The first roadshow of “Imprese Vincenti”, the Intesa Sanpaolo program for the enhancement of small and medium enterprises which represent an example of entrepreneurial excellence and Made in Italy. An entire day of work dedicated to SMEs, the key factor of Italian competitiveness, concluded with an evening event to celebrate all 120 companies presented in the eight stages which touched the entire peninsula between May and June. The event, hosted at the Parenti theater, saw on stage the Partners of the initiative – Luca Peyrano, CEO ELITE, Roberto Prioreschi, managing director of Bain & Company, Paolo Cuccia, President of Gambero Rosso – together with exponents of Intesa Sanpaolo such as Gregorio de Felice, Intesa Sanpaolo Chief Economist, and Teresio Testa, head of Intesa Sanpaolo's Business Sales&Marketing Department.
Guests of the day were Vincenzo Boccia, president of Confindustria – on stage together with Stefano Barrese, head of the Intesa Sanpaolo Banca dei Territori Division – and Remo Ruffini, president and CEO of Moncler. 'Imprese Vincenti' has garnered widespread interest throughout Italy thanks to the opportunity offered to SMEs to be included in growth support and national visibility programs offered by Intesa Sanpaolo and the initiative's partners, Bain & Company, ELITE and Gambero Rosso. The 120 Winning Companies were selected from over 1800 who applied for themselves on the Intesa Sanpaolo website and represent all Italian regions, come from 90 industrial districts and have a total turnover of 25 billion and over 100.000 employees. In each stage, fifteen SMEs operating in that area and belonging to one of the three sectors identified by the Imprese Vincenti program as most representative of Made in Italy presented themselves: food & beverage, fashion & design, industry and services.
For these companies Intesa Sanpaolo and the project partners have devised a program of initiatives which started in the spring and will continue in the coming months and which saw in today's final stage the participation of all the Winning Companies in a series of events organized by Intesa Sanpaolo and by Elite, Bain&Company and Gambero Rosso partners: meetings with professionals from the banking and finance world, workshops on the Italian Stock Exchange such as the one offered by Elite on strategic thinking to help companies implement growth, or the one managed by Bain&Company on digital transformation of companies as a factor of competitive advantage.
But it was also the moment to celebrate the small and medium-sized enterprise, of Italy that wins and establishes itself in the world, with the participation of exponents of the industrial association world and the testimonies of entrepreneurs of large companies. A moment of reflection on the state of health of our entrepreneurship, starting from successful cases and outlining the path and transformation processes that have guided the transition from the logic of product value to the value of the company. The path of these months of Imprese Vincenti Some distinctive traits of Imprese Vincenti emerged from the meetings of the final day. In 2017, the turnover of Italian companies operating in the sectors of Winning Companies increased by 5,3%, while that of Winning Companies grew by 15%.
Also in 2017, the employment of Italian companies increased by 2,7%, again on a like-for-like sector, while the number of employees of the 120 Winning Companies grew by 8,7%. The keys to this success, according to an analysis by the Intesa Sanpaolo Studies and Research Department, are sustainability, internationalization and exports, people and skills, generational turnover. Companies with certifications have better profitability and productivity, with important impacts also on turnover and employment. Winning companies are more sensitive to socio-environmental sustainability issues: over 50% of these companies declare that they use innovative technologies enabling Circular Economy models or additional socio-environmental measures with respect to what is required by law.
About half of Italian exports are made by manufacturing SMEs with less than 250 employees. The international presence is one of the distinctive factors of success: the 120 winning companies participated in 26 countries, on all continents, while 60% of their 2015-2017 turnover derives from exports. The generational transition is one of the critical success factors: every year 60 entrepreneurs experience this transition, but only 15% of companies pass the third generation; 50% of businesses disappear in the second generation. According to a survey by the Intesa Sanpaolo Studies and Research Department of Business Managers, the entry of external managers without change of ownership leads to a competitive improvement in 30,3% of cases, but above all it is the aiming of a younger than average managerial class to represent a further winning feature: the 120 companies in the program have successfully managed around 100 generational transitions.
