WHO I AM

This web space was created on the basis of my university and professional experience. This third version identifies three major thematic areas: research, further education and professional opportunities.

With regard to research, there are specific sections on new publications and New Perspectives. Regarding updating, the Events area points out interesting opportunities for discussion. Professional opportunities are related to consulting activities, contained in the reserved area where registration is required to access it. The site dedicated to the new marketing for social networks has been online since 2013: socialing.  (www.socialing.eu)
The contents and services presented within these sites reflect my personal and professional experience, which can be summarised as follows.
I was born in Verbania to a family of ancient Aosta Valley origins and I have three children.

I graduated in Business Economics from Bocconi University in Milan in 1983 and in Political Science from Università Statale in 1988. I obtained a PhD in Business Economics from Bocconi University in 1989 and specialised in Work and Consumer Psychology through the teaching of Gustavo Pietropoli Charmet, Marisa Giorgi, Giampaolo Lai,Luigi Pagliarani and Gianpaolo Fabris. I studied labour psychology in particular at Ariele in Milan between 1994 and 1999.
I am a confirmed associate professor of Economics and Business Management at the Cattaneo University of Castellanza where I teach Relational Marketing and CRM and Consumer Psychology  (www.liuc.it). I also teach Marketing at the Master in Business Strategy (MISA) and the Master in Healthcare Management (EMMAS) at Sda-Bocconi.
From 1984 to 2003 I taught Marketing at Bocconi University. I also taught Business Economics and Management at the University of Valle d’Aosta (2003-2004) (www.univda.it), Marketing of Tourism Companies at the University IULM (2000) in Milan and Industrial Marketing (from 1995 to 1998) and Institutions of Economics (1999) at the Politecnico di Milano at the degree course in Industrial Design.
I was a senior lecturer at SDA Bocconi from 1996 to 2007, where I directed the Master in Internet Business (M.IN.B.), a General Management course in 2001, realised in collaboration with some of the most renowned Italian and international companies, such as Banca Intesa, Cisco, Etnoteam, HP and Telecom Italia Lab.
In addition, I was coordinator of the Marketing Management industrial markets course from 1990 to 2003. I coordinated the Tourism Marketing course from 1993 to 2001 and in 1984 I coordinated the first course in Italy on Marketing for real estate brokers.

Research and consultancy

I have researched and carried out training and consultancy for leading Italian and international companies including: Abb, Alitalia, Assolombarda, Ansaldo, Barilla, Basf, Bmw, Bosh, Bracco, Bticino, CALV, Coldiretti, Coop Italia, Edison, ENI, Ferrari, Ferrovie dello Stato, Finsiel, GD, Hewlett Packard, IBM , Infostrada, Lifegate, Lindt, Microsoft, Mondadori, MSD, Oracle, Peugeot, Poste Italiane, RCS, Sanofi, Sun, Volvo, Gruppo Telecom, UNIVA, Zambon, Zanichelli.

Advisoring and promoting digital innovation

I am advisor to some of the largest Italian and international Private Equity Funds, with a focus on new technologies and the digital economy.
I am currently advisor and board member of large Italian entrepreneurial families, with regard to investment projects in industry, tourism and real estate.
I have been a member of the Italian Marketing Society (www.simktg.it). I have published numerous books and articles on the economics of enterprise, the economics of innovation and new technologies for digital transformation (Andrea Farinet Publications).

On these topics I have participated as a speaker at numerous conferences and events and, in particular, at the World Marketing Forum 2008 and World Business Forum 2008. The photo on the left is of the debate with John Davis of Harvard University on Family Capitalism, Generational Change and the Family Office, held at the World Business Forum in Milan in September 2005.
On 15 May 2013 I organised the First European Socialing Forum
in Milan, dedicated in particular to Expo 2015 and the agri-food sector.

