The number of patents, normalised by the size of GDP, reflects these deficiencies, standing at less than half with respect to the average for the OECD countries. 11. Despite these limitations, the quality of the research produced in Italy bears comparison with the main European countries.
Surely, the job of company directors is to ensure that management is doing everything necessary to maximize profits and stock values, no matter what the circumstances. Any company that does not operate this way will soon find itself losing to the competition. Another misconception is that a relatively low exchange rate puts a country at a disadvantage in terms of foreign takeovers.