Companies need to honor, with
dignity and character, its "Social Role", especially, those companies
in which they have a nation's government as the "Owners of the Business".
Brazil and Italy have this kind
of company: Petrobras and Eni are the largest companies in operation in their
countries and both have the State as the main shareholder. Therefor, the
government occupies most of the chairs in the Board, including the Chairman.
With this, the government determines the directions that the company has to
follow and the way the executives should lead businesses, in compliance with
the responsability of the "Corporate Governance".
Companies like Petrobras and Eni
have, indirectly, the Brazilian citizens and the Italian citizens as the main
owners of these companies! However, unlike Eni, Petrobras fulfills its "Social
Role" under the baton of the government's "Strong Hand".
In Brazil, with the goal to keep
the inflation on the rigid control, keeping the companies and the purchasing
power of the Brazilian worker, the government "forces" Petrobras to
sell fuel below the cost of production, imposing to this Giant, stratospheric
financial losses year after year, and devaluations of shares and a steep drop
in Petrobras' "market value", ie, the Brazilian government
prioritizes the population at the expense of shareholders and the market.
In Italy, it looks like it's
happening the exact opposite! This is what indicates a "General
Strike" 29/7/2014) called by Italian unions based on the intention of
reducing Eni's investments in Italy with closing refineries and consequently
the dismissal of thousands of workers. This decision of Eni will affect a lot
of cities' economy leaving only the "environmental liability"of
decades of degradation and pollution that is affecting the population as a
disease.
If the Italian government doesn't
reguire that its largest company fulfill its "Social Role", Eni will
continue to be a "Giant" but it will be a "DWARF" when it
comes to “Corporate Social Responsibility” and “Business Ethics”.
