mind:
Italians have learned at home, in school and in society to manage a quite high level of ambiguity that is intrinsic to their surrounding environment. Tolerance of ambiguity is not quite so developed in those coming from abroad.

Italians communicate with lots of meaning between the lines, the musicality of the language (both spoken and written) often takes priority over clearly projecting meaning to the other party -- who should instead understand through context. Anyone who has ever translated will agree.

Italians trust people they know, certainly not the system or foreigners. A low-trust culture constantly needs to negotiate rules and regulations and this in turn reduces cooperation. If a government changes in the middle of the negotiation of a large government sponsored project, you have to start the process all over again. The ball is not passed easily from one to the other -- which would involve trust.

Back to work!
a domani,
E

More on trash

A small, insignicant cog in the wheel of the Napolitan trash machine wrote a letter to the newspaper about his role in today's piles of mess.

He is an expert, not a politician, a trash-master and engineer who has written articles for foreign journals on tecnical aspects of trash management. A representative of an American-based global company that is a leader in the field, contacted him while in Naples, for his expertise. After presenting concrete and feasible solutions to the Naples trash question using modern equipment and techniques, the representative asked our Man in Naples to present a proposal through the appropriate channels, which he did. No response. Need we wonder why?

Unfortunately the American global company did not understand how to get a proposal examined, Neapolitan style. Certainly not with a practical, rational, technical approach. No one with decision making power would ever read a proposal sent up from the ranks, it would have to fall on his/her desk from above, with an "note of encouragement" attached.

Too bad for Naples. Too bad for the American company. Too bad for the technical expert.

a domani,
E

Alberto Cribiore's soft skills

Today I happened upon an article about Alberto Cribiore. His resume would take up pages -- it is enough to note that the long list of his achievements and roles concludes with, "he is the Italian that is most in view in international finance," currently covering the position of interim non-executive president of Merrill Lynch in charge of identifying a successor to Stanley O'Neal.

In the U.S. since the mid-70s, he talks about how Italian managers are appreciated abroad for their "soft skills" -- skills that are increasingly important in the globalization process with its decentralized organizational models. These skills are of a psychological instead of quantitative nature, such as the ability to adapt to other cultural and economic contexts and to build networks of personal relationships. Italians develop these skill because they have had to learn how to get around inefficiency and bureaucracy and other very real obstacles to get anything done. Their Anglo-American colleagues haven't had quite as many opportunities to fine-tune these skills.

The article concludes that the new generation of Italian executives in the U.S. are rapidly rising in the ranks, also because of their Italian "soft skills".

To paraphase a Japanese saying, "When in Rome, understand the behavior of the Romans and thus become an even more complete American (British, Australian, German or whatever)." Maybe we all have something to learn from the Italians and their noteworthy skills in building networks and adapting to other cultural contexts.

a domani,
E

Service with a smile

I reached a milestone today, my local supermarket became home.

A GS opened nearly two years ago just a few blocks away and I am a faithful client (when I need things that Pina doesn't supply). I have passed through one of the four cash registers hundreds of times that are manned by the same cashiers, day after day, week after week, month after month, and now year after year. No one had ever noticed or acknowledged my consistent presence across the bar chart reader -- never a "have a good day" or "can I help you" or any one of those quaint phrases. Nothing beyond, "card?" "change?" "how many bags?". Never any direct eye contact, nor interest. Any conversation took place among themselves, talking through you to the cashier on next line over.

Until today. The gum chewing 20-something year old with the black and blond streaked long hair and lots of eye-liner that makes her look slightly Egyptian suddenly looked up as the last item beeped passed the bar-code reader, actually saw me, and asked, "How do you cook this?" The item in question was a bag of mixed greens (cabbage, spinach, escarole and such). After recovering from the shock of this intimate interaction, I told her that I usually just boiled it, like spinach. She turned the bag over, looked at the ingredients and continued, "Could I also pass in the pan with some oil?" Suddenly having become a mixed greens expert, I responded slowly and with authority that she could also do that. But it didn't stop there (although the line was getting longer), "What does it taste like?" she continued as she turned back make a total. "A bit tart, with the cabbage, but not too much because of the other vegetables. I like it, my kids a bit less." She smiled (!!) and that was that.

It has taken over a year, but I have slowly, silently created a "relationship" with my local supermarket cashier just by regularly showing up in front of her. Who knows what may come of this new development -- maybe she will even keep the line open for me when it closes for everyone else, or whisper in my ear that she is going to open a new cash register so that I can discretely be the first in line.

Creating relationships takes time, but they always pay off. You rarely receive (what we would consider to be) service on first sight, you have to earn it by becoming a regular, day after day, week after week, month after month....

a domani,
E

Risky business

Just when you think that risk-taking, innovation and optimism had disappeared under a coat of raccomendazioni, there comes a breath of fresh air and signs of an Italy that is moving forward, free of the shackles that the raccomendazioni system imposes.