Corporate governance and social responsibility

As far as professional activities are concerned, I was a founder of Progetto, a company specialising in corporate management consultancy, for which I carried out interventions related to corporate strategy, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and Internet marketing.
In this field, I carried out professional projects alongside some of the most important Italian and international companies, especially on CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and New Media and Social Networks. On behalf
of the Coesia Group and On Network magazine, I have been able to discuss the future of the Italian and European economy with Roger Abravanel, Alberto Bombassei, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Gabriele Galateri di Genola, Gianfelice Rocca ,Umberto Paolucci, Pasquale Pistorio, Franco Tatò,
I have held numerous positions in companies and institutions, both public and private, including member of the Executive Committee of the Isabella Seràgnoli
Foundation together with Roberto Poli and Maurizio Petta, member of the Executive Committee of the Italian Business Aviation Association (www.ibaa.it), member of the Strategic Committee of the Casino de la Vallé together with Gianni Zandano and Paolo Vitelli (www.casinodelavallee.info), member of the Scientific Committee of the Courmayeur Foundation – International Centre on Law, Society and Economics (www.fondazionecourmayeur.it) together with Giuseppe De Rita, Mario Deaglio, Waldemaro Flick, Franzo Grande Stevens, Lodovico Passerin d’Entreves, Livia Pomodoro; Vice President of the “L. Ferretti” Mountain System Observatory.

Institutional roles and collaborations

In 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2014 I was President or Member of the Commission for the qualification to the profession of Chartered Accountant at LIUC- Cattaneo University. I have collaborated with several Italian and international newspapers including RAI, Corriere della Sera, Il Sole – 24 Ore, Computerworld and Netforum.
In 2010 I was appointed President of the Council by the international company Superbrands for research on Social Responsibility in Italy and member of the jury for the Marketing Award of Edilportale, the first search engine for construction in Italy. In 2011 and 2012, I was the Scientific and Educational Coordinator of the National Institute for Agricultural Policy Education (INIPA) in Rome. In 2013 I published, together with Giancarlo Roversi, the Universal Charter of the Rights of the Cultivated Earth, which was presented during Expo 2015 at the Second European Socialing Forum, at Cascina Triulza on 3 June 2015.

In June 2019, I was appointed President of Fondazione Pubblicità Progresso (www.pubblicitàprogresso.org)

In May 2022, I was appointed managing director of the Consorzio Reggia di Monza, representing the Italian government’s Ministry of Culture. (http://www.reggiadimonza.it)

In my spare time I try to cultivate my great passions: my children, friends, sports – tai chi chuan, jogging and skiing -, mountains, literature and cinema.

Ancient Valle d’Aosta origins

The Farinet family is one of the oldest families in Valle d’Aosta. Available genealogy traces the origin of the name back to Jean de Saint-Christophe in 1432. The family counts among its descendants such illustrious men as Joseph-Samuel (1845-1880), hero of the Valais canton, my grandfather François (1854-1913), deputy in Rome for Valle d’Aosta from 1892 to 1909, and Paul-Alphonse (1893-1974), my father’s cousin, deputy for Valle d’Aosta after the Second World War.
In 2004, Simona D’Agostino wrote a biography on Francois Farinet published in Aosta by Le Chateau, which is an important first step in the historical reconstruction of his work. Throughout his life, Francois was the object of conflicting passions; he was followed by some, especially members of his family, and fought by others of his own class, with an indomitable harshness that extended from him to his brothers and nephews. Throughout his activities, Farinet elaborated his image as spokesman and prime defender of the interests of the people of Valle d’Aosta; his is the slogan ‘La Vallée d’Aoste aux valdôtains’, which summarises the battles he carried out with passion and unscrupulousness.
The Farinet family archive is kept in the house on Lake Maggiore and is the result of meticulous reconstruction and cataloguing work carried out by my aunt Teresa Farinet Bionaz (1906-1981), to whom our affectionate gratitude goes.
In 2008, Andrea Farinet and Massimo Michaud published the book ‘Il sogno valdostano’ (The Aosta Valley Dream) in which they explore some suggestive hypotheses for the economic and social development of the Aosta Valley.

P.Clotert, Farinet l’inconnu, Saint Maurice, 1968.
P.Thurre, Joseph-Samuel Farinet, in Les cent du millenaire, Aosta, 2000.
T.Omezzoli, Paul-Alphonse Farinet. A biographical profile, Aosta, Le Chateau, 2002.
S.D’Agostino, Francois Farinet. Protagonist of a bourgeois dynasty in Valle d’Aosta, Aosta, Le Chateau, 2004.
A. Farinet, M. Michaud. Il sogno valdostano: dialogo sul futuro della Valle d’Aosta, Aosta, Le Chateau, 2008.