Elio Vera interviews Maurizio Bezzeccheri

Citation

Vera, E. (2014), "Elio Vera interviews Maurizio Bezzeccheri", Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, Vol. 21 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCM-10-2013-0145

Elio Vera interviews Maurizio Bezzeccheri

Article Type:

Executive Corner

From:

Cross Cultural Management, Volume 21, Issue 1

Maurizio Bezzeccheri is Executive Vice President ENEL Green Power – Head of Iberia and Latin America. He was born on July 2, 1958 in Pompeii, Italy. He attended the University of Naples and graduated (Laurea) "cum laude" in chemical engineering in 1984. He continued to work at the University of Naples as Researcher, on combustion modeling in 1985. His postgraduate education includes high-level courses on M&A, management and finance. He joined KTI, an engineering company of MANNESMANN Group, in 1986 and had assignments in Rome as process, sales, marketing and R&D Engineer. His expertise was in petrochemical and chemical plants. Since 1990, he spent a couple of years in The Netherlands as R&D Coordinator. He spent one more year in Rome as R&D Supervisor in 1991. He is author of several patents and papers related to hydrogen plant and petrochemical reactors. In 1992, he joined ILVA, the Italian state-owned company for steel production, as Business Development Manager based in Genoa with a specific focus on environmental markets. He joined ISE, an electricity generation company sold by ILVA to EDISON Group, an Italian Independent Power Producer in Milan, as Procurement Manager in 1995. In 1997, he joined NUOVO PIGNONE (GE oil and gas), a General Electric company manufacturing compressors and turbines, as Business Development Manager and later as Sales and Marketing Manager. In 1999, he joined ENEL Group, the biggest Italian utility: Enel GreenPower (formerly Erga), Conphoebus, Enel Group International Division and TRE, JV with Pirelli Group, in top management positions. From 2006 to 2010, he was General Manager of EUFER, ENEL and UNION FENOSA Spanish JV. He is a Board member of Enel subsidiaries: Enel Latin America (Latin America), Enel Green Power España, (Spain). From 2010 to the present moment Maurizio is President of Enel Green Power España, S. L. and Enel Green Power Latinoamérica. Companies of the renewable Society of the ENEL Group, ENEL GREEN POWER, that has traded on the stock market since November 2010. Maurizio is married to Giulia. He enjoys spending his time with his family, doing sports and traveling to "meet" new cultures.

Elio Vera – what are some of the current cross cultural management challenges within your organization?

Maurizio Bezzeccheri – with above 7,000 MW of installed capacity and more than 650 power plants, Enel Green Power currently operates in 16 countries, from Europe to the Americas. Each country has its own distinct culture, traditions and customs and these aspects undoubtedly represent important challenges to face when managing such an important and dynamic Group. If properly managed and aligned to the Group’s core principles and mission, these diverse values represent important ingredients for our precious cross cultural spirit.

Elio Vera – in your opinion, in the future what are the major cross cultural challenges your company will face?

Maurizio Bezzeccheri – companies are today obliged to operate in constantly evolving scenarios and the main cultural challenge is to maintain the levels of flexibility and discipline necessary to identify and take advantage of all the risks and opportunities that this entails. Success typically breeds inertia and, more often than we believe, change is inevitable and – for the most part – it is for the good. As Charles Darwin taught us "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change".

Elio Vera – please share an interesting anecdote or case you have experienced in managing your company across cultures

Maurizio Bezzeccheri – there are many anecdotes I could share. From my past experience in General Electric I brought the constant research for excellence; the Six Sigma highly disciplined process helped us focus on developing and delivering near-perfect products and services. This approach, typically related to product quality, has been precious instruments for all business processes that require standardize high level approaches in such an international Group like ours. More recently Enel has been involved in the "One Company Project" that represents a deep transformation that involves the entire Group. The One Company challenge represents our future, that critical step forward that will transform us into an energy multinational, that integrates cultures and languages into a new citizenship.

Elio Vera – considering your experience working in a multicultural company, what is necessary to encourage the creation of a feeling of mutual proximity, a spirit of group, a sense of belonging? Does a specific program or activity to encourage these attitudes exist in your company?

