THE EXPERIENCE OF ITALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Carlo Spagnoli (Unioncamere)
Most of the economic indicators show that SMEs are the main creators of jobs, while big companies are gradually reducing their labour force. This is mainly due to the well known phenomenon of restructuring in the industrial sector over recent years, and more recently in the services sector as well; nowadays, SMEs represent 98% of European enterprises.
Nevertheless, recent studies indicate that new enterprises have great difficulties in surviving more than three years, and the ones that manage to last longer need specific services.
Therefore, the Italian Chambers of Commerce are committed to developing initiatives in support of SMEs in order both to ensure their competitiveness and to sustain their growth. In this way, the 103 Italian Chambers of Commerce promote direct and indirect initiatives to create new employment, forming an important "bridge" between Administration and enterprises.
Moreover, they are in a privileged position to observe and be thoroughly familiar with the demand side of the labour market as well as to launch initiatives for the development of both enterprises and employment.
The broad commitment of the Chambers of Commerce and their special interest in creating new employment has followed four lines of action, leading to a series of targeted initiatives utilising the Internet tecnologies.
These initiatives concern:
The link between demand and supply (support for setting up new firms and strengthening and consolidation of small an medium sized enterprises);1. THE LINK BETWEEN SUPPLY AND DEMAND: SUPPORT FOR SETTING UP NEW FIRMS AND STRENGTHENING SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED BUSINESSESProfessional and Business training for enterprises;
Local planning programs.
The question is: how can we reduce the number of enterprises that fail shortly after start-up? Some of the reasons for this arise from the lack of information on markets, competitiveness, and the availability of services. SMEs have difficulties in reaching high professional standards while the markets become more and more demanding.
The Italian Chambers of Commerce therefore lend support both at the initial stage and subsequently when an enterprise needs to remain as competitive as possible in the global market. Indeed, only competitive enterprises can maintain their employment rate and possibly create new jobs.
a) Support for enterprise creation
In their efforts to help the development of new and valuable entrepreneurial activities, Italian Chambers of Commerce pay special attention to young people and female entrepreneurs, mainly through ad hoc seminars and training courses.
According to an evaluation
report, in 1997 about 30000 would-be entrepreneurs applied to Italian Chamber
of Commerce services: 15% more than 1996. The increasing demand indicates
that Chamber of Commerce information support appears increasingly useful
in helping an entrepreneurial idea to become a concrete successful and
competitive business in the global market.
The most innovative initiative to be mentioned in this area is the New Enterprise Service.
This project was launched by Unioncamere in conjunction with Assefor and involves 57 Chambers of Commerce.
One of the major difficulties faced by hopeful entrepreneurs is the lack of appropriate information on legal/administrative issues and financial opportunities available.
Therefore, the "New Enterprise Service" offers the would-be entrepreneur information on the fiscal and administrative advantages/disadvantages of each legal business structure, on available market niches, on possible competitors and/or suppliers, and on the financial incentives available at a national and local level. Future entrepreneurs can have their entrepreneurial skills and the feasibility of their projects checked out using a custom-made computer system, Where appropriate, it offers ad hoc courses/seminars aimed at improving entrepreneurial expertise.
• Punto Nuova Impresa -PNI (New Enterprise network
In 1994 a pilot project was launched in order to improve the creation of new enterprises in the northern Italian region of Lombardy; the project was consolidated in 1996, with the name of "Regional new enterprise network".
The reason for setting up a real network lies in the fact that there is a shortfall of jobs with employed status leading to a significant increase in self-employment and entrepreneurial initiatives. Most people looking for their first job, or who have lost their job and are unable to find new employment, turn to self-employment.. Within this process, there are no guarantees or immediate success. Therefore, the "New enterprise regional network" was set up to guide and support independent initiatives through a network of 15 information points spread throughout Lombardy. The network provides the following services :
information; by the end of 1997, about 43700 people applied for and received informationb) Support to enterprise consolidationthe organisation of a hundred of "one-day workshops" on the problems and opportunities of enterprise creation; in 1997, 3290 persons were involved
training courses on enterprise planning; 1070 people attended the 37 courses promoted in 1997.
a consultancy service on the availability of financial incentives; in 1997, 4360 hours of personal assistance were provided .
