Advanced management field trip in the United States: The IRI;

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Advanced Management
Field Trip
in the United States
ThelKI
The Institute for Industrial Reconstruction
(commonly referred to as IRI) is the hold­ing
company and management agency for
the bulk of the Italian government's di­verse
interests in industry and banking. It
is made up of over 100 companies which employ some 290,000 people and
sell close to $3 billion worth of goods and services.
Member companies of Europe's fourth largest industrial
organization, the Instituto per la Ricostruzione Indus­t
r i a l , were well represented this fall when the TRB&S
International Coordinating Office conducted an advanced
management field trip here in the United States. Nineteen
Italian managers participated in the program, visiting 29
companies in seven major cities in a three week span.
Their aim was to gain insight into advanced management
techniques as practiced by leading manufacturers in our
country, covering everything from marketing and produc­tion
to research, development and advanced business
systems. They attended presentations by companies such
as Worthington, IBM, GE, Socony Mobil, W. R. Grace,
U.S. Steel, Alcoa, Bay State Abrasives, Sylvania and the
National Bank of Detroit, and also heard talks from
Professor Melvin Anshen of Columbia, Professor William
Cooper of Carnegie, Professor Charles Christianson of
Harvard and Richard Sprague, TRB&S Partner and
Director of the Advanced Business Systems Department.
The managers were untiring in their pursuit of knowl­edge
about our country. They not only found time for
morning briefings and nightly critiques, but also insisted
on getting as thorough an impression of the United States
as was possible in a three-week period. They managed two
5:00 a.m. reveilles one weekend so that they could see
Niagara Falls, and took organized tours of both Chicago
and the World's Fair. At least one relaxed evening was
enjoyed by all, however, thanks to the hospitality of John
W. McEachren. Mr. McEachren, Advisory Partner and
former Managing Partner, hosted the group for cocktails
and dinner at the Country Club of Detroit in Grosse
Pointe.
The trip was organized by Lou D'Amore, TRB&S con­sultant
from the International Coordinating Office Lou's
knowledge of Italian made possible on-the-spot exchange
of ideas and concepts and helped in question and answer
sessions. Visits in Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Boston
were arranged by Justin Davidson and Anton Petran, Joe
Bianco, Professor Cooper and Professor Christianson, re­spectively.
Present for the critique in New York on the final day
of the program were Dr. Gaetano Cortesi, Central Di­rector
of I.R.I, and Roger Crane, TRB&S Coordinator
for International Management Services. Dr. Cor­tesi
and Mr. Crane conceived the ideas for the field trip
this summer when Mr. Crane was in Italy.