The Art of the Italian Family Business

BE EC FB 300
Credit hours: 3
Contact hours: 45

This course explores the evolution, characteristics and significance of Italian family firms. Family businesses have always been central to the social and economic fabric of Italy; some of the world’s oldest family companies are Italian and the city of Florence represents a very important starting point for some of these. The first part of the course will give an overview of the history of family firms from the Roman Empire to the present day and their role in the social, political and economic life of Italy. The second part will consider case studies in different sectors: wine and food, fashion, the automobile industry and the hospitality sector. Field trips to family firms in and around Florence are an integral part of the course. This course analyzes the changes and trends in Italian family businesses over the centuries and how this system with 2,000 years of history behind it faces an age of increasing European unity and integration, mass immigration to Italy and competing with China and India in the age of globalization.