Growth through Knowledge for Action & Action for Knowledge: stimulating critical thinking, facilitating practical action
They used to be called business ecosystems: clusters of cooperation and healthy competition within a certain geographical area. Today we talk about #ideasenvironments because everything has become much more subject to dynamic changes and disruptions.
Such environments are essential to any enterprise to survive and thrive; for this reason every business should actively participate in developing such physical and conceptual areas.
34 people from 20 different countries, basically representing all of the continents, different ages and work experience from several academic and professional backgrounds. This is the ‘melting-pot’ that characterises the 8th edition of this unique MBA that has reached its 8th edition.
Its executive-style-full-time format linked to several key subjects elaborated through many teamwork activities, stimulate an active and positive leveraging on a multifaceted diversity.
I am fortunate and proud to have been part of the the program since the very beginning and starting it up with the ‘Leadership, Individual and Group Development’ Module that set-ups ways to identify a marked Personal Branding and take advantage at best of the entire MBA path in order to enhance the desired career development.
Here some pictures relevant to the group work activities regarding Personal Branding case studies.
From January 13th through the 20th Riccardo spent time in India with Samit.
We focused on business development related to sectors as automotive, food industry and Motorsport.
Within automotive we are focusing on and entrepreneurial car care top quality products that are going to develop BtoB and BtoC activities.
Within the food industry a client of ours is going to offer a know-know and natural coadjuvants to increase the yield productivity within the dairy industry.
Regarding Motorsport we are focusing on ways to raise the awareness and professional standard levels through the cooperation of professionals in our Italian and United Kingdom network. We are in the process of shaping in such regard a unique educational project with a university in Mumbai as well as racing developments with the Mohites Academy at the Kolhapur karting track. The goal is to make solid, dependable and easy to approach pathways of racing career developments to Italy and Europe.
Stay tuned …
… in view of new developments that are going to involve the track and that are going to involve Synergy Pathways Motorsport joining forces with the Mohites Academy owner of the track, during my last visit in January I tested the track.
Fun track, fast and technical, featuring 14 different configurations over a length of about 1,2 km.
We are currently working on developing some innovative activities that are going to empower solidly the India to Italy link set to develop concretely the racing professional career of young Indian talents. Stay tuned…
On Tuesday December 13th, in Lucca – Italy, at the headquarters of Lucca Chartered Accountants and Accounting Expert Association, it has been held a workshop/seminar about the topic “India as an opportunity of international business development to embrace with awareness”. The purpose of the meeting was to raise awareness and dialogue on ways to facilitate and support Italian Small and Medium Enterprises to develop business in India to the benefit of their own growth and the growth of India itself.
The meeting was organised by the Association and in particular stimulated, lead and moderated by Pierpaolo Vannucci, Founder and Business Partner of Vannucci & Associati , a Chartered Accountants and Tax Advisors Firm that is also member to the MGI worldwide network. The International Business Development Organisation Synergy Pathways presented ideas and practices utilised to effectively and efficiently face and embrace the Indian business context from an internationalisation point of view with Sace organisation presented financial and insurance tools that enable such operations.
Synergy Pathways was represented in Lucca by Riccardo Paterni, co-founder and Project Leader, and Samit Naik live from Mumbai, co-founder and Project Leader himself. It was chosen a workshop format in order to involve at best the audience that concretely demonstrated a keen an focused interest on the subject matter. Valerio Alessandrini, coordinator of Sace Lucca, presented the services that his organisation is actively offering to enable business towards and with Indian companies.
Synergy Pathways operates in a unique way that enables effective and efficient (in terms of time, focus and finance) development of business development towards India by a business model that enabled by a solid trusted strategic operational bridge Italy-India by the two co-founders: the concrete focus on organisations and markets takes not only a macro and micro strategic approach but, in a way that represents a key relevance, a very operational one on the Indian grounds. Approach that becomes enabled also by the direct involvement of specific specialists within law, accounting and taxation topics managed by trusted, on the ground, sources as the ones belonging to the MGI international network itself.
Several key aspects surfaced supporting the contents presented through examples and integrating Synergy Pathways’ and Sace’ services as well. Specific market and policies opportunities in India were pointed out as well as the constraints given by complexities surfacing from many sources. Within these complexities it was pointed out that even in terms of demographics dynamic alone, India has reached a key point of development that seeks and needs proper, reciprocally respectful, foreign inputs.
These topics spanned also from business culture ones to the all relevant focus on nurturing relationships and sound business to develop business with a mid to long term view (there are similarities in conducting and negotiating business transactions among the two countries). 
The workshop format enabled many exchanges also with Samit Naik in live connection from Mumbai and set a stage for action items to actually implement debated strategies and operationally phased activities.
