CSR, Innovation and Human Resource Management. The Renaissance of Olivetti’s humanistic management in Loccioni Group – Italy

This paper addresses the theme of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies concerning labor and employees by proposing an anthropologically-centered analysis - developed from both the theoretical and empirical profiles - of business and leadership models that are geared toward a multidimensional development, which focuses on the valorization and promotion of the employee. The first part synthesizes the theoretical context in which the empirical analysis is found by proposing a literature review; while the second one analyses the business and leadership models, which have been successfully implemented by a medium-sized Italian firm - Loccioni Group - that is included among the “great place to work” on the national and international scale. This company has, for years, been distinguished for the best CSR-oriented practices regarding human resource management, innovation, environment and furthermore for its capability to “thread networks” with internal and external stakeholders, and is characterized by genuine commitment which is the result of an authentic and solid value-based system and a model of exemplary governance aimed at linking economic well-being, social cohesion and environmental protection. The case study offers an example of best stakeholders’ and employees’ management practices, which co-evolves with the environment, improving, at the same time, the company’s competitiveness and the socio-economic conditions of the local context in which it is deeply embedded. In this context, CSR is part of the DNA and widespread throughout the entire organization. Loccioni Group is an “extreme case” (although not unique in Italy) that is particularly significant and helps develop reflections on the importance of embracing the cultural and anthropological roots of CSR, which are connected to a model of humanistic management, and reinvent the Olivetti’s model of holistic development while conceiving the business as a tool for promoting social, economic, moral and environmental well-being.