Via Imperiali, 77, 36100
tel. ++ 39 (0) 444. 512733 - fax ++ 39 (0) 444. 512420
toni.brunello@studiocentroveneto.com
It's
better to light a candle
than
to curse the darkness (
Born in
Consultant, trainer, researcher since 1968 for
trade associations, corporations, chambers of commerce and small and medium
businesses.
APCO - Professional Association of Company
Organisation and Management Consultants. - Member since 1988. Internationally
certified ICMCI consultant since 1991.
Founder and national vice-president of AICOD
1988-92, then Fonti-Confindustria external consultant.
Past-president of the Assindustria Vicenza High
Value-Added Service Industry sector.
European Union Expert on Integrated
Mediterranean Programmes and Generational Changeover.
How the Business
Transfer was born?
A short account.
Toni Brunello's field of experience has been
with small and medium industrial and artisan companies, and their trade
organisations, right from the start.
On the basis of experience and awareness gained
in cultural and geographic areas then at the forefront (1968), his intention
was to make experience that seemed to be the sole domain of big companies
available to small ones as well.
In the course of his management consultancy
work in the early 1980s - since 1972 focused mainly on the development of
entrepreneurial and human resources - Brunello found himself in several small
businesses that were then going through the drama of generational changeover.
In search of
techniques, new tools, language and other peoples' experiences.
In attempting to understand the dynamics of the
problem and identify tools for resolving it, he realised how little was offered
by organisational theory for dealing with the fairly occasional occurrences
then taking place, and how much less for those affecting small businesses.
Training and
consultancy work.
He nevertheless began reflecting on and
studying the matter, developing training programmes with associations (1983-91)
and consultancy work with companies (1980s and early '90s) that in the early
'90s resulted in several more targeted studies and the first real clarification
of the problem.
Targeted projects,
research and documentation.
The project entitled 'Tomorrow, when I'll be
young... a company can say so', conducted in various stages for the Ancona
Assindustria over a period of five years and still open to new developments,
was launched after publication of an article in the AICOD magazine (1993).
A study was made on a sample of fifty-odd
family businesses in the course of that programme, followed up by a comparative
workshop with the participation of senior and junior entrepreneurs, in parallel
with direct consultancy work and the first publication of the survey conducted.
Experience as European
Union expert.
Following on from these specific experiences,
Brunello was involved in preparation work in
Since 1999, Mr Antonio Brunello, with Mr Carlo
Spagnoli of Unioncamere Rome, is the official Italian technical member.
The Expert Group did ten meetings in three
years, and produced two important Reports:
-
Best
Report June 2002
-
MAP
Report August 2003
All the documentation is available on the
web-page:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/entrepreneurship/support_measures/transfer_business/index.htm)
In the first Report there was a list of 34
European Best Practices; 6 of these are Italian; 3 (kit.brunello, Laboratorium, Transfbiz Exchange-Letter) have been
produced by the Atelier StudioCentroVeneto for SME’s Business Transfer and
Continuity.
The Brunello 'Handing
over: …from one generation to the next' Kit, in the Edizioni Il Sole-24 Ore.
The most significant results of these and other
experiences were collected into an interactive self-analysis kit entitled
'Handing over: …from one generation to the next', now defined as the KitBrunello, published by the Edizioni Il Sole-24 Ore as an insert
with MondoEconomico and circulated in over 50,000 copies.
The European 'Relais'
Project, supported by the European Union's DG23.
Six seminars were held over the course of 1998
in Verona, Lyons, Barcelona, London, Brussels and Linz to help sensitise those
concerned to the problem of Business Transfer and to circulate and improve the
Brunello Kit as a methodological tool for governing the processes Business
Transfer. More than 600 entrepreneurs and specialists took an active part. (see details on 'Relais' Project page).
The stock exchange for
the transfer of small and medium enterprises.
StudioCentroVeneto was charged with carrying
out exploratory work in European countries to study the best means of
transferring small and medium family businesses, for a large national corporation.
Diagnostic service for
governing Business Transfer.
A new service aimed at a group of specialist
consultants, and of course at senior and junior entrepreneurs and their
families and main associates, was launched on behalf of an important trade association
in
This is a kind of 'first enquiry desk' for
companies at the transition stage.
