IEC – Institute for Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness

Established at the initiative of CFMT – Centro Formazione Management del Terziario, the Observatory aims to monitor the competitiveness of firms and clusters operating in Italy’s broad and highly diverse service sector, offering them tools, solutions, competitive benchmarks, opportunities for knowledge sharing, and training proposals.

The Observatory’s research activities are developed through an analytical framework comprising three levels for interpreting the competitive dynamics of services in Italy:

• The business environment: Which trends influence the competitiveness of services in Italy? What new challenges and opportunities are emerging within the entrepreneurial ecosystem?
• Clusters and territories: What are the main clusters in the Italian service economy, and what competitive advantages do they offer? How do the various Italian territories differ from one another?
• Companies: How can firms remain competitive in a rapidly evolving environment? Which strategies and business models are adopted by the most successful companies?

Representatives of LIUC – Cattaneo University

Fernando G. Alberti
Director

Federica Belfanti
Researcher

Massimo Riva
Research Fellow

• Analysis and development of cluster and firm competitiveness
• Strategies for the creation of economic and social value (Creating Shared Value)
• Design and analysis of entrepreneurial ecosystems
• Analysis of successful business models
• Study of corporate entrepreneurship processes
• Strategic plans for territories/clusters
• Cluster governance, cluster management, and organization

The Institute is also engaged in the dissemination of research findings and their potential implications through:

• The organization of and participation in events related to research outputs
• Free online teaser seminars for prospective master’s students
• Social media posts, newsletters, and video/audio podcasts
• Articles in professional, specialist, and industry journals
• Its own reports, as well as reports produced by third-party institutions

Fernando G. Alberti

Fernando G. Alberti directs the Porter Institute in Boston and serves as Principal Associate for Europe at Porter Development Initiative, the strategic consulting firm founded by Michael E. Porter. Formerly Institutes Council Leader in the Microeconomics of Competitiveness program led by Prof. M.E. Porter at the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School, he is Full Professor of Entrepreneurial Strategy and Director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness at LIUC. He has served as an Industrial Strategist for both UNIDO and the World Bank. He sits on the advisory boards of Italian family-owned businesses and has developed extensive experience as a family business strategist within the family office of a prominent Italian entrepreneurial family, providing advisory services on strategy and family governance to a number of ultra-high-net-worth entrepreneurs. His book Entrepreneurship by Design ranked first among Amazon business bestsellers. In 2019, Professor Alberti was inducted by Professor Porter into the Microeconomics of Competitiveness Hall of Fame.

Jessica D. Giusti

Jessica D. Giusti is a lecturer and researcher at LIUC – Cattaneo University (Institute for Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness), where she teaches strategy and corporate entrepreneurship and conducts research on business strategy, territorial competitiveness and clusters, entrepreneurial ecosystem governance, and local development.

She teaches in university and master’s programs in Italy, including at LIUC and Sole24Ore Business School, and has served as Affiliate Faculty in the Microeconomics of Competitiveness program directed by Prof. M.E. Porter at the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School.

Her research focuses on SME competitiveness, business models, innovation in clusters and territorial ecosystems, as well as territorial strategic planning processes and shared value creation, with particular attention to the role of stakeholders and local institutions.

Alongside her academic activity, she is intensively involved in applied research and strategic advisory work, coordinating projects for companies, startups, and public institutions on issues of competitive positioning, business model development, and growth strategies. She has collaborated with organizations and companies including Deloitte, Philip Morris, Tenacta, and Toni&Guy, as well as with numerous local authorities and entrepreneurial associations.

She has taken part in national and European research projects (including Horizon 2020 – DiDIY and Interreg-Formativa) and in territorial competitiveness development initiatives, contributing to the design of governance models and tools for local development.

She is the author of scientific articles and academic contributions on strategy, innovation, and competitiveness, published in international journals and academic volumes.

Federica Belfanti

Federica Belfanti is a lecturer and researcher at LIUC University (Institute for Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness), where she teaches strategy and competitiveness and conducts research on business strategy, the competitiveness of clusters and entrepreneurial ecosystems, and innovation. She teaches at Italian and international universities and is Course Leader and lecturer for the Microeconomics of Competitiveness course at FHWien der WKW – University of Applied Sciences for Management & Communication in Vienna.

Formerly Affiliate Faculty in the Microeconomics of Competitiveness program directed by Prof. M.E. Porter at the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School, she is now Leader of the program’s European Chapter.

She is a researcher for the Observatory on the Competitiveness of Service Companies for CFMT and for the Italia Compete project, and combines her academic work with the coordination of applied research initiatives and advisory projects with Italian and international companies and institutions.

She is the author of books and articles on strategy, competitiveness, business models, creating shared value, and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Her published volumes include: Rilanciare la competitività. Dalla creazione di valore condiviso al ridisegno dei modelli di business (Guerini Next, 2021); The End. Le sette discontinuità competitive che cambiano per sempre le organizzazioni (FrancoAngeli, 2023); and La sfida sociale. Perché le imprese non funzionano più e come possiamo aggiustarle (ROI Edizioni). Her work also includes articles in scientific, popular, and managerial publications, including Harvard Business Review Italia.

Massimo Riva

Massimo Riva is a postdoctoral researcher and adjunct professor at LIUC – Cattaneo University, where he conducts research at the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness (IEC) on entrepreneurship, innovation, and territorial competitiveness, with a particular focus on clusters and entrepreneurial ecosystems in processes of economic development and social progress.

He teaches in courses devoted to entrepreneurship and strategy, while also contributing as a teaching assistant in educational activities related to corporate strategic challenges and territorial competitiveness.

He holds a PhD in Management, Accounting and Finance and is currently a researcher for the Italia Compete project and the LIUC Research Office. His scientific activity is characterized by a strong empirical and quantitative orientation, grounded in the use of statistical analysis techniques and complemented by expertise in web scraping, the construction and management of large datasets, and data visualization.

He is the author of publications in international scientific journals on competitiveness, clusters, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and innovation.

Alongside his academic work, he supports companies and local territories in competitive analysis, strategic planning, benchmarking, data collection and interpretation, and stakeholder workshop facilitation. He also works as an innovation manager and, previously, gained experience in the digital sector, first as an IT consultant and later by contributing to the development of a startup in the mobility-as-a-service field, eventually becoming part of its shareholder base.