This afternoon I visited an on-line chat with entrepreneur Luigi Orsi Carbone organized under the US Embassy program, "Capturing Creativity". (mentioned also here).
Following a Bocconi business school degree and Columbia University MBA, he worked for a few years in management consulting before founding several companies in the telecommunications and internet sector between 1996 and 2001 -- Planetwork SpA ed ePlanet SpA (renamed as Retelit SpA) -- and participated in the start-up of a European hedge fund (Lansdowne Partners Ltd.). Currently he is working for another start-up, this time in the area of microcogenerazione (Heat and Power, Srl.) while also advising and serving as an "angel investor". All of this in Italy.

Quite an impressive guy.

The "chat" consisted of real-time interaction between Luigi Carbone and listeners who wrote in questions.

What struck me were the questions -- many centered on the issue of risk-taking culture.

Alessandra from Milan. "How important is the perception of bankruptcy as a penal offense(and the absence of a Chapter 11 equivalent in Italy) and did this influence your activity as an entrepreneur?

Letizia from Trento. "...Isn't it important to give incentives to the culture of risk, experimentation and failure. Isn't it part of the game? What about the difference between failure and bankruptcy (fraudulent as is often the case in Italy)?

Davide from Rome. "After your first failure, how did your re-invent your professional career?"

Paola from Bologna. "Isn't there a risk that a good idea proposed by a group of young people is stolen by the potential venture capitalist to whom they turn?

Silvia from Genova. "How much does the negative perception of temporary work influence entrepreneurship in Italy?"

Sergio from Ancona. "How do you go beyond the culture of the "posto fisso" and accept the risks involved in setting up a company?

Venanza from La Spezia. "How can we change the way to do business in Italy and spread the culture of entrepreneurial risk?

Several listeners pointed out how well Italians do when they transfer their skills in a foreign context -- there is certainly not a lack of highly qualified potential entrepreneurs. So what is missing? Besides the venture capital.

From a cross-cultural point of view, risk and trust are intimately entwined. The lack of a risk-taking culture is therefore tied to a low-trust culture. So, you have to work both sides. Young potential entrepreneurs must trust that the system will support them and carry them even when they fail, so that they can get up, try again and this time, win. Otherwise, they will look for the "posto fisso".

a domani,
E

The Starbucks' saga continues

One of my personal characteristics is taking an idea or cause and going with it. Sometimes this is a strength when I don't give up and keep digging deeper until I get enough information to form original conclusions; other times it just drives people crazy because I don't stop asking questions until they run out of the room screaming, BASTA!

Anyway, having popped-off the plastic lid on the question, "Will Starbucks open in Italy?" last night I had to google it. Two little words, "Starbucks Italy" and I discovered that this is a favorite blogging topic that has produced some really interesting and fun posts.

Here are a few, some in English by Americans, others in English by Italians (who are living abroad) and others in Italian (by Italians). The mix gives a wonderful overview of all aspects of the question. If you are only going to read one, click on Matteo Bittanti.

innovation zen A Bocconi trained, Brazilian innovation management and business strategy expert talks about the potential risks to Starbucks of landing in Italy.

Wandering Italy An interesting look at the big business machine behind the coffee king.

Starbucks Geek This is an Italian blog dedicated only to Starbucks!

Big Brother Blog
An Italian in London who wants to bring Starbucks back with him to Italy. In Italian.

Matteo Bittanti
Great open letter to the President of Starbucks by an Italian in California. Very funny and intelligent at the same time.

more from Matteo Bittanti

So, if you feel like digging deeper, the question is still open -- Will Starbucks open in Italy? The Italian point of view above gave some new light on the subject. The answer? Boh. I guess we will have to wait and see.

a domani,
E

Starbucked in Italy

Your mom is always your Mom, even when you have a few grey hairs and your own grown children, and mine still sends me "care packages" like when I was away at sleepover camp. Back then it was full of sweets, comic books and small necessities, while now it comes full of newspaper clippings with her notes on the side and lots of yellow highlighter.
Among the politics, culture, local news and quirky pieces, I found an article from the magazine Psychology Today on Starbucks by the author of a recently released book called, Starbucked. So here is some of the psychology behind the phenonmenon and a peek into the reasons why Starbucks may not manage to capture the Italian market afterall.

To begin with, he states, "the Starbucks' worldwide explosion wasn't fueled by coffee; it was the way they sold it. Starbucks closely tracked consumers' desires, their hidden needs, even their favorite colors and music. This awareness of customer psychology has netted Starbucks 40 million loyal customers per week." So, what do Starbucks' customers desire and need? The "Starbucks Experience", or in other words, a place to hang out, to "ease the problem of social disconnection" while offering something comforting to make people feel "coddled and tranquil. " Americans were feeling the need for a public gathering spot, a "third place" (after home and work). In the end, Starbucks is not about coffee at all, but a place "to bring people together thorough the social glue of coffee", a place that counteracts efficiency ("X" number of customers in and out in an hour kind of efficiency) and concentrates on feelings and an atmosphere of relaxation, warmth and luxury, a "coffee experience."

