Laboratorio Armonia is an SDA Bocconi initiative with the aim of demonstrating that diversity, especially in regards to women in the workplace, is a positive influence that produces economic benefits to the companies that welcome and foster it, while those that resist or ignore it pay the price.
Launched in 2000 by Dr. Cristina Bombelli, SDA Bocconi professor of human resources management and organizational behaviour, Laboratorio was born as a research project on diversity, a topic that at the beginning of this century was not widely studied and received scant attention from academics. The initial focus of the research was the “glass ceiling” and was sustained by Elio Borgonovi, dean at the time of SDA Bocconi. The results became the book “Soffitto di vetro e dintorni. Il management al femminile”, published by ETAS in the same year.
It was found that the glass ceiling is often due to subtle mechanisms of discrimination as well as auto-exclusion. Laboratorio has focused on understanding the skills and proficiencies that would aid women in developing career paths that are more constructive, with fewer costs in terms of personal sacrifices.
After initially having obtained corporate sponsorship funds from IBM and IKEA, Laboratorio developed a series of 7 workshops that empower women by analyzing obstacles and providing concrete improvement tools. Specific topics include self-esteem, negotiation and leadership – areas that have historically been problematic for professional women.
Now with 33 corporate backers, Laboratorio gives each sponsor spots for 3 employees for its workshop series. One of the most popular, “Armonia Bazaar”, features individual company success stories and presentation of best practices in diversity management by each firm. In addition, the firms participate on an advisory board to discuss research and workshop topics and to define priorities for the coming year.
Simona Cuomo, co-coordinator of Laboratorio with Adele Mapelli, reports “Right now our sponsor companies are interested in seeing evidence of women’s contributions to the bottom line; they would like us to show proof that investing in women and their professional growth provides a positive economic return.”
What’s next? In 2008 Laboratorio will focus research on “The cost of maternity”. The macro-economic portion of the study will be managed by Paola Profeta and Alessandra Casarico – read more (pdf file, 409KB) - while practical information will be gathered via interviews with those experienced in the matter: women that took maternity leave, and managers and human resource directors whose employees took leave.
For more information on Laboratorio Armonia and its activities:
http://osservatori.sdabocconi.it/armonia/
Simona Cuomo - simona.cuomo@sdabocconi.it
Adele Mapelli - adele.mapelli@sdabocconi.it