Il Rapporto (Italian Edition)

The Italians

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And almost nowhere do we see any significant movement. Unsurprisingly, digital representation on the boards of tech players far outstrips that of non-tech equivalents.

Education at a Glance

Sweden, the UK and the US have more than doubled their representation, and France has made considerable strides. This year, despite doubling its digital representation, the US still ranks low — we hypothesize that US tech companies rather tend to seek financial and consumer competencies at board level. Digital on tech sector boards is now nearly 9x that of other sectors, vs 7x in our last analysis. Now the gap is widening. One explanation is the time needed to nominate and integrate board members, with some sectors further blocked by regulation such as financial services.

Examining Boards of listed companies we found only 9 official technology committees, in 6 countries. Their rarity contrasts strongly with other committees. We found a correlation between boards with tech profiles and a higher degree of female representation.

In Sweden and Belgium, all new tech profiles entering boards in are women. Many new digital directors are younger - and often the first females on a board, bringing experiences from completely different company cultures. New entrants likely need stronger onboarding to ensure a robust tenure, in which their impact is maximized. To go deeper, Amrop conducted confidential interviews with 19 board members from listed organizations during and Few saw digital as having a primary role in the business.

A third are dissatisfied, hardly any fully satisfied. Issues include complex and fragmented organizational structures, the low or questionable ROI of digital, and other pressing priorities on the board agenda. For digital evangelists, realism and patience are the name of the game. Cyber security is a burning red thread - the most often-cited threat. Regulation is impeding progress in, for example, financial services, slowing the introduction of new board members or the digitization of critical processes.

Several fear data overload, with customers dissatisfied with their levels of data access.

However, with threats come opportunities for agile organizations who adopt a clear strategy and get the timing right. Despite cyber security threats, investments dedicated to streamlining processes often in multiple zones of an organization are most common. Areas range from sales support to supply chain management, procurement, and general IT infrastructure. Overall, the pattern has not changed much since our last visit.

A step-by-step approach prevails and digital remains primarily an operational enabler, with customer interface a high priority. The emphasis is more on exploitation than exploration - business model transformation is rarely in the picture. The T-shaped profile remains sought-after: Cyber attacks aside, the stakes are high, for example, using Industry 4. So safe and experienced hands are wanted. How and where to find these is not so easy. Boards must reconcile the dilemma of youth up-to-the-minute digital knowledge, often in the heads of young digital natives working in successful start-ups and maturity seasoned hands, large-scale transformation experience in a corporate setting.

One solution, if the Board can accommodate it, is to compose the T-shape from more than one profile. Another is to expose existing senior talent to the latest developments in Silicon Valley, and engage in aggressive training and development. Our interviews reveal that digitization can often end up chasing its own tail. Here are some potential traps paraphrased.

I have Italian ancestry and hoped to learn more about my heritage. This book did not fulfill that goal. It serves as a commentary on the current Italian society. Historical tidbits were worked in only when it helped explain something current. The author is not Italian, but lives in Italy as a foreign reporter. His love for Italy shines through and much of his commentary is based on his experiences; little is research-based.

While his stories added color, I could not help wondering if he focused in on what he knew and left out things that should have been included. I also felt that his experiences were highly geography-based in and around Rome and he may not have shed a full light on Italy's other regions. Overall, an interesting read, however ill-researched and biased. On the writing, the text flowed but better division of subtopics would have been nice. Perhaps that will be fixed in the publication copy. Works by all three authors were invaluable when I wrote my senior honors thesis in college on the Italian reunification process.

Dec 18, Lynn Demsky rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: I enjoyed this book very much! I know very little about the Italians except for their love of pasta, they have or had the mob! This book taught me so much about the country, the peoples and I have NEVER had so much fun reading a history book! It made me smile, chuckle and I now know more then I probably will ever need about Italy and it's people but was a pure joy to read!

It school history had been half as much fun we'd all be a lot smarter! Mar 17, Italo Italophiles rated it really liked it. If you are fascinated with modern Italy and modern Italians, you might enjoy this book. If you are more interested in the achievements of past Italians in the fields of art, architecture, literature and music, this is not the book for you.

