An elastic managerial revolution: Family, managers and multidivisional organisation at Pirelli (1943–56)

Abstract

Adopting a perspective which takes into account primary sources and considers the context within which the firm operates could be beneficial for the study of the interaction of structures, strategies, ownership and performances. It would help to consider aspects of actual management activity usually underestimated by theory. The case of the introduction of a multidivisional structure at Pirelli rubber company – reconstructed based on the personal documentation of a top manager, Giuseppe Luraghi – underlines how the actual struggle for power inside the firm lingers behind labels often considered as objective entities. Therefore, M-form is an elastic concept, which could plastically adapt itself to different empirical arrangements, following the bargaining among groups within the firm and between them and outside influences.