{"id":17585,"date":"2026-07-24T18:22:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T16:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/managerial-capability-in-smes-and-fractional-management-the-true-competitive-advantage-of-italian-businesses-is-not-ai-but-managerial-capability\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T00:47:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T22:47:51","slug":"managerial-capability-in-smes-and-fractional-management-the-true-competitive-advantage-of-italian-businesses-is-not-ai-but-managerial-capability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/en\/managerial-capability-in-smes-and-fractional-management-the-true-competitive-advantage-of-italian-businesses-is-not-ai-but-managerial-capability\/","title":{"rendered":"Managerial Capability in SMEs and Fractional Management: the true competitive advantage of Italian businesses is not AI, but managerial capability."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Federmanager launches a Manifesto<\/a> to revitalize the country. The Politecnico research<\/a> on Fractional Management shows one of the possible paths. And perhaps the time has come to look at the problem from a different perspective. <\/em><\/p>\n\n

We keep talking about AI. Perhaps we are looking at the finger and not the moon. <\/h2>\n\n

In the last two years we have talked almost exclusively about Artificial Intelligence<\/strong>, digitalization, Industry 5.0, and automation.<\/p>\n\n

These are fundamental themes.<\/p>\n\n

But I have been working in Human Resources for over twenty years, and I keep asking myself a different question.<\/p>\n\n

Are we sure that the real problem for Italian SMEs is technology?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Or is the problem much deeper? Perhaps something is missing that no algorithm will ever be able to install: <\/p>\n\n

managerial capability.<\/p>\n\n

The Federmanager Manifesto starts from a courageous diagnosis<\/h2>\n\n

In the July issue of Economy<\/em>, the President of Federmanager<\/a>, Valter Quercioli<\/a><\/strong>, launches a message that deserves attention.<\/p>\n\n

Italy needs to bring managerial competencies into thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises.<\/p>\n\n

Incentives are not enough.<\/p>\n\n

Bonuses are not enough.<\/p>\n\n

Not even Artificial Intelligence is enough.<\/p>\n\n

We need people capable of reading complexity<\/a>, making decisions, building organizations, and transforming strategies into results.<\/p>\n\n

Because no technology creates value if leadership capable of guiding it is missing.<\/p>\n\n

Technology accelerates. But who is driving? <\/h2>\n\n

In my career I have seen companies invest tens of millions in new facilities, ERPs, CRMs, HR platforms and, more recently, in Artificial Intelligence.<\/p>\n\n

Yet the problems were rarely technological. They were managerial. <\/p>\n\n

I have seen decisions postponed for months because no one wanted to take responsibility for them.<\/p>\n\n

Processes perfectly designed on paper and completely ignored in practice.<\/p>\n\n

Managers excellent from a technical standpoint but incapable of building a team.<\/p>\n\n

And companies that attributed to technology problems that, in reality, arose from the lack of clear governance.<\/p>\n\n

It is a lesson I have carried with me for years.<\/p>\n\n

Software improves a process. A manager changes an organization. <\/p>\n\n

They are two profoundly different things.<\/p>\n\n

Fractional Management is the answer to a real problem<\/h2>\n\n

While reading the Federmanager Manifesto, I was reminded of the Observatory on Fractional Management<\/strong> at the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano.<\/p>\n\n

The research starts from exactly the same question.<\/p>\n\n

How do you increase the managerial capability of SMEs if many companies cannot afford senior executives full-time?<\/p>\n\n

The answer is simple: make managerial capability accessible.<\/p>\n\n

The Fractional Manager<\/a><\/strong> is not a consultant who delivers a report.<\/p>\n\n

They are an executive who enters the organization with operational responsibilities, builds governance, introduces method, develops internal competencies, and accompanies the company through change.<\/p>\n\n

In other words: Federmanager tells us what is needed<\/strong>. The Politecnico research shows us how to make it possible<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

Andrea Pietrini intuited this shift many years ago<\/h2>\n\n

When Andrea Pietrini<\/strong><\/a> founded YOURgroup<\/a><\/strong>, talking about Fractional Management seemed almost a theoretical exercise.<\/p>\n\n

Today, instead, that model appears surprisingly current.<\/p>\n\n

The idea is simple but powerful. A manager’s value is not measured by the number of hours spent in the company. It is measured by the impact they manage to generate. <\/p>\n\n

