INPS 2008-2011: managing innovation to satisfy citizens’ needs

Italy’s State Pension and Social Welfare System, known as “INPS” (Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale), insures all those working in the Italian private and public sectors as well as the majority of the self-employed. INPS provides pensions, financial support and labor tax inspections, making it a key player for the renewal of the modern welfare State. INPS has a larger budget than any other public organization or private firm in Italy and it is the most complex and comprehensive pension- and welfare system compared to equivalent institutions within the European Union. INPS has been investing in the rationalization of its resources and redesigning its processes since 2008 and during the subsequent years marked by a severe economic, financial and cultural crisis. These major changes in its organization have had an impact on its governance framework, several of its policies for the management of human resources, its internal operations and investments in information and communication technologies, its network strategies for sharing data and actions with other public and private organizations, as well as its customer satisfaction monitoring practices. As of 2011, this process of change is neither complete nor immune to resistance exerted by the internal and external stakeholders affected by the huge changes introduced.