Search

Although accessible tourism represents an interesting research field, the study on the participation of people with disabilities (PwDs) in tourism activities and the constraints limiting their involvement is still in its initial phase. This paper proposes a comprehensive review of the literature on the role of constraints on the travel propensity of PwDs. It also offers an empirical application using the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural constraints model as the primary guiding theoretical framework. The findings revealed that the presence of constraints limits the intention to travel of PwDs. Additionally, they underlined that many PwDs give up travelling despite the attempts of many tourist destinations to reduce or eliminate these constraints.

The research presents the combination of insights from development practices of sustainable tourism and Open Innovation approach. The aim is to unlock new knowledge on how customer can influence the translation of sustainable innovation within small accommodation enterprises. Among these, it is relevant the role played by "alberghi diffusi", defined as an authentic experience of the Italian life style, and recognized as an innovative and sustainable accommodation typology. The analysis is based on ten multiple case studies drawn from the Italian context. The paper contributes to a better understanding of innovation processes in the "albergo diffuso" formula and to a deeper evidence-based understanding of the role of customers in the development of services and practices focused on sustainable principles.

This is the accepted version without figures of the paper "Knowledge co-creation in Open Innovation Digital Platforms: processes, tools and services" published as final paper in "Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 34 No. 7, pp. 1434-1447. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-09-2018-0276" Citation: Abbate, T., Codini, A.P. and Aquilani, B. (2019), "Knowledge co-creation in Open Innovation Digital Platforms: processes, tools and services", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 34 No. 7, pp. 1434-1447. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-09-2018-0276 Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how Open Innovation Digital Platforms (OIDPs) can facilitate and support knowledge co-creation in Open Innovation (OI) processes. Specifically, it intends to investigate the contribution of OIDPs oriented to successfully implement all the phases of interactive coupled OI processes. Design/methodology/approach: The paper carries out an exploratory qualitative analysis, adopting the single case study method. The case here investigated is Open Innovation Platform Regione Lombardia (OIPRL). Findings: The case study sheds light on how OIPRL supports knowledge co-creation through its processes, tools and services as a co-creator intermediary. In its launch stage, the platform simply aimed at giving firms a tool to “find partners” and financial resources to achieve innovative projects. Now, however, the platform has developed into an engagement platform for knowledge co-creation. Research limitations/implications: One limitation lies in the particular perspective used to perform the case study: the perspective of the digital platform itself. Future research should focus on the individuals engaged in the platform to better investigate the processes, tools and services used to implement the Open Innovation approach. Practical implications: The paper suggests ways in which OIDPs could be used by firms for effective exploration, acquisition, integration and development of valuable knowledge. Originality/value: The study conceptualizes the role of OIDPs in shaping knowledge co-creation, assuming that the platforms act as Open Innovation Intermediaries. Specifically, OIDPs can be observed to function as “co-creator intermediaries” that define, develop and implement dedicated processes, specific tools and appropriate services for supporting knowledge co-creation activities. &nbsp

Over time, the acronym DMO has evolved from a meaning centered on marketing (i.e. Destination Marketing Organization) to a meaning centered on management (i.e. Destination Management Organization). Expanding the role of DMOs to one of management implies a greater need to engage stakeholders both within the destination and external to the destination. We assert that this places the DMO in a fundamentally unique position of being a boundary spanner between the internal destination environment and the external competitive environment. This boundary-spanning role requires higher capabilities in knowledge management. The successful DMO of the future will be an intelligent agent of the destination that is able to identify, engage and learn from disparate stakeholders both within and outside the destination. It must acquire, filter, analyze and prioritize data and information from various sources to create knowledge that can be used to fulfill its role in destination management. Our paper is conceptual in nature, advocating an organizing framework to help understand the DMO's role as an intelligent agent that acts as a boundary spanner between the destination and the external competitive environment generating and disseminating knowledge. Outside the destination, the DMO must gain knowledge about the competitive environment, opportunities and threats, and trends that will change the future competitive landscape. Within the destination, the DMO must use this knowledge to strategically assess the strengths and weaknesses of the destination, align the resources of stakeholders and develop adequate competencies to formulate a strategy that is both competitive and sustainable. We conclude with a set of prescriptions for destination managers seeking to create an intelligent DMO that maximizes their knowledge management capabilities. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This study focuses on creativity and innovation in the gastronomy sector, where both concepts have become increasingly relevant determinants of success, business performance and longer-term survival. Specifically, it investigates the key factors that effectively stimulate the actions and behaviours leading to a continuous flow of novel and useful ideas that can be turned into innovations. To achieve this, an inductive methodology was used, based on the study of a single but significant case, using the semi-structured in-depth interview. The results show that new ideas are mainly generated directly by the chef; hence individual features play a leading role, together with endless experimentation. They furthermore underline that the innovation process is mainly influenced by a trial-and-error approach, which is possible only if the chef has a genuine entrepreneurial spirit. These results hold several relevant theoretical and practical implications.

The paper investigates the relationship between the culinary innovation process (divided in two stages: idea generation and idea transformation) and the role of creativity protection. The aim is to understand how chefs protect their creativity and their innovation outcomes. The analysis is based on a sample of 132 Italian Michelin-starred chefs. The study sheds light on creativity and innovation domains in the hospitality environment where organizations have to continuously innovate in order to maintain a defensible competitive position. It identifies five “barriers against imitation” by competitors: “listening to clients’ needs”; “chef’s own creativity”, “systematic approach to creativity”; “knowledge based feasibility”; “accumulated professional skills”. The paper represents an initial effort to examine creativity protection concepts in the gastronomy sector, which are still unexplored. It contributes to a better understanding of how to protect the intellectual property in a sector where the applicability of law-based intellectual property systems is very low.