So that is why Starbucks doesn't concentrate on the quality of the coffee. Instead it has developed an innovative Starbuck proprietary language to add to the "experience". Ordering a "tall", "grande" or "venti", a "doppio", "a latte", or a "grande caffè misto" makes you feel like a Starbucks' insider and soooooo European and sofisticated. The subdued and gentle colors, curved countertops and warm materials have all been studied with care. Even the colors of the coffees -- a few years ago, the "hot" summer color was white, so they put out a "vanilla and coconut Crème Frappuccinos" to capitalize on this trend.

Oh dear. You probably thought that you just liked to have a Starbucks coffee now and then, instead you have been lead by the nose by one of the most powerful brands in the world, on the same level with Apple, Google and Ikea.

But for all its attention to psychology, the Italian market is going to puzzle the Americans -- its a cultural thing.

1. THe Italians know their coffee -- the taste, acidity levels, the difference between Brazilian and other beans, the art and experience required for its proper preparation. In the end, the quality of the "coffee experience" depends in great part on the quality of the coffee itself, not just the atmosphere.

2. Italians love to be particolare and coffee is one of the areas in which this attribute reaches its highest expression. It might be difficult to get everyone to drink the same substance out the same standard paper cup (click on the green writing for a fun cartoon, to move forward, click on the arrow at the top).

3. Italians have places to "hang out" -- their "public gathering places" are in every piazza and along the main Corso of any small town on a Sunday afternoon -- and there isn't the same level of "social disconnectedness" to be addressed. People are "coddled" and made "tranquil" at home (by their mothers, even at past 30) and don't need to seek comfort in a paper cup while sitting on a comfortable chair, alone.

4. Italians don't feel the need to counteract an overabundance of efficiency. The choice to linger in bars and restaurants is the norm -- leaving quickly is a challenge.

5. Italy is in itself an "atmosphere of relaxation, warmth and luxury" even without a "coffee experience."

6. I just can't image Italians getting used to ordering a "latte" with a straight face. THey would have to do something with the fake Italian lingo, maybe substituting it with exotic American names. "A meeelka, pleeeze".

I think I'll go have a tea.

a domani,
E

The coffee war

While the front pages talk about the ongoing war in Iraq, a possible return of the cold war with Russia and the shadow of civil war in Pakistan, the economic pages reported on the coffee war with an article entitled, "Offensive Anti-Starbucks by the Caffè Made in Italy". The "enemy" to beat is Starbucks in this economic and cultural war.

The Italians have launched pre-emptive action. Lavazza is aiming to bring coffee-shops to every street corner in Europe, starting with Spain, France and Portugal, and even as far as India. Illy, instead, has chosen the route of culture (through founding L'università del caffè in Trieste) and diplomacy (an agreement with Coca Cola to launch a joint line of high-end coffee products) and Bialetti is opening a chain of stores selling its famous moka coffee makers, together with a cup of cappuccino. The real coffee king, though, is the Zanetti Beverage Group which already runs a franchising of over 700 Italian coffee shops around the world.

The question is, can they hold the Goliath at bay? Maybe not elsewhere, but hopefully in Italy, which already has a well-defined coffee culture rooted in everyday life and intimately connected to the concept of "your local bar" with its endless morning conversations, meetings and memories. I can even see my local bar from my balcony. It is run by Mario, his wife, two of his three sons and one daughter-in-law.
In addition to homemade muffins for breakfast and a good selection of wines to take home for dinner,
they also have a small trattoria in the backroom with a few daily dishes.

Besides running a bar, Mario is a local figure full of historical knowledge. He recently published a book in which he recounts the lives of various characters that lived our neighborhood during his childhood, a tribute to Monteverde poco fa.
Personally, he has given me a great running route in Villa Pamphili, passed on keys to guests and messages to friends, and told me many stories.

Why would I want an over sized, over priced, milky, sweet, syrupy concoction in an over sized plastic cup in an environment that is the same all over the world in the place of a cappuccino da Mario?

A true global mystery.

a domani.
E

Starting over, again

I had lunch today with a friend who is visiting from the US after having lived in Rome for a few years.

I asked her about "return culture shock" as she and her husband are now living in a small town in the deep South. "Well, life is certainly is different than it was in Rome!" she replied, as she dug into a plate of bresaola e rughetta con gusto.