Chamber of Commerce experience shows that even innovative SMEs often find it difficult to find highly qualified and reliable consultants to help them in their development strategy. On the other hand, less "sensitive" SMEs often underestimate the importance of consulting external experts to check the effectiveness and competitiveness of their management model.
In order to help already existing enterprises strengthen their position and encourage them towards increasing quality standards, Italian Chambers of Commerce have stressed the need to anticipate market challenges, by constantly innovating (both from a technological and a managerial point of view) and by ensuring full and early compliance with international - mainly EU- norms, so as to avoid any risk of "import bans" from other countries.
All Unioncamere initiatives
in this area take special account of the difficult situation of southern
Italy.
In 1993-96 Unioncamere headed the Le-Te project, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.
It aimed at strengthening a number of enterprises located in four Objective 1 Regions (Abruzzo, Basilicata, Molise and Puglia), by helping to provide business "check-ups" to look at their development strategies, efficiency and the innovative quality of their management.
The initiative has been considered very successful: between 1993-96, about 230 businesses which drew up feasibility plans under the Le-Te project increased their yearly turn-over by 37%, their productivity by 23% and the number of employees by 11%.
Later, Unioncamere obtained European Commission approval for the Sepri project: a fresh subsidy for the 1997-99 period making it possible to extend the Le-Te project to all southern Italian Regions.
• Consultants’ Self-certified Directory for enterprise support
Since 1995, the Consultants’ Directory has been accessible through the Internet.
Currently it includes about 700 consultants working in the field of enterprise support. For each of them an appropriate web page has been created, giving detailed information about their specific field of activity, references for their previous work, their complete CV and any other relevant information. In this way Italian Chambers of Commerce have provided many young and skilled professionals with a useful marketing tool, able to put them directly in touch with a large number of enterprises.
The initiative has already been welcomed by several economic operators.
• Confidi a medio termine(Consortia for Collective Trust Guarantee in the medium term)
These bodies, consisting of various local institutions/financial operators including the Chambers of Commerce, aim at facilitating SMEs’ access to banks. Through them, Chambers of Commerce also lend a hand in the phase of management and internationalisation planning, giving an economic evaluation of the enterprise’s development strategy, as well as by representing its interests vis-à-vis the banking system on a more equal basis.
• DIT (Diffusion of Technological Innovation)project
This project was launched by the Tagliacarne Institute with support from the Italian Ministry for University and Scientific Research. It aims at facilitating contacts between southern SMEs and Research Centres, i.e. Universities, Scientific and Technological Parks, etc.
30 Chambers of Commerce located in Southern Italy have been charged with spreading information on innovation, promoting innovative business models and maximising the impact of appropriate structures already existing in the territory concerned.
By 1997, more than 900 businesses had been contacted directly, about 5000 contacts were established between those seeking innovation and those providing it, more than 200 seminars were held, benefiting about 2500 enterprises, and 5 quality labels were approved.
• Prisma Programme
Unioncamere headed the EU’s Prisma project, which relates to the "selection and diffusion of enterprise information and support in the field of technical norms".
This project involved 5 Chambers of Commerce in the Objective 1 area, namely Bari, Cagliari, Naples, Pescara, Reggio Calabria and the whole Chamber of Commerce Regional Union of Sicily.
By the end of 1996, more than 2400 Southern SMEs had received information through ad hoc seminars and direct visits by the Specialised Agencies’ development agents, or had been submitted to a specialised evaluation "check-up" to test to their conformity with UNI technical standards. Furthermore, ad hoc CD-ROMs, a Vade mecum and an annotated Glossary on technical norms, certification and quality were produced to improve information access.