This paper aims to explore consumer attitudes toward using smart shopping cart, considering country of origin, gender, age, and intentions to use smart shopping carts while purchasing. Moreover, it investigates the influence of extracted factors on consumers' attitudes toward using smart shopping carts and the users' levels of digital competence. The data was collected through survey questionnaires using a purposive sample of 313 Croatian and Italian respondents. To this end, we applied statistical methodologies such as binary logistic regression, factor analysis, and analysis of variance. We found that, compared with Croatians, Italian respondents have a more positive attitude toward using smart shopping carts, regardless of age or gender. Moreover, we found that consumers are influenced by two major factors: functional and convenience. Consumers who purchase for functionality reasons will have preferences associated with faster product selection and speeding up the purchasing process without fearing that they lack the necessary expertise. If functionality has the tendency to increase, respondents will not lack ICT knowledge when purchasing with the smart cart.

From a market orientation perspective, this study intends to examine how small high-tech firms generate, disseminate and integrate information on customers’ needs, competitors’ activities and market forces within their organizational boundaries in order to define and to implement effective strategies. We perform an explorative qualitative analysis based on Italian and Spanish academic spin-off firms. We find that the activities of generation, dissemination and integration of market information are crucial to develop technological innovations and to obtain positive performance, even if these activities require the definition and development of a sophisticated marketing information system, as well as the availability of economic resources and specialized competences, often more limited in these small firms.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to supply indications that may be useful in the process of development of new products that fully exploit the value potential of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in the automotive industry. To this aim, the authors investigate how applications of the IoT to smart vehicles are perceived by consumers and describe different ways to increase their satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – After a literature review focused on IoT and consumer behaviour in the automotive industry, the authors apply the Kano model to find the drivers for achieving customer satisfaction with new product developments in smartcars. Findings – Automotive companies need to consider what is attractive to drivers and what consumers consider to be “driver-friendly”. Using an empirical analysis, the authors highlight the motivations for developing a smartcar to fits the expectation of Italian drivers. Research limitations/implications – While the global framework given by this paper can be useful in all contexts, the empirical part is based on the Italian consumer. Further research may extend the application of the model to other countries to improve the generalizability of the results. Practical implications – This study supplies an analysis of qualitative data that may prove useful to researchers and managers in planning their strategic and operative activities with the aim of improving the development of IoT-related products in the automotive industry. Originality/value – This paper fulfils the need for an original research framework that sheds light on relevant insights and gives useful hints on the development of IoT technologies in the automotive sector.

This Research Note analyses the contribution of Cittaslow (slow city) to the governance of tourism destinations by promoting the "slowness" perspective and the concept of sustainable development at the local level. This movement strongly encourages policy-makers to orient its various efforts essentially to define and implement policies, activities and initiatives for sustaining economic development, social well-being and environmental sustainability. In this way, it stimulates the improvement of quality of life for inhabitants and tourists of the involved destinations. Based on a qualitative analysis focused on "Cittaslow Association", this study concentrates on opportunities and challenges for certified destinations as well as the linkages between practices defined by the Cittaslow Association and sustainable development. From a theoretical point of view, the Research Note contributes to destination development literature, offering significant highlights on the governance of tourism destinations. From a managerial point of view, it supports policy-makers underlining the main opportunities and challenges for a tourism destination in being certified as Cittaslow.

This chapter aims at analyzing how firms can successfully embrace an Open Innovation (OI) process through customers, involving them, individually or in communities, in the co-creation of ideas, knowledge, products, services, processes, putting into action and integrating their creativity with firms' resources. Three main areas of interest are analyzed through a literature review process, to create a framework able to show the challenges organizations have to meet simultaneously externally (i.e. consumerism) and internally (i.e. organizational changes) in this shift of the innovation paradigm: consumerism features and challenges, OI approach and web-based platforms, and organizational issues involved in the OI paradigm shift. This chapter affords consumerism and OI approach, while the next, which is the sequel of this one, discusses OI platforms and organizational changes as well as the resulting framework. Four contributions distinguish this study: (i) the link between consumerism and OI; (ii) the focus on customers as a source of external innovation; (iii) the identification of alternative ways to access OI with customers and their features; (iv) the disclosure of a “hybrid” mode to develop OI through customers.

Academic spin-off firms are an important mechanism to transfer technological knowledge from university to industry, although they often show low growth and performance rates. This study analyses whether academic spin-offs adopting a market orientation benefit from superior economic and innovation performance. The empirical analysis is based on both quantitative survey data and in-depth interviews. Results show that the generation and dissemination of information about customers and competitors directly affect firms' ability to develop technological innovations and gain profits. Nevertheless, market orientation may generate inefficiencies when external technological conditions require firms to respond quickly to environmental stimuli.

We aim at analysing open innovation intermediary (OII) services provided to firms in order to support their innovation processes with customers in an open innovation (OI) context. After a review of past literature contributions, we analysed two OII platforms and mapped the services provided in this domain, through a case study methodology. We found that: 1) both the number of OII and the services provided are limited; 2) OIIs approach this OI mode in various ways, offering a different bundle of services; 3) these differences are not easily distinguishable by OII web-based platform characteristics. The paper enhances knowledge of services provided by OII in the innovation processes firms carried out with customers, little studied in literature, even if theoretical contributions recognise many benefits for firms. It also sheds light on the characteristics of web-based platforms of OI, refining previous definitions.