If you are a person of faith, especially of the Catholic faith, you may be offended by the author's anti-Catholic and anti-faith bias. The author is a journalist, so the anecdotes and examples he uses to elucidate the modern Italian's generalized character ofte If you are fascinated with modern Italy and modern Italians, you might enjoy this book.

The author is a journalist, so the anecdotes and examples he uses to elucidate the modern Italian's generalized character often come from recent events, interviews, or recent books by others. He even quotes from the classic book with the same title, The Italians by Luigi Barzini. To be honest, I found it a bit odd to use the same title as Barzini's classic The book begins by explaining Italy's geography, and uses it as a reason for the diversity of language and sub-cultures in Italy.

The next section tries to cover Italy's year history, but as always when one tries to summarize Italian history, it passes in a blur. The sections after that address a single subject but there is much overlapping, and much jumping around in time. Some sections will likely confuse readers, such as the one on politics, since Italian politics is a confusing mess, with hundreds of political parties each called by nothing more than their initials, which the author uses with ease, being an experience journalist. As the author admits, in Italy: There is an inherent risk with books that attempt to describe a national character of a people: The author attempts to address this, but I'm not sure he succeeds in that.

There is also a risk when focusing on one Mediterranean country to ignore the fact that most all Mediterranean countries share similar traits and problems. Many authors ascribe Mediterranean traits to Italians as if they were unique. That is not the case. The reasons for this are partly historical and partly economic. The tone of the book is chatty, with many Italian words peppering the text. If you are at all familiar with Italian society, you will not be surprised with the author's description of the low trust society centered around the family with women generally treated as second-class citizens.

I imagine the book would be most interesting to those who wish to live in Italy for some time, either for work or for pleasure. It makes a wonderful get-up-to-speed-on-recent-events sort of read. I received it as a review-copy. I enjoyed the parts that discussed the artistic works of artists like Pirandello, Collodi, Verdi, and the elements of Commedia dell'Arte and Opera and how they related to a generalized Italian character.

I did not enjoy the attempts at psychological explanations for Italian traits. Nor did I enjoy the anti-Papist bigotry and anti-faith bias of the author. But that is just me Please visit my full and illustrated review at Italophile Book Reviews. May 10, Brian rated it it was amazing. Italy correspondent for The Economist and Southern Europe editor of the Guardian and the Observer, John Hooper writes with authority about a country beset by paradox, where an obsession with bella figura creating a good impression goes hand in hand with dietrologia suspicion of what lies beneath the surface.

Like all attempts to sum up the character of a nation, this one ocasionally falls into generalisations. Italian has no word for accountability, Hooper declares, with a breezy disregard fo Italy correspondent for The Economist and Southern Europe editor of the Guardian and the Observer, John Hooper writes with authority about a country beset by paradox, where an obsession with bella figura creating a good impression goes hand in hand with dietrologia suspicion of what lies beneath the surface. Italian has no word for accountability, Hooper declares, with a breezy disregard for linguistic processes.

But on the whole he avoids such pitfalls, marshalling the evidence with care and paying due regard to the arguments on both sides. He's particularly good on the political and economic backdrop to modern Italy, the impact of the Vatican on cultural mores and the bureaucratic idiosyncrasies that bedevil every aspect of Italian life. This is a country which responded to administrative over-kill by creating a Ministry of Simplification. It is also the country that gave us both the Renaissance and Silvio Berlsuconi. Hooper sifts intelligently through its complexities and contradictions.

The result is an engaging and entertaining portrait of a country that for hundreds of years has been at the very centre of European identity, even when it has been unsure of its own. Sep 29, J rated it liked it Shelves: I received this book through GoodReads FirstReads. This was an interesting read. The author has a somewhat roundabout way of discussing points, then digressing and coming back to them later, so it has a sort of meandering, professorial style. It's not really a travel guide, and it's not really a memoir, so much as the author's interpretation of various aspects of the national Italian culture such as privacy, family, and manliness from the perspective of a bemused but affectionate foreign coresp I received this book through GoodReads FirstReads.

It's not really a travel guide, and it's not really a memoir, so much as the author's interpretation of various aspects of the national Italian culture such as privacy, family, and manliness from the perspective of a bemused but affectionate foreign corespondent. While it can be dangerous to make generalizations about an entire nationality, the author does his best to back it up with evidence, both professional national surveys and statistics and personal anecdotes and experiences.

