Lectio Inauguralis De Agostini Endowed Chair in Corporate Strategy

Diversification and internationalization are two highly complex strategic choices. Company-specific resources and capabilities are required, but competition in the field must also be considered. Moreover, competitive advantage depends on the company's ability to adapt to various institutional realities that characterize different places and sectors. Companies therefore need to strategically address these differences without losing sight of their values and identity.

The new De Agostini Endowed Chair in Corporate Strategy, established through the Strategic Partnership between the Group and Bocconi University, is meant to lead a broad research program focused precisely on these challenges.

De Agostini has chosen to support the De Agostini Endowed Chair in Corporate Strategy as its research themes reflect the journey of the De Agostini Group under the leadership of Marco Drago - 25 years as chairman and more than 50 years in the company - who has been able to make the Group management-oriented, diversify activities and internationalize business areas, transforming the Novara-based publishing house into a world-renowned Group. The De Agostini Group's organizational and governance model is now recognized as an example of excellence in Corporate Strategy: hence the idea of establishing the chair and naming a room on the new Bocconi campus after Marco Drago, a model of inspiration and guidance for all those who will study at the business school.

The De Agostini Endowed Chair in Corporate Strategy assigned to Prof. Sonja Opper, full professor in Global Strategy and Institutions, was inaugurated on March 28, 2023, with the Lectio "Where Foreign Enterprises Thrive: the Long Shadow of History," in which the professor, starting from her studies on emerging markets, presented some often-overlooked factors behind the success of companies abroad.

The event featured Paolo Basilico (Samhita Investments, formerly Kairos), Vittorio Colao (General Atlantic), Elena Goitini (BNL BNP Paribas) and Paolo Scaroni (Rothschild), as well as President Andrea Sironi, Rector Francesco Billari and Marco Drago, De Agostini President.