Collaboration with the
Italian Association of Family Businesses - AIdAF - and similar European
associations.
New collaborative work was begun with the European
Associations of Family Businesses. The most important of these are the Instituto Empresa Familiar, or IEF, in
Publications:
- "Domani, quando sarò più
giovane... un’impresa può dirlo" (Tomorrow, when I'll be young… a
company can say so) (1995)
- Di Padre in... Meglio (Handing over: …from one generation to the
next) (1997)
- Successioni di Successo (Successful
successions) (1997)
- Da una Generazione all’Altra (From one
generation to the next) (1997)
-
SPES (Sensibilizzazione sui Pericoli di un’Errata Successione/
Sensitisation to the Dangers of Erroneous Changeover)
-
AncorArtigiani( Again Craftsmen ) 2001
-
Book “Obligatory Routes”
Toni Brunello, with Mr Michele Bornello, wrote
a book “Obligatory Routes” published
in 2003 (Franco Angeli Editor).
It is about the transfer of business. It gives
advice to avoid the dangers of business transfer and some suggestion, based on
his experience, about the best way to manage this long period of an enterprise
life.
It had been presented three times,
and had a big success within entrepreneurs, consultants (more than 250
participants)
-
Various articles
European projects of the last years.
1) The 'Relais'
Project
The most important initiative to
date was this big chance for making European comparisons.
The 'Relais' (baton) Project
supported by the European Union under the leadership of StudioCentroVeneto and
the direct responsibility of Toni Brunello.
The aim. To create a cultural base,
but also one of common instrumentation for dealing with the problem that
affects all of Europe: in 1994 the EU had already pointed out that two in three
companies disappear in the transition from one generation to the next, while
three entrepreneurs in four think this will not affect them.
2) SCV was also official Partner in the "U235" ADAPT is project on
the way SMEs implement innovation by ICT. The project was leaded by FLY Srl of
Perugia (Umbria Region) with two more transnational partners. The project was
completed in 2001.
3) CREATEL
Main objective of CREATEL project is the
design, implementation and validation of a new virtual environment for the
Knowledge Management and continuous learning of European Sme´s employees.
The CREATEL virtual platform
–www.createl.info-, provides different learning options by using a Knowledge
Management methodology to allow users learn and so that learning leads them to
improve their professional performance.
The thematic areas are: Innovation and Business Transfer, ICT, Health and Safety at work
and International Marketing.
4) CNS
Aims: To create an innovative on-line training
course in the field of Business Transfer. The course has been created for
Senior and Junior entrepreneurs, or Sme’s managers.
5) EIPCOT
The National Chambers of Commerce of Spain,
6) BTE (Business Transfer Est)
The goal is to create a network within The
Croatian, Hungarian, Slovenia Chambers of Commerce and Italian ones. The aim is
to exchange experiences, best practices on Business Transfer, by e- learning
methodology and by three meetings in
The project will start on October 2004.
7) Seminar in
In March 2004 Brunello partecipated in
Wallonie, as official speaker, to a Seminar focused on the problem of business
trasnfer in the medium size companies.
8) European seminar in
In May 2004 Brunello partecipated in
The national projects.
1) Toni Brunello has been working on adults
training activities for more than thirty years (since 1970). Pupils have been
both SMEs entrepreneurs and managers, and the training managers of SME'S
Associations.
These took
part in several "training of
trainers" projects.
Such courses
for adults were run in Northern, Central and
2) “Rilancio” Research
Aims:
The main aim of the survey was to understand
how to improve business transfer conditions in
This is the first research in
3) Venetian Regional Law
From the results of Rilancio Research, SCV has
been involved in the designed of an innovative Regional Law (this could be the
first in all
4) National Expert
Group
In these days is borning a national
Expert Group, with the support of the Ministry of Industry in
5) Id Hic
The project, run in the Veneto
Region, has be completed in March 2004.
It is composed of four phases: 1)
the basic potential to sow awareness: the local situation analysis; this
includes a research on a quantitative and a qualitative point of view; 2)
training of trainers at all level and side; 3) the systhematic transfer of
tools and of good practices for governing business transfer; 4) the
dissemination of results (and of awareness, again) including e-learning for
those who could appreciate it (juniors and managers probably, and
associations).