For further references to the Internationalisation Development activities: Synergy Pathways
L’India è percepita da molti come un mercato di sviluppo dell’internazionalizzazione dalle potenzialità ancora inespresse. Le potenzialità sono percepite in relazione a vari fattori fra i quali: il numero di abitanti (oltre un miliardo e 200 milioni alla data attuale), la crescita economica nel corso degli ultimi anni (presente seppure non rimarchevole), il senso del business imprenditoriale all’interno di quella che è realmente la più grande democrazia al mondo, il fatto che l’inglese è sempre più diffusa come seconda lingua di uso corrente anche nel quotidiano.
All’interno di questo contesto (che già in se si presta al dibattito sotto vari punti di vista) sono presenti una serie di dinamiche riguardanti il sistema economico, sociale, legale e culturale che hanno un i
mpatto consistente in merito ad azioni di internazionalizzazione sul territorio indiano.
Ciò che serve per gestire al meglio si a opportunità che barriere è un senso di consapevolezza vissuta sia da un punto di vista strategico (visione di insieme del sistema), sia da un punto di vista operativo (concretezza operativa nel quotidiano).
Un incontro che si terrà a Lucca il 13 dicembre alle 15 (vedi immagini di presentazione) è volto ad approfondire in forma di dibattito proprio questi aspetti.
The Motorsport Industry is rapidly developing an industrial and managerial influence that goes well beyond the business of racing. This is one of the reasons why it has been introduced on 28th September 2016 at Regent’s University in London within an International Academic Conference organised by the International Academy of Management & Business (the Academy involves scholars and practitioners coming from all over the world, focusing on several research topics that are shaping the present and future of organisational and business development www.iamb.net ).
Riccardo Paterni (Entrepreneur focusing on Motorsport developments at Synergy Pathways), Dr.Tim Angus (Honorary Research Fellow, Center for Business in Society, Coventry University) and Gabriele Testi (Motorsport journalist) have elaborated a presentation illustrating the relevance of the Motorsport Industry in developing knowledge, innovation and know-how that can be shared and applied across various industries.
Motorsport empowering management & business development
After a brief introduction relevant to the nature itself of Motorsport as a global business and to its roots historically based mainly in the UK and Italy, the presenter (Riccardo Paterni) has outlined three key concepts relevant to the Motorsport Industry: 1) the substantial amount of know-how that is dynamically produced and utilised because of a unique mix of high level of technological capital investment and highly skilled human capital; 2) the concrete understanding and implementation of innovation; 3) the systematic capability to share know how across industries. Specific case studies have illustrated the concepts.
The first two case studies have featured two Italian companies deeply rooted into Motorsport. Costruzioni Meccaniche Novricom (based in Pontedera – Tuscany) and Ycom (based in Colecchio, close to Parma – Emilia Romagna).
Powerful mix of top technology and top human skills
Costruzioni Meccaniche Novicrom, whom founder Iliano Parrini was a young colleague of Enzo Ferrari in Alfa Romeo well before becoming a Ferrari supplier (since the late ’60). Novicrom develops high precision machine tooling to manufacture small batches components and prototypes. Since its founding in 1947 the company invested 20% of its turnover in technology and at the same time retained a highly skilled, continuously trained, workforce which seniority goes well above 30 years. This unique mixes allowed for a transfer of applied know-how from aviation to Motorsport and from there to more sophisticated aerospace and aviation industries straightening top level presence in motorsport and automotive.
Innovation and the motorsport culture
Ycom, a motorsport manufacturer focusing on the entire project innovation cycle: design, development, carbonfiber, manufacturing, testing and racing. In particular it has been pointed out the capability of the company to accelerate the timing of the innovation process – measured through the Technology Readiness Level developed by NASA – while containing budgets. To illustrate the point it has been selected the project commissioned by Lotus to Ycom relevant to the project of the GTE version of the Evora set for racing at the 24Hours of Le Mans and World Endurance Championship. The case study shows the unique overall motorsport culture driven by a passioned skilled sense of determination to develop innovation: solutions to problems, to effectively generate and sustain performance.
A flow of knowledge: from racing to pharmaceutical
Last but not least the case study selected to show the hight capability to share motorsport know-how across other fields. McLaren has since been since the ‘70s an innovator in utilising sensors to capture and download data from the racing car in other to elaborate them. McLaren has been one of the first motorsport companies to perceive itself as an overall technology company: the overall McLaren Technology Group concept begins from there and it has evolved since into the current McLaren Applied Technologies. This last company has set up a partnership with the pharmaceutical corporation Glaxo Smith Klein to utilise a much evolved sensor technology to monitor, prevent and manage several health issues. A flowing know-who from tracks to the pharmaceutical industry.
