Social responsibility is one of the pillars of the company, if it wants to look to the future and fit into a sustainable world. He is convinced of it Marino Golinelli, founder and owner of Alfa Wassermann, our national pharmaceutical giant, but also a philanthropist, creator of a foundation that bears his name.
“Research and technology are fundamental, profit is a very part of the company – Golinelli observes – because good work must be rewarded. But social responsibility is the other side of this coin. We need to give back to society part of what it has given us. In my job, I've done good things, but I've also done mistakes and I've been lucky. To create my company, I asked myself what human needs were in the health sector. I started working on blood among the first, applying what I had learned at university. Today, however, things have changed, the parameters with which we reasoned have jumped. The future is unpredictable and I'm pessimistic. What will we eat in 50 years? By what means will we move? How many billions of people will we be and what conflicts will all this trigger? It is inevitable to think that there will be wars”.
If the scenario is worrying, Golinelli is not the type to feel sorry for himself, not even at 95 years old. Indeed, today more than ever he works to give those who will inhabit the future a chance for growth, development and entrepreneurship, always adding the word "sustainable".
The context of these reflections is the Nomisma boardroom. The occasion: the presentation of the book by Sandro Trento and Flavia Faggioni, "Entrepreneurs wanted, innovating to start growing again", published by the Mill. Italy has been struggling to produce new things for 20 years now, the authors complain. What are the obstacles to a more lively and above all innovative entrepreneurial development? The answers are not obvious. The family business is also in the dock.
“Mine is a family business – admits Golinelli – but I am convinced that this formula, very widespread in Italy, has strengths and weaknesses”. The important thing is to remember that "the company is not built only to offer advantages to family members, but must respond to behavioral ethics". To make the country progress, it is first of all necessary to help young people enter the world thinking that this is "global", no longer confined to the backyard. Encourage young people to study, to lay the foundations for understanding the needs that surround them, which the company can respond to with its products. On the contrary, we need to make an extra effort: try to guess what tomorrow's needs will be. In this path, formation plays a fundamental role: that of pupils, but also that of teachers.
The Opificio responds to these ideas, the citadel of knowledge and culture created by Golinelli, in the guise of a philanthropist, to give substance to his entrepreneurial and life principles. "To relaunch Italy, we need a factory in every city - concludes Massimo Ciociola, CEO of Musixmatch, a young entrepreneur who has made it - because being an entrepreneur is difficult, it is one of the most difficult jobs and it is not the fault of the Government or others if so. We talk a lot about startups, but we never say that most of them are bad. To succeed in today's world, above all, you need to acquire great technological skills, anyone who doesn't do it right now is foolish".