He also looks at how the country's history and geography has shaped its culture and sense of nationalism. I enjoyed the discussions about the intricacies of the Italian language and the histories of various words. While I think this book could have been organized a bit better, I thought it was overall a warm and heartfelt effort at explaining some of the aspects of Italian habits, customs, and traditions from the viewpoint of an immigrant journalist.

Overall, a pretty good read for anyone who enjoys reading about Italian history, politics, or culture, and is willing to accept some generalizations. Oct 23, Jeanne rated it it was ok. And that is where Mr. So many facts listed, one after another.

It reads almost like a textbook. The theater of the judicial system in Italy held my attention, but not much more. I may just set aside this book for now and try rereading it again at a later date. I'm not an Italophile, but am interested in learning about other places, and the audio sample seemed pretty good, so I decided to get this one.

Basically, it's an overview of aspects of Italian culture that have struck the expat author as Apr 08, TienvoorNegen rated it really liked it. I've enjoyed reading this book! I can't say I'll remember all of it, but at least my understanding of Italy and the way the country and inhabitants relate to each other and the outside world is a bit enhanced.

My starting point were a shamefully meager collection of good food- Roman Empire-holiday country-pope-mafia - lampedusa- images I must say the book was a nice surprise. Sure, there's bound to be stereotypes in abundance in it, but the topics and chapters ranged to cover a very diverse vi I've enjoyed reading this book! Sure, there's bound to be stereotypes in abundance in it, but the topics and chapters ranged to cover a very diverse view on Italian society.

The book was written in , so it is reasonably up to date. Nov 29, Antonio Gallo rated it liked it Shelves: L'anglomania sta all'italofobia come l'anglofobia sta all'italomania. Un rapporto di amore odio caratterizza da sempre gli inglesi e gli italiani. La prova la trovate nel gran numero di libri, articoli e relazioni che intercorrono da sempre tra i due paesi tanto vicini quanto lontani.

Molto spesso capita di imbattermi in un nuovo libro scritto su di noi. Nonostante ne abbia ormai molti nella biblioteca personale, mi viene sempre la tentazione di leggere l'ultimo per comprensibili ragioni. I tempi cambiano, come del resto le situazioni, i personaggi, gli eventi. Trovo interessante leggere cosa scrivono i nostri cari amici inglesi. Sembra di essere accompagnati da una guida fedele ed affidabile, che sa cosa dice e lo dice in maniera autorevole. Potrebbe essere la relazione di un diplomatico britannico che scrive alla regina o al ministro degli esteri sull'aria che tira nel Paese che lo ospita come ambasciatore.

Il tutto come nella grande tradizione classica dei rappresentanti britannici sul nostro suolo. Hooper sa quello che pensa, ma lo dice sempre, oltre che con riserva e riserbo, con garbo. Come un "knight", un cavaliere inglese.

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Ma cosa dice di noi con esattezza? Diciannove sono i capitoli del libro. Una espressione, appunto, che chiarisce ben poco, una scappatoia per non ammettere di non saper dire cosa sia veramente. Di quale Italia si parla? L'Italia del Veneto o del Mezzogiorno? Quella della Mafia o del Vaticano? Dell' "AC Milan" o della Scala? Quanti si rendono conto che non esiste una Mafia, ma ce ne sono tre? Camorra, Cosa Nostra e 'Ndrangheta del resto sono voci alla ribalta quotidiana, forse non tanto chiare nemmeno a noi, figurarsi poi ad un straniero. Che dire poi della Giustizia?

Anzi, del sistema giudiziario? Come quella di avere ben dodici parole diverse per attaccapanni. Che dire poi degli arabeschi, delle indeterminatezze della politica italiana? Un fatto "culturale", quindi, che merita di essere analizzato. Hooper dice, e non sbaglia, che in Italia raramente hai, ottieni, ti viene dato quello che vedi. Tutta questa atmosfera rende la vita italiana "intriguing".

