Entrepreneurship and Capabilities in a 'Beginner' Oil Multinational: The Case of ENI

The entrepreneurial activity of Enrico Mattei, who headed the Italian state oil company AGIP (later ENI) from 1945 to 1962, laid the groundwork for the company's growth during the 1950s and 1960s. Mattei relied on a group of knowledgeable specialists, who were equipped with a complex set of capabilities that enabled them to oversee and perform operational tasks. The task of adapting that set of capabilities began in the latter half of the 1950s, when the firm underwent a transition from its main business of producing natural gas, which it had developed immediately after World War II, to prospecting for oil abroad.