Work wiping, Economic values, Aging of the staff and Administration: Audiovisual Archives.
Comments only.

EARLY RETIREMENT and AGING: GIOVANNI AGNELLI

The late Italian industrialist, Giovanni Agnelli (1921-2003), has always fascinated me. Not because he was born rich and died even richer estimated in stock values of his companies.No.
My interest about him was due to the fact that aging was not on his agenda. In 1966 he took over the leadership of FIAT company. He inherited FIAT ( FABBRICA ITALIANA DIAUTOMOBIL TURINO). At an age of 45 he started at the top of the company. After having fought for the Italian fascist regime and for the Allied later on during the Second World War, he decided to take an early retirement. Setting up parties at his new villa at Cap-Ferrat in South of France, seemed to be his main activity for some years. Giovanni Agnelli bought the villa called “ La Leopolda “ which had been owned by King Leopold of Belgium.
Until year 1966 he participated in the work of the car plant doing backstage service only.

L’ Avvocato - the title he used -was extremely active making personal contacts with people worldvide. He invited them all to his beloved “ La Leopold “ to have fun and pleasure. To-day we call the activity networking. Famous politicians like John F. Kennedy, actors like Errol Flynn and people well-known to the media at the time, were invited.

L’ Avvocado had worked hard making international contacts while he was officially only doing backstage business. Few could believe that making fun and having a good time was a profit for him later on at an age of 45. Aging was not a topical issue for him
even if he was asked again and again about the date for his retirement.

“ …I don’t know how he ever turned into a responsible industrialist. He’s ended up with lots of responsibility. He’s gone from one extreme to another …”. A statement made by the former chairman and the chief executive of Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and a close friend of Giovanni Agnelli: William Paley (1901-1990). He built CBS from a small radio network to one of the foremost radio and television network operations in the United States.


Giovanni Agnelli reigned over an empire that included car factories like FIAT, FERRARI,
MASERAT, LANCIA and ALFA ROMENO. The list of companies also included an insurance company, newspapers, department stores, an aviation plant, a publishing house and
Chateaux Margaux Vineyards. Not bad after all making progress at an age when many are making preparations for a life far away from the responsibility of about 220.000 workers.

He was also famous for his ownership of the Italian soccer team called “ Juventius “ and for being the most well dressed man in the world.

When he died at an age of 81 FIAT was not the same company he took over in 1966. The power of Italia was moved from Rome to Turin. FIAT was Giovanni Agnelli and Italia was FIAT.

For those of you who are interested in further information about the work and the development of FIAT (not fiat/ifta) and about the man who decided to start working at an age of 45, the following books are recommended:

-Susanna Agnelli: We always wore sailor suits. 1975.
(Susanna Agnelli is Giovanni’s sister and former minister of the Italian Foreign Office)
-Alan Friedmann:FIAT and the Network of Italian Power. 1988.
-Christopher Ogden: Life of the Party. The Biography of Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward
Harriman. 1994.


“ SUIT-CASE MANAGEMENT “ : A BALTIC AFFAIR ONLY ?

What is the reason for waking up the memory of an important Italian businessman who never worked in an audiovisual archive? The answer is: Those who are in charge of any business or a library or a television company or a radio archive, are producing products of great value for any population. Mistakes are made again and again by those few who have dedicated their lives to the business. My experience being in contacts with directors of television companies in the Baltic countries is that the policy of firing the bosses is not a good solution for solving the problems of the company and the problems for the archives important for new productions. The average lifetime for a director of radio and television companies in the Baltic countries was one year only.What can you gain during one year of work? None.What about early retirement and firing of people who know the business well? For economic reasons too many have been asked to leave important institutions and archives at an age where they all could be of great value to the company – not agreed by administrators educated at business schools.

The philosophy of firing directors or head of archives as soon as they have made a mistake, is not acceptable by all who are professional administrators. I will recommend reading an interesting book written by
Pehr G Gyllenhammer:” Aven med kansla “. 1992. He was Managing Director and Chief Executive Offic of the Swedish car company ABVolvo between 1970 and 1994. He was Executive Chairman in 1990 and 1993. Pehr G Gyllenhammar (b.1935-) has written books about management and industrial policy. In year 1979 he made an attempt to establish future
industrial cooperation between Norway and Sweden. The former Norwegian minister of defence, Jens Chr. Hauge , worked hard to make to an agreement between Norway and Sweden . The result was negative. Pehr G Gyllenhammer was not fired due to the failure
of his attempt to cooperate with Norway.

ECONOMIC VALUE OF RADIO AND TELEVISION ARCHIVES- THE AIM OF THE MANAGEMENT FOR DIRECTORS OF THE ARCHIVES

The question has been asked many times: Why are we keeping all the books published and what about all the radio and television programmes produced and transmitted? Why not get ride of all the old reports and the television programmes transmitted?

