The 5 Disciplines of Inclusive Leaders

  6

Barilla: Preserving Tradition While Changing It

FOUNDED IN 1877 IN PARMA, ITALY, BARILLA, the once local, still family-owned company, is now the world’s largest pasta manufacturer.

For more than 140 years, the Barilla family brand conveyed openness and acceptance. But as the company continued its global expansion, it began to face new diversity and inclusion challenges. After all, most of the top leadership was Italian—most were even from the Parma area. They had been at the company most of their careers, and so had many of their parents and grandparents. In addition, because it was a family-owned business, the company culture mirrored that of a typical northern Italian family: close knit, paternalistic, and tied to long-standing traditions. ...