• Lab Project
Promoted by Unioncamere and supported by the European Regional Development Fund, Lab project aimed at building up the Chamber of Commerce Laboratories for Chemical and Merchandise Analysis in Southern Italy, with a view to further improving Southern SMEs’ competitiveness and growth.
The main goals for 1997 were the diffusion of technical standards and quality both in terms of promoting new competitive tools, and bringing human resources in SMEs and laboratories up-to-date.
This project, which concluded at the end of 1997, gave rise to a efficient network of Laboratories for Chemical and Merchandise Analysis in Southern Italy, integrated with the other Chamber of Commerce Laboratories in Northern and Central Italy through a national network. An efficient quality and certification system has thus been implemented throughout Italy
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Nowadays there is an increasing trend for businesses large and small to set up organisational processes for production systems which aim to simplify both structures and general functions, and to seek new ways of training, managing and using human resources. This has had a significant impact on the skills required of workers, and on people’s ability to evolve and adapt themselves to changes in processes, technology and organisational conditions.
Faced by such changes there has been a noticeable increase in the importance of the role of the policy maker, required to steer and preside over these changes, possibly seeking to anticipate regulations and measures affecting the flexibility of the labour market and an ever tighter integration of the educational and production systems.
However, planning and implementing labour policy intervention and measures makes it necessary to set up and operate a permanent information system which runs uninterruptedly, is fully aware of productive sectors and typologies, and analyses the situation in terms of both the location and dimension of enterprises.
It is this information gap which the Italian Chambers of Commerce intended to fill by setting up an "information system" capable of providing systematic, reliable up-to-the-minute data on the composition and distribution ( geographically, by company size and by area of economic activity) of companies’ indicated demand for different occupational profiles and training needs: the Excelsior system was launched by Unioncamere (the Italian Union of Chambers of Commerce) with the support of the Ministry of Labour and the European Union.
Excelsior started as a pilot project in 1993; at a first stage it involved just 6 Italian Provinces. The project has been extended to the whole Italian territory since 1997: therefore, it offers the first national picture of employment future trends.
The Excelsior project has two knowledge-based aims:
a) to measure the actual and potential demand for various occupations in labour markets in different geographical areas (currently defined in terms of provincial-level local authority areas), so as to provide information to aid those – public or private – bodies involved in finding a fit between the labour supply and the needs of work providers or in encouraging ad hoc direct contacts between the demand and supply sides of labour;
b) to guide institutional decision-makers in matters regarding education and vocational training policies, as well as those involved in education and training at all levels, by providing detailed information on companies’ indicated short and medium-term skill requirements.
The Excelsior project is carried out using a computerised data base containing valuable information both qualitative - i.e. type of profession which are more and more in demand - and quantitative - i.e. number, type and location of interested enterprises, professional renewal/substitution rates.
This data allows reliable biannual forecasts of professional developments..
Excelsior’s system of information is so relevant, in that it pinpoints where new jobs will be created in the next two years, that the European Commission has agreed to extend the project to other member States: the Labour Market Information Net-Work - LAPIN - was launched in May 1998. It will last for two years.
The LAPIN project typifies the same features and objectives as Excelsior. The novelty of LAPIN consists in establishing a qualitative archive which will provide a wide range of labour and training information: European, national and local legislation, labour and training policies, successful case studies, best practices, and the experiences and initiatives of the countries involved in the project.
Unioncamere is the leader of the project, which will produce a new data bank in co-operation with three partners: ACFCI (the Assembly of French Chambers of Commerce and Industry) for France; the Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Wallonie, Belgium; the CDTEC (County Durham - Training and Enterprise Council) for the United Kingdom.
This project provides public administrations with a helpful tool: on the one hand, it provides exhaustive knowledge of the labour market; on the other hand, it promotes co-operation and co-ordination between administrations and intermediaries.
The data bank will thus allow users to obtain useful information to guide decisions either over policy issues or specific interventions designed to foster and sustain employment as well as education and vocational training.