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I gesti, le apparenze, le maschere, le citazioni, nel bene e nel male, tendono tutte a smarrire la sostanza, camminando invece verso quella espressione che solo in questo paese sembra essere, se non un comandamento, almeno una legge non scritta. Una espressione come questa la ritrovi in tutte le situazioni e collocazioni, dai posizionamenti politici dei parlamentari che cambiano partito e non ci fanno una "bella figura", a quella delle donne italiane che hanno il primato delle chirurgia plastica.

L'occhio vuole la sua parte.

L'apparire vince sempre sull'essere. Una delle diverse facce del trasformismo. Per quanto riguarda la politica poi l'autore sostiene che sembra essere sempre la stessa. Egli liquida la faccenda ricordando quello che Mussolini disse sugli Italiani, vale a dire che era "inutile" governarli.

Sia detto senza offesa. Speriamo che siano "campane" con "suoni" nuovi Ma, poi, mi chiedo: Dec 12, Richard Levine rated it really liked it Shelves: A pretty entertaining portrait of modern-day Italy and the "Italian character. Each chapter in the book covers an issue relating to modern Italians: But this bothered me less than I thought it would, probably because a he' A pretty entertaining portrait of modern-day Italy and the "Italian character.

But this bothered me less than I thought it would, probably because a he's very good at it; and b to give him credit, he almost always does more than just traffic in stereotypes. So despite myself, I often found myself pretty well convinced of his views by the time I got to the end of a chapter, even though I had started it with doubts about how he was going to get beyond the cliches this time. Mar 26, John-Paul rated it liked it Shelves: Being the son of two Italian immigrants myself, I was excited to learn more about the cultural heritage of my ancestors.

I have to say I was a bit surprised halfway through at the relative depth and cutting nature of the work, very much at odds with the cute pictures of espresso, pasta and shoes that adorn the book's cover. This book has no happy-go-luck romp through the verdant pastures of Italy, nor does it contain a compilation of wise old sayings from a charming old nonno or THE perfect Sund Being the son of two Italian immigrants myself, I was excited to learn more about the cultural heritage of my ancestors. This book has no happy-go-luck romp through the verdant pastures of Italy, nor does it contain a compilation of wise old sayings from a charming old nonno or THE perfect Sunday pasta sauce recipe from a respected nonna.

In fact, considering the author presently lives in Rome, by the end of the book one has to wonder just how well his neighbors and associates are taking what he has to say in this book! Hooper breaks the book down into different segments of history, society and culture. I particularly liked the opening chapters, which really gave me an insight into the history dating all the way back to Roman times of the Italian peninsula. I completely agree with Hooper on the importance of knowing how Italy and the Italian people evolved, because that's the best way to understand how their society acts to this day.

His discussion of two characteristics, furbi and fesso , was fascinating and seemed to inform much of what he said later on. His chapters on the Italian legal system and their governmental structure was eye-opening and, as an American, pretty much unbelievable. And his section on the mafia in Italy was insightful since it shed light on the fact that: But the book has its issues.

Hooper seems fairly obsessed with Silvio Berlusconi and while he is somewhat able to keep a journalistic neutrality early on, by the middle of the book its apparent that he assigns just about every evil the country has faced over the past 10 years to the politician. There are stats, stats and MORE stats throughout the book and they tend to numb the reader after a point.

Finally, it's rather clear that Hooper has at best a cultural understanding of the Catholic Church which, while probably sufficient to include his musings on the institution in his book, certainly does not qualify him to speak to doctrine. The "worship of Mary"? Nope, we don't worship the Blessed Mother, we pray to her as an intercessor albeit, the primary one to her Son.

The Church as being responsible for the Italians' proclivity to "hide" their handicap family and friends from society? Kind of a stretch, I would say. Similar to his treatment of Berlusconi, Hooper will hand the Church a daisy in one hand and with the other, a box of dynamite. Overall, an interesting and informative read but far more hardhitting and serious than I expected.

Feb 26, Rob rated it really liked it Shelves: It's engaging and easy to read, with a number of interesting asides. Hooper loves to reference, so footnotes rub shoulders with anecdotes, all duly marked, and his tastes are small-c catholic, so he is able to give a fairly broad overview of the times. This makes the book a great resource for anyone wanting a little bit of insight before visiting the country, for example, as well as providing a few useful terms and others that may not be quite so useful if employed by a non-Italian speaker!

