Italgas Visits USD for Custom Program on Leadership Development
A team of 15 executives and key leaders from Italgas visited the University of San Diego in October for a weeklong program organized by the Ahlers Center for International Business at the Knauss School of Business. Italgas is an Italian company that specializes in the distribution of natural gas and visited USD to learn about innovation and design-driven strategies for competitive differentiation.
Throughout the week, Italgas participants attended five workshops addressing strategic issues for the launch of its Leadership Model in Change Management. Workshop topics included Innovation and Organizational Learning taught by Management Professor Carsten Zimmermann, Leading Organizational Change taught by Associate Dean of Faculty and Accreditation Priya Kannan-Narasimhan and featured guest speaker Dean Tim Keane, Capturing Shared Value with ESG taught by International Business Professor Eileen Daspro), Leading Multicultural Teams and Organizations taught by Management Professor Afsaneh Nahavandi, and Sustainable Business Model Innovation and Design taught by Management Professor Jaime Gomez).
To complement the workshops, the Italgas group attended the Supply Chain Management Institute's Fall Forum conference at USD as well as company visits to Sempra and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Before leaving, they enjoyed a leisurely city tour of San Diego including a stop at the scenic Mount Soledad.
"The program was a enriching opportunity to exchange ideas and reflections dedicated to the leadership development of our executives and key managers," said Irene Sacchetto, head of talent and change management at Italgas.
Italgas Connection to USD
Italgas currently participates in the Paris/Milan/Rome study abroad program for accounting students as a company visit destination. In 1993, its CEO, Paolo Gallo, organized an exchange program with USD to send students to Italy — a program that was attended by Accountancy Lecturer Mark Judd who was a USD MBA student at the time. The two forged a relationship, one that has enabled USD accounting students to continue visiting Italian companies since 2010.