For the time being I am reading an interesting book written by Adrian Goldsworthy: Caesar. The Life of Colossos. 2006.

I was surprised to read about issues still topical to-day.The talk about access for people to public documents was an issue debated by the Roman stateman and general Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE). For political reasons he wanted to let people get access to all reports from the debates in the Senate. A different attitude to the written documents and books is also mentioned by Caesar in the same book reporting about the Druids. According to Julius Caesar
The Druids were not interested in writing books about rules and history and laws in use to govern the tribes. No. The books and the information published might weaken the power of the priests. The memory of the laws was a business only for the priests. A game of power? A well-known situation even to-day. Information stored in libraries and archives is a tool for people in a democratic society and a threat in a society dominated by a dictator.

WHAT IS AT STAKE FOR THE AUDIOVISUAL ARCHIVES? –

Due to the new technology called digitalization within modern communications, libraries and archives have got a professional statues and importance few could imagine in 1976 when I started to work for television. During my time working with those were in charge of the film and video archives in television companies worldwide, critical remarks about the lack of interest for the archives among representatives of the management were quite common. Few care about my work was the message I got from my friends attending international seminars and conferences aiming at exchanging information to improve the standard of the archives. The management of the company has no interest in the archives and want to wipe programmes made on tapes for economic reasons. The archives were a place where you put people in the company worn out or not qualified for any other work.

RECRUITMENT POLICY and MANAGEMENT and VALUES

The issue of recruiting new people and the education of the staff of the archives, have worried me for many years. The standard of the archives is depending on the education and the interest for the work of the staff. In year 2003 I presented a paper on the issue at an international conference situated at Kingston, Jamaica: “ The Audiovisual Librarians ad Archivists: Is there any future in the world of digitalization for Librarians? Comments and reflections on the subject “. My answer is a positive one. There is a future for librarians because we have an international common need for people who understand each other in
a professional way. “ librarians live for ever and they are not even fading away “ is my statement on the matter.

THE ECONOMISTS- THE NEW ENEMY WITHIN THE COMPANY?

The problem for many radio and television archives worldwide is not the new technology but
the employ of well educated economists. Few of them have any interest in the cultural value of your work. The budget is the new saint. But we have had budget talks as long as I can remember without making a new saint! Making or setting up a budget for the archive should be a natural process with a close link to the aims of the archives or the libraries. What are you aiming at the following year is the question you should ask again and again to make an agreement at the end of the year. There should not be a matter of conflict to keep the agreement discussed during a year. A very conservative attitude to budget
planning made by few for the few of the company. A budget made with reference to economic planning in private business has no value for an institution set up to produce products not to be wiped but to be kept for the eternity. Economists educated with no feeling for the society, do not agree with me. But we do not need those experts anymore because their thinking is out of date and do only serve some Wall Street businessmen whose economic attitude has been a
catastrophe for the whole world.

You may ask what I am aiming at writing about aging problem, staff problems, the new holy saints and persons like Giovanni Agnelli and Pehr G Gyllenhammar? The answer is :Values.

I have received too many negative reports and remarks about the way economics are making an attempt to change different institutions made to produce products for people.
Economic planning has been a profession defending the profession without evaluating the negative pressure on those who are in the business so to speak. You are not important to you company after a certain age – economically speaking – and it is time to leave. People with years of experience has to take early retirement or being fired due to some budget figures made by those who are not interested in the life of the company at all- only the soul of the new saint – the budget. It is a waste of human resources and of the bank of knowledge important for any company aiming at making good radio and television programmes.

THE STORY OF THE PRIVILEGED MEN – OF ANY INTEREST FOR YOU?

Giovanni Agnelli and Pehr G Gyllenhammar started the business at the top. Both were born with a silver spoon in the mouth. Privileged men. Not representative for you and me getting
salaries not made for investment in the stock marked of Wall Street. No. Anyway they do tell us about values that we have to fight for: The importance of life experience in the business and the importance of having the right to make mistakes without leaving the country in anger
never to return like Lord Byron did.

The management of audiovisual archives is advised to study a book which I have had a great pleasure to read :

Douglas McGregor: The Human Side of Enterprise. 1960. McGraw-Hill Company, Inc.
189 pages.
The book has been translated into Norwegian by Lars Bucher Johannessen and published in Norway in1968. The Norwegian title is: “ Mennesket og bedriften “.

Take care of the staff by making an active policy of education attending international seminars and conferences to up date the profession of working with values for eternity – radio and televisions programmes. Good luck.

Tedd Urnes
July 13, 2009