Her husband, though, is enjoying being back in the land of certainty with all its clearly defined rules and direct communications, especially on the work front. But when I told her about this blog entry on differences in "tolerance of ambiguity", she nodded and added that, for him, it is also a "lack of continuity" that keeps American businesses from investing in Italy. Potential investors often find that working with one company management does not guarantee that the ball will be passed to the next, particularly in the case of large mainly state-run companies. With long and complex projects, you keep starting over again and this can wear on investor's patience to the point where they take the ball and go home. "Just like in government," I inserted -- this frustrating way of cancelling the previous administration's good works in order to start from scratch with brand new program.

Is it a question of trust? After so many centuries of starting over and over again under new ruling kings and popes and countries, Italians have learned not to believe that a previous administration's work could flow into the present one in the name of pragmatic progress?

Complicated and long-reaching roots to a contemporary problem.

a domani,
E

Happy meandering

A couple of questions from this not-particularly-technically-minded-blogger.

With over 100 posts to my name, I am wondering,

Is there a way to make a blog backup?
and,
How would I go about copywriting the whole thing?

I would also love to hear your personal number one tactic for attracting readers.

Thanks to all!

This morning I googled "blog italy cultural differences" and found a few interesting posts to share:

one from a Finnish girl on Italian physical distancing.

another from a site on leader-values with a description of differences in European cultures according to Geert Hofstede's cross-cultural studies from the late 1960s.

and one last from a software geek about cultural differences in projects in which he quotes the following from a book called Agile Software Development by Alisatir Cockburn to illustrate a point:

"My early experience was with a consulting company in England, where the manager had set the project up single-handedly, developing the scope, objectives, strategy, plan, etc., and then get a team together and present the project to the team.

I tried to do this as a project manager in Italy. At the team briefing the message I got was: "That is your plan; you work to it. If you want us to work together, we plan together." Powerful message.

Then I went to Australia, where the prevailing corporate culture is that the managers make all the mistakesand everybody else just does as they are told.

I set up my first project the Italian way. I called the team together in a room with clean whiteboards, described the scope and objectives, and said, "Now let's work out together how we are going to do this." The response was: "You are the manager. You work it out, and we'll just do whatever you say."

This example made me think back to my experience at a heated school meeting. Everyone had a chance to say their own, although no conclusions were reached -- decisions were made in another context, behind closed doors.

Happy meandering.

A domani,
E

Living with ambiguity

Yesterday was the fourth of July, American Independence Day!

No fireworks, flags flying and barbecue in the backyard for us. The only vaguely American thing we did was a trip to the Auditorium for a concert by Dee Dee Bridgewater, called "Red Earth - A Malian Journey". The musicians -- all from Mali as she has recently discovered her African roots -- were fantastic and it was a great show.

The US Ambassador to Italy, Ronald G. Spogli, instead held a party at Villa Taverna for over 2,500 Italian and American dignitaries and friends. Today's news reports on his speech for the occasion. "Investment conditions for American business in the Italian economy are not favorable.... Without trying to deny this fact or identify the guilty parties, we should instead work together towards finding ways to improve the situation and put an end to this sad chapter of our history." One initiative he has enacted is an embassy sponsored program Partnership for Growth.

Why are American investors so cautious and reticent about investing in Italian companies? Below the surface of obvious obstacles connected to overwhelming bureaucracy, shifting politics, closed-minded "national interests" and undecipherable company law, there are lots of cross-cultural issues at work. The first (and foremost I believe) is a gap in tolerance of ambiguity / uncertainty. While that of Americans is very low, Italians comfortable live with and even thrive on ambiguity. In the end, the best of intentions fall between this crack. In a previous editorial the Ambassador states that, "Investments don't arrive where they are not well received. When the rules of the market change continuously without warning, the level of risk increases making it very difficult to program for the future." Sounds reasonable, to an American. I like that idea of programming for the future too, even in my daily life! And AT&T up and left town empty-handed citing "uncertain rules". They just couldn't see a straight line to the future.

Many years ago now, John (American), the Director of a small NGO in Rome, wanted to hire a part-time receptionist. A lawyer friend of mine stopped by the office one day to visit and John took advantage to ask, "Can I hire her off the books -- she will only be here for a few hours a day -- or not". Roberto gave what he thought was a clear and comprehensive picture of the situation by explaining that this would depend on John's comfort level with risk. Did he believe there was a high risk that this girl would eventually sue him for back taxes, or was he pretty sure she would not. In the first case, he should hire her on a regular contract and pay all the taxes and benefits, in the second, he could consider splitting the fallout with her and hiring her off the books. I looked back and forth between the two. Roberto seemed pleased at his job well-done, his clarity and precision regarding the situation. John's eyes glazed over and there was a minute of silence before he spoke, "So, can I hire her off the books, or not?"

a domani,
E

P.S. check out Shelley's post for pictures and a great story about her day at the Villa Taverna July 4th celebrations. Makes you crave a hamburger with the works!