Barilla Pasta and the Italian Economy

Bar none, one of the best podcasts around is NPR’s Planet Money podcast.  If nothing else, it provides good small talk/networking fodder as it provides intersects interesting stories with economic concepts.  This story (from 2012),  which I mentioned to a friend this weekend, is a prime example. It discusses the story of two Barilla pasta factories and the productivity of the Italian workforce.  

Here is a description from the NPR website: 

A decade ago, the Barilla pasta factory in Foggia, Italy, had a big problem with people skipping work. The absentee rate was around 10 percent.

People called in sick all the time, typically on Mondays, or on days when there was a big soccer game.

Foggia is in southern Italy. Barilla’s big factory in northern Italy had a much lower absentee rate. This is not surprising; there’s a huge economic gap between southern and northern Italy. It’s like two different countries.

Barilla execs told Nicola Calandrea, the manager of the Foggia plant, that they would close the factory unless he brought the absenteeism rate down.

Calandrea decided that to save the factory, he had to change the culture. On today’s show, we visit the factory and hear how Calandrea made it work.

For More: How A Pasta Factory Got People To Show Up For Work.

Barilla Pasta and the Italian Economy

Bar none, one of the best podcasts around is NPR’s Planet Money podcast.  If nothing else, it provides good small talk/networking fodder as it provides intersects interesting stories with economic concepts.  This story (from 2012),  which I mentioned to a friend this weekend, is a prime example. It discusses the story of two Barilla pasta factories and the productivity of the Italian workforce.  

Here is a description from the NPR website: 

A decade ago, the Barilla pasta factory in Foggia, Italy, had a big problem with people skipping work. The absentee rate was around 10 percent.

People called in sick all the time, typically on Mondays, or on days when there was a big soccer game.

Foggia is in southern Italy. Barilla’s big factory in northern Italy had a much lower absentee rate. This is not surprising; there’s a huge economic gap between southern and northern Italy. It’s like two different countries.

Barilla execs told Nicola Calandrea, the manager of the Foggia plant, that they would close the factory unless he brought the absenteeism rate down.

Calandrea decided that to save the factory, he had to change the culture. On today’s show, we visit the factory and hear how Calandrea made it work.

For More: How A Pasta Factory Got People To Show Up For Work.