It is an enormous paradigm shift. For decades we purchased presence. Today we can purchase competence. <\/p>\n\n

A five-day-a-week HR director is not necessarily needed. It can be far more effective to have the right person, at the right time, with the responsibility to produce concrete results. <\/p>\n\n

Why I believe this model will grow<\/h2>\n\n

We live in a context where everything is changing simultaneously.<\/p>\n\n

Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Pay Transparency, ESG, Internationalization, generational transitions, acquisitions by Private Equity Funds. <\/p>\n\n

Thinking that an SME can have all the necessary competencies in-house is simply unrealistic.<\/p>\n\n

Thinking you can access them when needed, however, is a strategy.<\/p>\n\n

And this is where Fractional Management stops being a contractual model. It becomes a competitiveness model. <\/p>\n\n

Why I chose YOURgroup<\/h2>\n\n

This is also why I decided to join the YOURgroup<\/strong> community. Not because it represents only a new professional opportunity. <\/p>\n\n

But because I share the vision that sustains it.<\/p>\n\n

After over twenty years as an HR Director, I am convinced that the future of Italian businesses will not depend only on the adoption of Artificial Intelligence.<\/p>\n\n

It will depend on the ability to bring the highest-level managerial competencies even where, until yesterday, they seemed economically unreachable.<\/p>\n\n

Because true innovation does not consist in replacing people. It consists in making talent finally accessible. <\/p>\n\n

A question we should start asking ourselves<\/h2>\n\n

Perhaps we should stop asking ourselves how much Artificial Intelligence<\/strong> will enter Italian SMEs.<\/p>\n\n

And start asking ourselves how much managerial intelligence<\/strong> is still missing.<\/p>\n\n

