I molteplici significati della “governance”: verso un chiarimento in ottica economico-aziendale

Abstract

The word “governance” - widely used in political, sociological, law, economic and managerial studies - has different meanings and they are analyzed in these pages. The work starts considering the expression “corporate governance”; some Italian studies using some new words, like “governamento” or “governanza”, are cited, too. Our attention is focused on the relationship between governance and the Italian idea of “governo” (especially when referred to firms or other economic organizations): both very extensive interpretations of governance and the indifference between governance and “governo” are refused. Thus, a specific concept of governance is proposed: it can be useful in managerial studies, as it is consistent with the assumption that too idealized representations, even if very evocative and probably useful in other contexts (urban administration, public management, social movements etc.), cannot be applied to firms and other economic organizations. Our conclusions are supported by the Italian doctrine about firm’s “governo”, some studies about territorial marketing and recent systemic approaches to firms and social institutions.