Ferrari’s CEO would prefer if the company moved fast like its cars.
Since he assumed his chief executive role in 2021, Benedetto Vigna introduced changes to Ferrari so the more than 80-year-old company could move with the speed of a tech startup as it ventured into the competitive space of electric vehicles.
To do so, Vigna stripped away layers of bureaucracy, creating a flatter hierarchy inside the company, The Wall Street Journal reported — a move other CEOs have been exploring to improve a company’s performance or ability to innovate.
Previously, there were six levels of employees between the CEO and test drivers, for example. Now, there are three.
“When the environmental condition is changing at high speed, you need to have a team that is able to adapt at high speed,” Vigna told the Journal.
Vigna’s leadership approach stems from his long background in tech, according to the outlet.
A trained physicist, Vigna previously spent about 25 years at STMicroelectronics, a semiconductor company, where he started as an engineer and later became an executive, according to a press release from Ferrari.
At Ferrari, Vigna saw what he called a high “bureaucratic mass index,” where employees were too far removed from the CEO, the Journal reported.
Vigna has previously expressed his desire for Ferrari to work faster and with less corporate bloat.
In a 2023 interview with Bloomberg, Vigna said he believed that companies work more efficiently through smaller teams.
“In a big team you feel like a number,” he told Bloomberg. “In a small team, you are a person that’s contributing one way or another. Also, the speed of learning from mistakes is much faster.”
So far, Wall Street has responded well to Vigna’s arrival.
According to the Journal, the company stock price has nearly doubled since Vigna took control of the company.
Ferrari also plans to roll out its first electric car by the end of 2025.
A spokesperson for Ferrari did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent during the weekend.