Because the former, without the latter, risks being only very expensive software.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Italian SMEs need not only more Artificial Intelligence, but greater managerial capability. Fractional Management offers a concrete answer: senior executive competencies, accessible even to companies that cannot bring on a full-time executive. Because technology creates value only when there is someone capable of leading it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16870,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"SMEs and Managerial Capability: the Fractional Management advantage","_seopress_titles_desc":"Managerial Capability and Fractional Management: the competitive lever to make Italian SMEs stronger, more innovative, and ready for change.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"Fractional Management,SME competitiveness,managerial competencies,fractional manager,SME innovation,business leadership,organizational transformation,Federmanager,YOURgroup,Politecnico di Milano","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[185,191,1,505],"tags":[280,513,506,509,512,510,515,267,406,511,508,482,514,507],"class_list":["post-17585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-career-and-work","category-people-work-and-artificial-intelligence","category-senza-categoria","category-smes","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-business-innovation","tag-digital-transformation","tag-federmanager","tag-fractional-management","tag-governance","tag-italian-businesses","tag-leadership","tag-management","tag-managerial-capability","tag-managerial-competencies","tag-organizational-development","tag-smes","tag-yourgroup"],"acf":[],"spectra_custom_meta":{"_encloseme":["1"],"_uagb_previous_block_counts":["a:90:{s:21:\"uagb\/advanced-heading\";i:0;s:15:\"uagb\/blockquote\";i:0;s:12:\"uagb\/buttons\";i:0;s:18:\"uagb\/buttons-child\";i:0;s:19:\"uagb\/call-to-action\";i:0;s:15:\"uagb\/cf7-styler\";i:0;s:11:\"uagb\/column\";i:0;s:12:\"uagb\/columns\";i:0;s:14:\"uagb\/container\";i:0;s:21:\"uagb\/content-timeline\";i:0;s:27:\"uagb\/content-timeline-child\";i:0;s:14:\"uagb\/countdown\";i:0;s:12:\"uagb\/counter\";i:0;s:8:\"uagb\/faq\";i:0;s:14:\"uagb\/faq-child\";i:0;s:10:\"uagb\/forms\";i:0;s:17:\"uagb\/forms-accept\";i:0;s:19:\"uagb\/forms-checkbox\";i:0;s:15:\"uagb\/forms-date\";i:0;s:16:\"uagb\/forms-email\";i:0;s:17:\"uagb\/forms-hidden\";i:0;s:15:\"uagb\/forms-name\";i:0;s:16:\"uagb\/forms-phone\";i:0;s:16:\"uagb\/forms-radio\";i:0;s:17:\"uagb\/forms-select\";i:0;s:19:\"uagb\/forms-textarea\";i:0;s:17:\"uagb\/forms-toggle\";i:0;s:14:\"uagb\/forms-url\";i:0;s:14:\"uagb\/gf-styler\";i:0;s:15:\"uagb\/google-map\";i:0;s:11:\"uagb\/how-to\";i:0;s:16:\"uagb\/how-to-step\";i:0;s:9:\"uagb\/icon\";i:0;s:14:\"uagb\/icon-list\";i:0;s:20:\"uagb\/icon-list-child\";i:0;s:10:\"uagb\/image\";i:0;s:18:\"uagb\/image-gallery\";i:0;s:13:\"uagb\/info-box\";i:0;s:18:\"uagb\/inline-notice\";i:0;s:11:\"uagb\/lottie\";i:0;s:21:\"uagb\/marketing-button\";i:0;s:10:\"uagb\/modal\";i:0;s:18:\"uagb\/popup-builder\";i:0;s:16:\"uagb\/post-button\";i:0;s:18:\"uagb\/post-carousel\";i:0;s:17:\"uagb\/post-excerpt\";i:0;s:14:\"uagb\/post-grid\";i:0;s:15:\"uagb\/post-image\";i:0;s:17:\"uagb\/post-masonry\";i:0;s:14:\"uagb\/post-meta\";i:0;s:18:\"uagb\/post-taxonomy\";i:0;s:18:\"uagb\/post-timeline\";i:0;s:15:\"uagb\/post-title\";i:0;s:20:\"uagb\/restaurant-menu\";i:0;s:26:\"uagb\/restaurant-menu-child\";i:0;s:11:\"uagb\/review\";i:0;s:12:\"uagb\/section\";i:0;s:14:\"uagb\/separator\";i:0;s:11:\"uagb\/slider\";i:0;s:17:\"uagb\/slider-child\";i:0;s:17:\"uagb\/social-share\";i:0;s:23:\"uagb\/social-share-child\";i:0;s:16:\"uagb\/star-rating\";i:0;s:23:\"uagb\/sure-cart-checkout\";i:0;s:22:\"uagb\/sure-cart-product\";i:0;s:15:\"uagb\/sure-forms\";i:0;s:22:\"uagb\/table-of-contents\";i:0;s:9:\"uagb\/tabs\";i:0;s:15:\"uagb\/tabs-child\";i:0;s:18:\"uagb\/taxonomy-list\";i:0;s:9:\"uagb\/team\";i:0;s:16:\"uagb\/testimonial\";i:0;s:14:\"uagb\/wp-search\";i:0;s:19:\"uagb\/instagram-feed\";i:0;s:10:\"uagb\/login\";i:0;s:17:\"uagb\/loop-builder\";i:0;s:18:\"uagb\/loop-category\";i:0;s:20:\"uagb\/loop-pagination\";i:0;s:15:\"uagb\/loop-reset\";i:0;s:16:\"uagb\/loop-search\";i:0;s:14:\"uagb\/loop-sort\";i:0;s:17:\"uagb\/loop-wrapper\";i:0;s:13:\"uagb\/register\";i:0;s:19:\"uagb\/register-email\";i:0;s:24:\"uagb\/register-first-name\";i:0;s:23:\"uagb\/register-last-name\";i:0;s:22:\"uagb\/register-password\";i:0;s:30:\"uagb\/register-reenter-password\";i:0;s:19:\"uagb\/register-terms\";i:0;s:22:\"uagb\/register-username\";i:0;}"],"_alp_processed":["1791672472"],"_blog_modulo_approfondimenti":["field_669d75f05a58b"],"_blog_modulo_iscrizione_newsletter":["field_66