The LAPIN project paves the way for the creation of an European catalogue of professional qualifications requested by enterprises, and will provide a much-needed tool for supporting employment development policy.
2. BUSINESS TRAINING FOR ENTERPRISES
One of the traditional functions of Italian Chambers of Commerce is the professional training of present and future entrepreneurs, managers (an entrepreneur’s closest collaborators) and technicians.
This project, which started few years ago, is co-ordinated by Unioncamere and has the support of the European Social Fund.
50 provinces are involved by this project aimed at forming high level professionals in the following areas:
new enterprise creation, management & consultancy• Campusproductivity management
enterprise decision-making and strategic development
development & internationalisation
technological innovation for enterprise management
environment
distribution & marketing innovation
tourism
The Campus Project was launched in 1995 and is co-financed by Unioncamere and the European Social Fund.
This project involves university students in 9 Northern and Central Italian Regions.
The Chambers of Commerce concerned, co-ordinated by Unioncamere in co-operation with the Conference of Italian University Rectors, Confindustria (the Italian employers’ organisation)and ENEA (the National Research Centre for Alternative Energy), have been charged with organising both specific seminars on business culture and technological innovation, and work placements, to be held as part of their formal courses.
By the end of 1997 about 1600 students had been involved in 100 training initiatives relating to 50 University diplomas, mainly in the field of Engineering, Economics and Technological Sciences.
According to an evaluation carried out in 1997, about 80% of participants believe that the programme meets the goal of integrating theoretical and professional knowledge and about 71% of businesses have established a link with trainees for future employment opportunities.
Because of the success of this four-year pilot project, the scheme has been extended to cover the period 1999-2000.
CAMPUS 99 will set up new initiatives aimed at promoting a ever closer integration of educational and production systems, such as the organisation of a "career day": a meeting between students and enterprises, giving them the opportunity to present themselves and their way of working.
Under the Leonardo Da Vinci programme, a pilot project was carried out in 1996-98 by IFOA and Unioncamere: the Certification of Competence and Credit Transfer.
The aim of the project is to test and then transfer a method of assessing training activities designed in the United Kingdom (by the Business and Technology Education Council) to several other countries (Italy, Spain and France) in order to improve the free movement of workers and to meet the needs of European companies who wish to take on more national and/or Community workers. Generally speaking, this initiative aims to define a method of allocating training credits recognised in different European countries both academically and professionally.
The project has defined and observed a range of courses to enable necessary improvements to be made so that the method can be distributed on a wide scale.
3. LOCAL PLANNING PROGRAMS
The Chambers of Commerce, in collaboration with the Tagliacarne Institute, are already offering local and national authorities considerable advisory support for measures promoting economic development and employment growth.
This sector includes the procedures for monitoring regional economies in the manufacturing sector, which also permits an analysis of employment supply trends in the productive sector. In this field, suggestions are aimed at the development of the various districts together with Chambers of Commerce participation in finalising and promoting the territorial pacts.
• Local network for training opportunities and work access
In 1997 a two year pilot project was launched by Unioncamere as part of the EU initiative "ADAPT". The project was set up in 8 Provinces belonging to the following Regions: Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Lombardy, the Marche, Piedmont, Sardinia, Tuscany and the Veneto. It aims at establishing:
local networks of advisors who directly check the professional needs of each interested SME and then act as intermediaries vis-à-vis the most suitable training centres.•Leonardo Da Vinci programme (www.ifoa.it/Ulixes/service/project.htm)computerised "debate and project forums" consisting of training advisors willing to identify innovative solutions for the businesses’ needs: each advisor has thus a unique opportunity to upgrade skills through the professional knowledge and expertise acquired by all other network members.
ARCO (Adapt Research for Course Opportunities) a data base on available training opportunities, to be constantly up-dated by both CCI and training operators of 10 Italian provinces (Arezzo, Bergamo, Bologna, Cuneo, Florence, Latina, Milan, Pisa, Treviso, and Vicenza).
• Local network for training opportunities and work access