Professional Interview

NAME: Eng. Fabrizio Fantechi
JOB TITLE: Operation Director for Conerobus S.P.A.
DATE OF THE INTERVIEW: June 15th, 2022
CONTACT:

What is your role within Conerobus S.P.A [1]?

My role within Conerobus is Operation Director. I am responsible for personnel, maintenance of vehicles, buildings and facilities, as well as being responsible for safety. I have been in this role for a short period, and before that, I was general manager at Linea S.P.A.

How many years have you been in this role?

As anticipated in the previous question, I've been covering this new task for a short period, about one month, but I have held my role at Linea S.P.A. for nearly 20 years.

How is the company structured?

The company is divided into departments that deal with the administrative part up to the operation of the vehicles. They report directly to the President and the Board.

How are the possible problems of the company managed?

We do not follow a protocol for the management of possible problems. But we follow a general philosophy: we tend to have a pragmatic approach (rather than scientific or mathematics) intending to give a fast response to external stimuli, but at the same time with the ultimate aim of improving the company.

In case of "Crisis" there is a protocol that you follow as a company to solve the period? In case it does not exist, do you apply a personal protocol developed thanks to your experience?

Initially, we did not have a well-defined protocol for periods of crisis, but we followed a philosophy of getting out of them improved. Now, after the pandemic, we are developing emergency procedures; with the ultimate aim of protecting employees and passengers.
After this question, I think I will start, to use more general unified procedures.

Who sets the business objectives? How often is progress assessed and new instructions issued if progress is not achieved?

In our company we have two types of objectives: the first type are the business objectives, which are selected by the board of directors and the president. These have an annual recurrence that coincides with the session of approval of the budget, and they have the objective of the business increase. Each time the board meets, the performances are evaluated, and the objectives that are below expectations are reported to the responsible department.
The second type is certification. Our company has 3 types of certifications: Safety, environmental and quality certification. This leads to our constant evaluation by external bodies that every year renew the certification according to the objectives achieved.

What kind of control do you apply in the company? You tend to have "feedforward" control, which is to make sure that the right direction is set and the resources are in order; a "Concurrent" control, which is to make sure that things are completed correctly while the work is being done; or "Feedback" and compare the results to expectations?

We do not use a linearly defined methodology, but we can say that we use a mix between feedforward and feedback. We tend to give a lot of instructions and follow new changes due to upgrades or new goals at the beginning and then receive feedback at the set deadlines. From your question, I understand that we lack "concurrent" control, and I think we should use it more as it would give us more opportunities to intervene quickly and effectively.

Who is in charge of the evaluation of possible future employees: an external company or an internal department?

In our company, the recruitment and evaluation of possible future employees is the responsibility of an external company, which is given the requests from the board of directors, including the future objectives.
I believe this method is much more effective than the internal department, as it focuses more on the future of the company, while with an internal department, we tend to maintain the same line of thought as the previous generation. Summing up, the use of an internal department is more something that points to a conservative policy, while with an external company, in addition to hiring many more young people, it is more oriented towards innovation.

What do you think about the privacy of workers in the workplace? Do you think that this right somehow hinders the growth of the company, hiding "informal feedback"?

I believe that privacy does not create an obstacle by hiding "informal feedback", but rather, if privacy is a key point of the company and this is communicated well, it creates a better business environment and increases employee confidence in the employer, making these feedback more spontaneous.

If you were to give a message to future business executives who are currently studying to become one, what would you say?

I do not feel able to give a hint to the new generations, you are already much ahead of us, and we should learn from your preparation. The only thing I can say and advise future generations is not to be afraid to take responsibility. If they start taking responsibility, the future executive is in good hands.

[1] Conerobus S.P.A. is the equivalent of the TTC for the italian city Ravenna

Interview Analysis

During this interview, I had the opportunity to compare two types of approaches: the Italian and the North American.
The Italian approach reflects the artisanal and peasant origin of Italian and European business, denoting the lack of a scientific-mathematical procedure within the company, as can be the decision-making process or the protocol for problem-solving. In particular, I noticed how these companies were forced to apply this approach to survive the pandemic.

Another difference between the Italian-European and the American system, and this time in a positive way compared to what I learned in this course, is the family atmosphere that develops within companies, large, medium or small. Of course, in small and medium-sized companies, it is easier for this environmental situation to be created, but at the same time, it allows for a greater sense of belonging and more significant speed in the exchange of information between the highest and lowest management levels. In addition, the creation of a friendly atmosphere, as can be seen from the answer to the question about privacy, facilitates interaction and the receipt of informal feedback.

Another thing I noticed during the interview is: how the corporate mentality tends to the preservation of the status quo without a real innovative nature. In particular, it can be seen in the question of recruitment, where the introduction of an external company that receives only some indications from the company, in particular future objectives, ensures a generational turnover projected to innovation and business improvement. At the same time, however, this does not prevent the recruitment of people later in the years, but with a great desire to give for the future and with the experience and skills necessary for business growth, just as in the case of Eng. Fantechi.