a61da0e8e67"],"_blog_popup_iscrizione_newsletter":["field_66ae85ab91b61"],"_newsletter_tag_dynamic":["field_66a562afe56d5"],"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":[""],"adv-header-id-meta":[""],"ast-banner-title-visibility":[""],"ast-breadcrumbs-content":[""],"ast-featured-img":["disabled"],"ast-global-header-display":[""],"ast-hfb-above-header-display":[""],"ast-hfb-below-header-display":[""],"ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":[""],"ast-main-header-display":[""],"ast-site-content-layout":["default"],"blog_modulo_approfondimenti":["0"],"blog_modulo_iscrizione_newsletter":["1"],"blog_popup_iscrizione_newsletter":["1"],"footer-sml-layout":[""],"header-above-stick-meta":[""],"header-below-stick-meta":[""],"header-main-stick-meta":[""],"site-content-layout":[""],"site-content-style":["default"],"site-post-title":["disabled"],"site-sidebar-layout":["default"],"site-sidebar-style":["default"],"stick-header-meta":[""],"theme-transparent-header-meta":[""],"_top_nav_excluded":[""],"_cms_nav_minihome":[""],"_seopress_news_disabled":[""],"_seopress_redirections_enabled":[""],"_seopress_redirections_logged_status":[""],"_seopress_redirections_type":[""],"_seopress_redirections_value":[""],"_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":[""],"_seopress_robots_canonical":[""],"_seopress_robots_follow":[""],"_seopress_robots_imageindex":[""],"_seopress_robots_index":[""],"_seopress_robots_snippet":[""],"_seopress_social_fb_desc":[""],"_seopress_social_fb_img":[""],"_seopress_social_fb_title":[""],"_seopress_social_twitter_desc":[""],"_seopress_social_twitter_img":[""],"_seopress_social_twitter_title":[""],"footnotes":[""],"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":["Fractional Management,SME competitiveness,managerial competencies,fractional manager,SME innovation,business leadership,organizational transformation,Federmanager,YOURgroup,Politecnico di Milano"],"_seopress_titles_desc":["Managerial Capability and Fractional Management: the competitive lever to make Italian SMEs stronger, more innovative, and ready for change."],"_seopress_titles_title":["SMEs and Managerial Capability: the Fractional Management advantage"],"newsletter_tag_dynamic":["ENG"],"_thumbnail_id":["16870"],"_eael_post_view_count":["30"],"tp_widgets":["a:2:{s:7:\"widgets\";a:6:{i:0;s:21:\"plus-alignmnet-effect\";i:1;s:16:\"plus-temp-notice\";i:2;s:18:\"tp-navigation-menu\";i:3;s:20:\"tp-navigation-scroll\";i:4;s:14:\"tp-social-icon\";i:5;s:22:\"tp-social-icon-style-8\";}s:9:\"update_at\";s:10:\"1791380469\";}"],"_uag_page_assets":["a:9:{s:3:\"css\";s:0:\"\";s:2:\"js\";s:0:\"\";s:18:\"current_block_list\";a:8:{i:0;s:14:\"core\/paragraph\";i:1;s:12:\"core\/heading\";i:2;s:11:\"core\/search\";i:3;s:10:\"core\/group\";i:4;s:17:\"core\/latest-posts\";i:5;s:20:\"core\/latest-comments\";i:6;s:13:\"core\/archives\";i:7;s:15:\"core\/categories\";}s:8:\"uag_flag\";b:0;s:11:\"uag_version\";s:10:\"1792692202\";s:6:\"gfonts\";a:0:{}s:10:\"gfonts_url\";s:0:\"\";s:12:\"gfonts_files\";a:0:{}s:14:\"uag_faq_layout\";b:0;}"]},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chatgpt-image-24-lug-2026-18_06_36.png",1254,1254,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chatgpt-image-24-lug-2026-18_06_36-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chatgpt-image-24-lug-2026-18_06_36-300x300.png",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chatgpt-image-24-lug-2026-18_06_36.png",768,768,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chatgpt-image-24-lug-2026-18_06_36-1024x1024.png",1024,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chatgpt-image-24-lug-2026-18_06_36.png",1254,1254,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chatgpt-image-24-lug-2026-18_06_36.png",1254,1254,false],"tp-image-grid":["https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/chatgpt-image-24-lug-2026-18_06_36-700x700.png",700,700,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Tatiana","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/en\/author\/tatiana\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Italian SMEs need not only more Artificial Intelligence, but greater managerial capability. Fractional Management offers a concrete answer: senior executive competencies, accessible even to companies that cannot bring on a full-time executive. Because technology creates value only when there is someone capable of leading it.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17585"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17586,"href":"https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17585\/revisions\/17586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tatianacoviello.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}