I molteplici significati della “governance”: verso un chiarimento in ottica economico-aziendale

ITALIAN - The paper aims to illustrate the multiple meanings of the concept of "governance", widely used in studies political, sociological, legal, economic and general economic and business as well. The analysis starts from the expression "corporate governance" to arrive at interpretations that have proposed, in Italy, neologisms such as "governamento" and "governance". It then examined the relationship between governance and government, criticizing the settings that tend to attribute a meaning to governance overly broad and / or to coincide with the government in the strict sense. Ultimately, the grant supports the need for a framework for rigorous and critical of the idea of ​​governance, which can be useful for a better understanding of business organizations, without prejudice to the primacy of the government as a fundamental object of business science. The analysis finds ample points of contact and support, as well as in the economic doctrine Italian corporate governance of companies, in studies on regional marketing concepts and their recent theoretical proposals of systemic mold. ENGLISH *** - The word "governance" - Widely used in political, sociological, law, economic and managerial studies - Has different meanings and they are Analyzed In These pages. The work starts considering the expression "corporate governance", some Italian studies using some new words, like "governamento" or "governance" are cited, too. Our attention is focused on the relationship between governance and the English idea of ​​"government" (especially When Referred to firms or other economic organizations): both very Extensive interpretations of governance and the indifference between governance and "government" are refused. Thus, a specific concept of governance is proposed: it can be useful in managerial studies, as it is consistent with the assumption that too idealized representations, even if very evocative and probably useful in other contexts (urban administration, public management, social movements, etc. .), can not be applied to firms and other economic organizations. Our Conclusions are supported by the Italian firm's doctrine about "government", some recent studies about territorial and systemic approaches to marketing firms and social institutions.

ITALIANO - Il lavoro si prefigge di illustrare i molteplici significati del concetto di “governance”, ampiamente usato negli studi politici, sociologici, giuridici, economico-generali ed anche economico-aziendali. L’analisi prende le mosse dall’espressione “corporate governance” per approdare ad interpretazioni che hanno proposto, in Italia, neologismi quali “governamento” e “governanza”. Viene quindi esaminato il rapporto tra governance e governo, criticando le impostazioni che tendono ad attribuire alla governance un significato eccessivamente ampio e/o a farla coincidere con il governo in senso stretto. In definitiva, il contributo sostiene l’esigenza di un inquadramento rigoroso e critico dell’idea di governance, che può essere utile per la migliore comprensione delle organizzazioni aziendali, fermo restando il primato del governo quale oggetto fondante delle scienze aziendali. L’analisi condotta trova ampi punti di contatto e sostegno, oltre che nella dottrina economico aziendale italiana sul governo delle imprese, negli studi sul marketing territoriale ed in concetti propri di recenti proposte teoriche di stampo sistemico. *** ENGLISH - The word “governance” - widely used in political, sociological, law, economic and managerial studies - has different meanings and they are analyzed in these pages. The work starts considering the expression “corporate governance”; some Italian studies using some new words, like “governamento” or “governanza”, are cited, too. Our attention is focused on the relationship between governance and the Italian idea of “governo” (especially when referred to firms or other economic organizations): both very extensive interpretations of governance and the indifference between governance and “governo” are refused. Thus, a specific concept of governance is proposed: it can be useful in managerial studies, as it is consistent with the assumption that too idealized representations, even if very evocative and probably useful in other contexts (urban administration, public management, social movements etc.), cannot be applied to firms and other economic organizations. Our conclusions are supported by the Italian doctrine about firm’s “governo”, some studies about territorial marketing and recent systemic approaches to firms and social institutions.