Maurizio Bezzeccheri – the One Company Project paved the path for the completion of the creation of a unified winning team that applies common rules and relies on shared values in order to become a company that is the leader in costs, the leader in technology, and the leader in management. To create a spirit of corporate belonging it is fundamental to clearly define, share and manage the mission and the objectives of the company, and ask the compromise of all towards achieving these challenges. To this purpose, the Cascade is the annual event where the CEO shares goals and targets of the year to come. Each division organizes its own Cascade to make sure that messages and strategies given by the CEO are properly communicated by the top management to create a "One, Global, Aligned Company".

Elio Vera – which has been your experience to maintain the global culture in your role of CEO or Manager, to whom people look at for guidance on behaviors and norms?

Maurizio Bezzeccheri – I have been very lucky and privileged to work with extraordinary people with different experiences, unique aspirations, strong feelings of belonging and great spirit of service. I have always found particularly enriching to support colleagues understanding the professional tasks to manage and to help them making the correct choices, even when not all information are available. It has always been a mutual exchange, both personal and professional, developing relationships that have the potential to inspire, challenge and surprise.

Elio Vera – is your company carried on a conscious effort to develop the individual skills and to encourage the intelligence of the employees to express themselves regardless of nationality? In which ways are intelligence and personal abilities rewarded?

Maurizio Bezzeccheri – yes, of course. On a daily basis the best way to reward excellence or teamwork is to celebrate achievement – even when facing difficulties – and to make people aware of their personal capabilities, their value to the organization and the difference they can make in supporting their colleagues to achieve common objectives. The best performing and talented employees are included in specific programs for career development opportunities and unique experiences such the ones we organize with top ranked institutions like Harvard Business School.

Elio Vera – did you find that some national groups feel discriminated inside the group or in a subordinate position towards the national reference group or other more important groups?

Maurizio Bezzeccheri – this is a feeling that in large corporations and important international Group like ours may occur and should be properly managed. Experience has shown me that there are always going to be moments when someone feels discriminated and this is usually derived from an escalation of cultural misunderstanding. On intercepting perceived discrimination, my reaction is to attempt to define the causes so to eradicate potentially false perceptions with practical and logical examples, thus demonstrating potential minor incongruities before they flare up.

Elio Vera – to what extent do the advent and fast development of the new technologies help or interfere, creating resistances in the organizational structure of your company? And which effect, positive or maybe negative, has this had on your personal experience?

Maurizio Bezzeccheri – new technologies have undoubtedly caused a paradigm shift in cross-border teamwork and interpersonal relations. In my experience, and particularly now that I coordinate the business in Latin American, Spain and Portugal, technology has been a powerful tool to shorten distances, reduce costs, develop warmer relationship and feel closer to the business. If used effectively, video conferences, for example, are a great solution to easily connect – not only physically – branches that are on the other side of the ocean.

Elio Vera – in a foreign context have you been able to be considered "one of them" or in any case/situation do you remain a "foreigner"? For example, in some countries a woman has to afford a lot of limitations to her personal behaviors. What are the negative and positive outcomes of these limitations? Does this constitute a significant barrier for establishing a profitable relation with local people? Does this help you or not in your work/in your private relations? Or is it inevitable that a psychological barrier remains, like a wall that it is not possible to overcome?

Maurizio Bezzeccheri – I am a proud citizen of the Group and I strongly believe that feeling part of an integrated Group is a reality rather than a possibility and this is a concrete opportunity if we lead by example and put great efforts to efficient team work.

Respect and willingness to exchange experiences, habits and behaviors are two of the many pillars that guide my daily activities; undoubtedly there are potential barriers to cope with, like the many languages we speak across the 16 countries we operate in, but with serious effort and strong commitment we can constantly make sure that communication and working relationship between the different nations proceed positively and smoothly. In many culture gender discrimination is unfortunately still a reality. Personally, I believe that professional skills – not gender – are what one should focus on. It is with belief that I manage my teams in all the countries.

Elio Vera – do you feel that the contact that you have with so different cultures has brought to you important advantages in your work and has improved significantly your professional skills? If so, are these advantages that other persons without a multicultural experience could not get?

Maurizio Bezzeccheri – of course. Contact with different cultures has shown me that a same issue can be analyzed from different points of view, each of which has its own intrinsic validity. However, diversity implies an important personal challenge for any manager, the capability of being able to distill the various viewpoints into a unique value solution. If you achieve this, it fills you with personal satisfaction and is well worth the effort.