An open forum
A debate has emerged with the generalist academic audience that has come to realise how the Motorsport Industry can represent concretely a conceptual and practical way to improve management and business development methods. This can represent an all new dimension of Motorsport that, no doubt, deserves to be further analysed, understood and applied.
SLIDES PDF:
FIRST PART: Motorsport Industry: driving innovation and industry diversification – prima parte
SECOND PART: Motorsport Industry: driving innovation and industry diversification – seconda parte
Motorsport: driving innovation and industry diversification
New knowledge development and knowledge sharing
presented at the International Academy of Management and Business’s Conference
On Friday September 28th at Regent’s University LONDON
By
Riccardo Paterni (Entrepreneur at Synergy Pathways) – presenter
Dr Tim Angus (Honorary Research Fellow, Centre for Business in Society, Coventry University)
with Gabriele Testi (Motorsport journalist)
Topic Abstract:
Motorsport is not simply a sport involving racing cars, it is a complex and far reaching industry generating many billions of US dollars of global turnover each year. It has deep historical roots that go back to the very beginning of the automotive industry,
Motorsport involves a wide international network of manufactures, related components sup- pliers, research & development activities, related paying fans (and in most cases paying dri- vers) and sponsors. These invest and leverage the global media system that for some of the championships has a strong global reach (for example Formula 1 Grand Prix are the most glo- bally followed sport taking second place only to the Soccer World Cups and the Olympics). Mo- torsport has a dimension that spreads from the local to the global in which many global automo- tive manufacturers are involved. It has a value chain that involves: constructors, participants, events, and the distribution and consumption of the sport. The total global yearly turnover for Motorsport as an industry is well above USD 50 billions (Henry et al, 2007) .
Motorsports integrated complexities are what makes it a unique business ecosystem which is similar in many respects to many other business ecosystems that might be encountered within various economic fields; such complexities are generated by many variables spanning techno- logical aspects to regulation, the management of high levels of dynamic know-how and the shaping-up, development and management of often far reaching business models.Motorsport requires, by default, an extremely dynamic constantly changing environment requiring a consistent focus on efficiency (relevant to financial, technological, infrastructural, organizational and highly skilled human resources management) and, at the same time, a marked and relentless focus on on-racing-track and commercial performance.
All of these characteristics make the Motorsport ecosystem a solid, concrete and at the same time continuously evolving laboratory of innovation: a laboratory in which innovation is identified and implemented in very pragmatic terms, for example, in terms of novel effective solutions to problems (racing tracks are nothing if not constant active practical and conceptual laboratories for these problems), novel products and services that are welcomed by markets. Innovation in motorsport goes well beyond the realm of technological innovation into innovation in knowledge generation, knowledge-transfer and new business models related to new industrial and commercial realities. Industry diversification, rooted in this new knowledge production , is a natural offspring of these industrial dynamics.
An additional characteristic that feeds this overall system, is the presence of specific motorsport industrial clusters (geographically comprised socio-economic networks that develop and implement new knowledge) that have been characterizing parts of the industry since its beginning and are still present today (e.g. the UK’s ‘Motorsport Valley and Italy’s ‘Motor Valley’). Motorsport and its related industrial and research & development activities has become a prime example of high level knowledge development ready to be shared among other applications and industries. We will present case studies (Costruzioni Meccaniche Novicrom, Ycom and McLaren Applied Technologies) that represent this concept from a knowledge perspective generating far reaching business development activities by leveraging upon the constant in- novation present within motorsport.
These are the ways in which McLaren Advanced Technologies and Williams Engineering are renovating the biomedical industry by utilising F1 know-how. The journalist Gabriele Testi wrote this article for the Italian Edition of motorsport.com , I contributed to write it. These topics will be presented an elaborated in the book fasttrackinnovation.it .
Article (in Italian) Così McLaren e Williams stanno contribuendo a rinnovare l’industria biomedicale
Today, arguably more than ever, there is a lot of focus on novel ideas to feed start-up fast growth aims. All of this stimulates a stronger focus on effective entrepreneurship development. Increasingly, within our fast changing complex society, an entrepreneurial mindset, even an Entrepreneurial Society, is considered essential for people owning their company or working in one.
This article from the Harvard Business Review Blog states, arguably, on why there are still actual fundamental mismatches within the current societal and regulatory framework of rules and norms vs what is concretely needed for actual progress driven by widespread entrepreneurship.
In my opinion an Entrepreneurial Society, if we define it as a society in which any individual can take initiative to develop ideas in business for his/her own and a great social good, needs to be conceptually separated from the one relevant the the Financial Capitalism Society in which the idea is essentially developed ‘to make money out of money’ and basically unavoidably this has little to do with stimulating a concrete and innovative entrepreneurial spirit that nowadays is needed more than ever to improve many aspects of social and economic life by now widespread in similar fashions across the world.
Up-for-debate.