Attention to personnel is also a crucial factor for Winning Companies: in terms of corporate welfare, 70% of Winning Companies activated initiatives in 2017 to support employees and their families, against 40% of the system Italy; 94% of the winning companies activated employee training and development programs in the three-year period 2015-2017, against 60% in Italy. The common traits of the Winning Companies are therefore Italian passion and ingenuity, but also a high rate of innovation and a vocation for exports, as well as attention to human capital and inclusion in district contexts, which still represent a driving force of the economy of a territory and of the country.
They are often family businesses that have grown together with the country and which are now in their second or third generation, but in which the entry of the new generations has been the bearer of diversification strategies, innovative marketing and greater attention to digital, directing the evolution from companies mainly based on the product to companies with expansion and growth plans also on other markets, while maintaining - in their growth - a deep bond with their territory, with their origins and with the quality of their manufacturing. Finally, the story of the entrepreneurs confirms the role of proximity supply chains as a competitive factor in industrial districts.
Districts are perceived by these entrepreneurs as offering locational advantages, perceived above all by smaller companies. The link with the local area also appears to be important for larger SMEs, which consider the district a place that facilitates innovation and internationalization processes. Accompaniment to growth and enhancement of skills Thanks to the collaboration with program partners and with subjects within the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, the Winning Companies are offered tools to support growth, discussion with the ELITE community and with international best practices, participation to training courses, workshops or dedicated sessions on topics of a strategic nature.
Companies will be able to participate in webinars/workshops organized online or at Bain & Company offices and focused on topics of strategic importance, with the contribution of national and/or international SMEs (Subject Matter Experts). Assessments of the reference market and strategic positioning will be provided, including market analysis and understanding of competitive positioning, identification of strengths and areas for development, identification of possible guidelines for strategic evolution. Advanced training courses and targeted communication strategies will also be offered through channels owned by Gambero Rosso. In the paths accompanying the growth of "Imprese Vincenti" all the skills of Intesa Sanpaolo Forvalue, Intesa Sanpaolo Formazione and Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center will also be made available.
For example, workshops and subscriptions for access to training platforms will be offered, but also support activity packages for the detection of training needs, where the company can choose an area of detection between skills for internationalization, for models of Circular Economy, for the development of commercial and sales networks or for a cost management system. Imprese Vincenti is part of a broader plan to enhance the SMEs of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group which also includes programs for start-ups (BHeroes) and women's companies (Women Value Company).
“With Imprese Vincenti – he commented Stefano Barrese, head of the Intesa Sanpaolo Banca dei Territori Division – we have lived an exciting experience of strengthening the knowledge of our companies and of concrete closeness with the territory. Entrepreneurs proudly presented themselves at the roadshow stages, involving their customers, their employees, sharing their status as a Winning Company as a moment of recognition of their work. Many SMEs have begun to forge relationships with each other, highlighting how this valorisation program can also evolve into a factor of aggregation and matching between companies in territories and industrial sectors close to each other. Stimulating the entrepreneurial spirit and activating relational networks between companies is one of our objectives, because the bank's role is to support the economic system but also to propose solutions that go beyond credit, looking to the future of Made in Italy and its development in the world".
“We are happy to celebrate today the 120 leading companies – he added Luca Peyrano, CEO ELITE – of the first roadshow of Imprese Vincenti, which have been able to distinguish themselves for their attention to sustainability, internationalization and generational turnover projects. ELITE has always aimed to accelerate the growth and development of companies throughout the country. We are proud to have contributed to this project to enhance and support Italian SMEs belonging to the most representative sectors of Made in Italy, which will be able to deal with the ELITE network and with the best international best practices".
“The Winning Business Program – he closed Paolo Cuccia, President of Gambero Rosso – has strengthened our belief in the uniqueness of Made in Italy agri-food companies and has allowed us to further investigate the needs and requirements of SMEs in the sector in order to contribute to the development of successful entrepreneurial realities. As Gambero Rosso we have always been committed to supporting the growth of Food & Beverage companies. Thanks to our guides, we identify the excellent producers of Made in Italy and help them with our promotion and training activities to establish themselves in Italy and abroad as market leaders. With this programme, Intesa Sanpaolo has confirmed itself as a reference hub for the best companies in our country.”
