In an industry that generates over 52 billion euros, training has become essential to face the challenges of the contemporary national and international market.
The Wood Furniture market is undergoing a profound transformation and needs new managerial skills. Hard and soft skills have become crucial in a supply chain that, in its complexity, generates 52.6 billion euros. Engaging with various sector stakeholders, both within and outside Italian borders, requires awareness of the cultural and economic value conveyed through one of the industries of Made in Italy excellence. Therefore, Luiss Business School has developed a new Major in Furniture Design Management. The objective is to train future professionals in an evolving industry through an experiential path designed together with some of the most important companies in the field and with Federlegno Arredo, the world’s most important trade association. Carlo Fei, Professor of Practice in Luxury Management and Scientific Director of the major, explains.
Furniture Design: a portrait of a fundamental sector for Made in Italy. Can you describe this market? According to data released by Federlegno Arredo’s research center, the wood and furniture market in Italy is valued at 52.6 billion euros. Of these, 29 billion come exclusively from furniture, which represents one of the the four industries of excellence of made in italy and is distinguished by a strong vocation for export.
Surrounding the word furniture, there is a structured and complex supply chain.
True. Matter of fact, it is worth remembering that when we talk about Furniture, we mean a range of sectors that embrace different markets and logics. Simply consider living rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, lighting, outdoor furniture, office furniture, furnishing accessories, etc. A market with specific characteristics that describes the synthesis between process industrialization and the quality typical of Italian craftsmanship, between the brilliance necessary to design unique products and the need to satisfy a fundamental function in our daily lives. All this is realized in full respect of what our country holds in its essence: beauty, quality, attention to detail, and creativity.
What skills are needed for those working in this important sector?
First, there must be an understanding of the value generated by each individual within the companies of the furniture industry, where creativity, innovation, and quality represent the balanced synthesis of a successful product. In this industry, it is crucial to recognize that success is not only determined by designers, planners, and architects, but by everyone involved in the production process. This is the fundamental starting point.
Next are the specific skills needed to manage the business functions of a sector deeply linked to exports, where the ability to intercept different sensitivities and trends in each market must be combined with the aptitude to interact with commercial partners operating in different scenarios.
We are talking about a Furniture market that produces high-quality durable goods with an important emotional connotation. Therefore, the ability to navigate between the rational and emotional worlds, as well as having a vocation for dealing with very diverse industry representatives, is another required personal quality. Think of partners supplying components, raw materials, semi-finished artisanal products, or advanced technology objects like home automation applications, all contributing to the value creation of these companies. Hence, the skills are many and very varied. For this reason, those who aspire to work in this rapidly evolving industry must possess a broad vision and understanding of complex models, where the balance between optimizing business processes and creativity and innovation represents the common thread that drives the success of the company.
What has changed in the industry? Where are these figures needed?
The industry is undergoing a significant evolution: many successful brands are forming aggregations to optimize their activities and be more solid in successfully facing the global market. Small excellence enterprises that have established themselves over the years, often with a family organization, are changing their setup to maintain competitiveness and increasingly attract managers capable of combining the soft aspects created by the family small business model with structured managerial skills capable of keeping pace with the market. Specifically, for example, the race towards the sustainability of processes already underway in Italian furniture industries has generated an evolution within the sector that requires advanced and specific skills. Similarly, commercial activities increasingly moving towards contract call for new integrated capabilities. Consider the digitalization affecting production processes, management, and communication in an organizational metamorphosis that cannot be improvised. The purpose of our Master is precisely to meet the growing demand for figures that are already trained and aware of the sector’s peculiarities, which currently seem lacking.
The major branded by Luiss Business School employs one word: experiential. What does it mean? What is the added value of this formula compared to other similar ones? (specify if it is a unique formula in Italy) Benjamin Franklin said: “Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I learn,” and there is no better way to teach than involving people in real experiences. If we add that the Master is aimed at those who already have a strong background and knowledge acquired through a structured study path, it is therefore essential that, to achieve the goal of transferring specific skills and meeting the market’s needs in Furniture Design, our path includes real on-field experiences. For this reason, we have established a partnership with Federlegno Arredo (the world’s most important sector association), Design Holding: the leading group that aggregates some of the most famous luxury furniture brands in the world (including B&B, Maxalto, Flos, ArcLinea, FENDI Casa), MAGIS: one of the most significant companies in the design furniture landscape awarded with 5 Golden Compasses and with iconic products exhibited at the MoMA in New York, the Albert and Victoria Museum in London, and the Triennale in Milan, and Zordan1989, a B Corp company that provides custom furniture for luxury brand stores and is at the forefront in sustainability and corporate welfare practices. With them, we have developed a training path that includes many professional lecturers and entire days spent within the various brands for a training experience in the backstage of companies to experience firsthand the corporate functions, processes, and organization underlying the value creation
Who would you recommend this major to and why?
To those fascinated by this extraordinary sector and aspiring to build a professional path full of different stimuli and opportunities in an internationally oriented market. Architects wanting to extend their knowledge to managerial areas. Graduates in economic disciplines wishing to specialize in this Made in Italy sector destined for significant growth. Young managers with short experiences in other sectors wanting to acquire specific notions to enter the Furniture Design job market.
In 3 words, what are the distinctive features of the Luiss Business School program in Furniture Design Management?
A path designed together with excellent brands in one of the most fascinating Made in Italy sectors, real-world experience living the backstage alongside market protagonists, the guarantee of excellence by Luiss Business School, accredited among the best Business Schools in the world.