The same is true of Italian life in general. Imprecision is, on the whole, highly prized. Definition and categorization are, by contrast, suspect. This means that some discussions peter out just as they have found some room to breathe in, often with a rather stagy lead-in to the next section.

That said, the breezy tone and sheer breadth of what is covered means the book never overstays its welcome. Jan 15, Naveed Qazi rated it really liked it. Very delightful read about a country with a great cultural past. Feb 08, Suzanne rated it liked it.

I've been living in Italy, amongst Italians, for the past twenty-two years. I wanted to read this book for some answers as to why Italians behave the way they do because a lot of it really makes no sense to me, even after all these years. All of the observations John Hooper makes are right on target- sorry all you Italo-Americans who might have a different idea- modern Italians are exactly the way described in this book. However, there were no really good answers as to why!! Okay, the author d I've been living in Italy, amongst Italians, for the past twenty-two years.

Okay, the author does give some supposed historical reasons for their behavior I mean, this is the 21st century Aside from the subject matter, John Hooper's writing style is a bit dry!

I would have liked more of his personal opinions and individual voice to come through with the writing. May 29, Kirsten McKenzie rated it it was amazing. I read a copy from the library. I now have a library fine because it took me a while to get through it. I wanted to take in every word, and understand it fully.

If you ever felt that you wanted to understand Italy more than what you could glean from Under the Tuscan Sun or from A Room with a View , then this is the book for you. The author set an amazing scene. If only he'd been my history tea I read a copy from the library. If only he'd been my history teacher at school.

I shall now go and buy a copy for myself to keep on my bookshelf. Aug 21, Beth rated it liked it. Since a review noted that this book would explain Italian culture, I picked it up to read to better understand the Italian culture underpinnings demonstrated by my husband. I found explanations of history that explained; Why family is important How Catholicism is injected to Christians and non Christians in Italy Why Italians like to dress well and present themselves in the best light How they think of themselves as individuals but love to be part of a crowd I skipped a lot of detail- more than I Since a review noted that this book would explain Italian culture, I picked it up to read to better understand the Italian culture underpinnings demonstrated by my husband.

I found explanations of history that explained; Why family is important How Catholicism is injected to Christians and non Christians in Italy Why Italians like to dress well and present themselves in the best light How they think of themselves as individuals but love to be part of a crowd I skipped a lot of detail- more than I wanted, but did photocopy specific pages, highlight that parts that described my husband's character and gave those pages to him to read.

I await his comments. Nov 08, Elizabeth Dultz rated it liked it. I always try to write reviews for books I win through Goodreads. When entering the drawing for this one, I wasn't sure what to expect from the book, but I was pleasantly surprised. I'm currently taking an anthropology course, and this was a nice counterpoint: Some evidence he cites doesn't fully substantiate the claims he goes on to make, but the book is well-organized, comprehensive, and--perhaps most important for the reading experience--the enthusiasm he has for hi I always try to write reviews for books I win through Goodreads.

Some evidence he cites doesn't fully substantiate the claims he goes on to make, but the book is well-organized, comprehensive, and--perhaps most important for the reading experience--the enthusiasm he has for his subject is apparent. Dec 25, Holli Krusemark rated it liked it. I won this book as a first read. I thought it was a well researched piece with information that you won't find in a travel guide. It is a more honest Italy than what we get from movies and TV. Feb 14, Penny Cipolone rated it liked it. A nice follow-up to Luigi Barzini text of the same name.

A bit slow in sections but quite fascinating in others. Oct 15, James Sorensen marked it as to-read Shelves: I won this book as part of the Goodreads First-Read program. Mar 25, Fortunata rated it really liked it. A good read if you have a genuine interest in Italy and the Italians. There were pages that I found so insightful that I wondered how the author could pick up such subtle nuances in character and expression that the Italians themselves are not even aware of. At times I felt relief, having reached some understanding of myself and why I do or think the way I do in certain areas of life - but of course, I'm Italian!

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I found some of the chapters particularly entertaining and others not so much but t A good read if you have a genuine interest in Italy and the Italians. I found some of the chapters particularly entertaining and others not so much but that would be because my interests lie elsewhere and politics make up a good part of the analysis.

I would have appreciated the author delving into other areas of the Italian psyche as well.

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