Where to compete today, whom to partner with and how to turn complexity into competitive advantage: Prof. Carnevale Maffè’s “recipe”

The following content is based on the talk given by Prof. Carlo Alberto Carnevale Maffè – lecturer at SDA Bocconi School of Management – last March at the Vero Project Global Summit 2026. His contribution offered attendees a clear, structured interpretation of the historic moment that the European and international industrial system is going through.

A structural realignment, not a passing crisis
The economic, industrial and financial landscape as we have understood it until now is not facing a phase of mere transformation, nor a cyclical crisis set to subside in the short term. What Professor Carnevale Maffè outlined is a deep structural realignment, which simultaneously involves and redefines markets, supply chains, competitive models and the roles of industrial players. The assumptions that have underpinned growth over the last twenty years — efficiency, scale, linear globalisation — are no longer sufficient to guarantee continuity, margins and resilience.
The current context is shaped by a combination of factors acting together: geopolitical fragmentation, supply chain instability, pressure on energy costs and skills, technological acceleration and a demographic crisis in the skilled workforce. In this scenario, complexity is not the exception but the new normal.

The new competitive axis: China advances, Europe struggles
This picture also includes the case of China, cited as a decisive sign of the paradigm shift: it is no longer a story of “low-cost” competitiveness and technology imitation, but of the ability to operate at scale, control supply chains and invest in a coordinated way across industry, energy and innovation. Since the post-Covid period, the Chinese ecosystem has strengthened its autonomy, driven in part by greater patent intensity and the expansion of energy infrastructure, both renewable and nuclear.
Europe, by contrast, has lost ground in several strategic sectors, highlighting the need for a more deliberate competitive repositioning.
Added to this pressure are demographic and geopolitical factors that worsen the asymmetry: China will face a shrinking population in the medium term, but has already capitalised on its positioning and production capacity; Europe, on the other hand, is squeezed between geopolitical fragmentation (which requires supply chains that are less cost-optimised and more focused on robustness) and a structural crisis in human capital, with a rising average age and an insufficient pipeline of technical and digital skills.

From automotive to diversification: rethinking the sector portfolio
Within this scenario, the lesson of the automotive sector stands out strongly. For many European companies, dependence on this sector was for years a source of stability; today it risks becoming a vulnerability, because OEMs’ programmes, investments and technology roadmaps are more unstable and less predictable.
The point is not to “exit” automotive, but to reduce its relative weight and build a more balanced sector portfolio over time: adding markets with greater stability or structural growth — such as medical, aerospace, packaging, energy and infrastructure — that can soften cyclicality and uncertainty.

The Era of the “K-Shaped” Economy
The economy is increasingly taking on a K-shaped configuration: some companies accelerate, while others remain stuck in models that are no longer sustainable.
The dividing line is not between those who “innovate” and those who do not, but between those who can turn innovation into execution capability and those who pile up initiatives without an integrated plan. Competitive advantage today stems from the connection between strategic vision, operational discipline and the ability to scale consistently.

Ecosystems, data and leadership: the levers for manufacturing SMEs
Three messages emerge strongly from Prof. Carnevale Maffè’s talk. The first is moving beyond the self-sufficient company: no organisation, on its own, can manage the full complexity of today’s environment. Value is built within structured ecosystems, where skills, data and responsibilities are orchestrated methodically. The second is the role of data, which shifts from operational by-product to strategic asset: data enables better decisions, reduces risk, makes performance measurable and strengthens trust along the supply chain. The third is leadership, which is called upon to make clear-cut choices: where to compete, which alliances to build, which complexities to accept and which to eliminate. At this stage, knowing what not to do is as important as choosing where to invest.
For European manufacturing SMEs, the great realignment is a demanding challenge but also a real opportunity. Agile decision-making, when backed by solid processes, integrated systems and credible partnerships, can become a structural advantage over larger but less responsive organisations. The future does not belong to those who accumulate solutions, but to those who work as a system, building models that are consistent, scalable and sustainable over time. It is not a question of tools. It is a question of shared strategic choices.