“These are tough times,” says Gianluca Spina, professor of management and dean of MIP, the Politechnico di Milano school of management.

MIP's governance structure, unique in Italy, gives it some shelter in the storm, however. Founded in 1979, it is 51 per cent owned by Milan's Politechnico, Italy's oldest and largest state technical university, and 49 per cent by 17 corporations, mainly Italian multinationals, as well as subsidiaries of foreign enterprises, including Taiwan's Acer and Accenture of the UK.

MIP was born out of the desire of industrialists at Pirelli, Eni and Fiat to provide their engineers with management skills. And, as Italy is drawn into the mainstream of globalisation, MIP is supplying customised business management packages for its corporate shareholders, as well as the open market.