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In the last years, several studies dealt with smart working (SW) and its evolution during the pandemic. Most of them discussed benefits, drawbacks and drivers for successful implementation. Few studies investigated the impact on organization performance. It is not clear to what extent SW, especially in the emergence phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, has impacted the organizations, both at macro- and micro- structure level, and whether it may result into increased productivity and better innovation performance. The paper aims at investigating whether and under which conditions companies that adopted SW during the Covid-19 pandemic improved their performance. To achieve such a goal, based on a literature review, we develop a theoretical framework to describe the impact of SW on organization performance. Then, we design and administer a survey to test it. In particular, a questionnaire to empirically test the framework is developed, administered, and validated. In the paper we present a preliminary analysis of the results of the survey, which offers some interesting insights for theory and practice. In particular, by analysing the impact of the implementation of this new work modality on the organization performance, the paper contributes to the research on SW. Also, by developing a valid and reliable questionnaire, we provide a useful tool to help investigate whether and to what extent SW allows for productivity increase and better innovation performance. The tools also help retrieving information about the workers’ perceptions regarding the implementation of smart working in their own company.

One of the major issues the agri-food supply chains is the considerable production of by-products, which are mostly discarded as wastes and dangerously landfilled. This problem is particularly acute in the coffee supply chain: coffee cultivation generates by-products and in quantities which are potentially dangerous for the environment. A circular economy business model aimed at the recovery of these by-products may represent an interesting solution in terms of environmental, social, and economic sustainability. The goal of this paper was to provide teachers and educators with case material on circular business models that can be used for problem-based learning and case-based learning activities. The proposed case was built to address a real-world problematic situation related to the coffee supply chain. From a theoretical point of view, this study contributes to the literature on circular economy business models by providing a case study developed in the context of a developing country. Furthermore, the research entails practical implications since it shows managers and startuppers how to map a circular business model in all its components under the guidance of a conceptual framework.

The growing diffusion of digital technologies, especially in production systems, is leading to a new industrial paradigm, named Industry 4.0 (I4.0), which involves disruptive changes in the way companies organize production and create value. Organizations willing to seize the opportunities of I4.0 must thus innovate their processes and business models. The challenges that companies must face for the transition towards I4.0 paradigm are not trivial. Several digital transformation models and roadmaps have been lately proposed in the literature to support companies in such a transition. The literature on change management stresses that about 70% of change initiatives—independently of the aim—fail to achieve their goals due to the implementation of transformation programs that are affected by well-known mistakes or neglect some relevant aspects, such as lack of management support, lack of clearly defined and achievable objectives and poor communication. This paper investigates whether and to what extent the existing digital transformation models (DTMs) and roadmaps for I4.0 transition consider the lessons learnt in the field of change management. To this aim, a Systematic Literature Review to identify existing models and roadmaps is carried out. The results obtained by the review are discussed under the lens of the change-management literature. Based on that, the shortcomings and weaknesses of existing DTMs are pinpointed. Extant DTMs mainly focus on digital transformation initiatives carried out in manufacturing companies; they do not cover all the phases of the digital transformation process but rather focus on the definition of the I4.0 vision, strategy and roadmap. Little attention is devoted to the implementation and consolidation of digital change. Change management lessons are considered to a limited extent, based on which, some suggestions for better dealing with digital transformation initiatives are discussed. The paper contributes to advancing knowledge on models and approaches to support organizations in managing digital transformation. The identification of change management activities that a digital transformation initiative should involve as well as the suggestions on how to effectively deal with it can be used by managers to successfully lead the I4.0 transition journey in their organizations.

All countries recognize the right to adequate housing for all human beings. Yet, in many countries, social housing is in a critical state: most buildings need to be restored and better services should be guaranteed. Such actions should be part of a larger plan aimed to overcome the organizational and technological backwardness of the agencies that manage the social housing system. With a not large, but old public asset, the Italian context may represent an interesting case to start investigating difficulties and problems in the management of the social housing system that, as it occurs in most Mediterranean countries, arise when the public housing rental model is adopted. In the paper, a multiple case study on five Italian regional public Agencies responsible for the social housing system is discussed. In particular, the theoretical lens of process theory and ambidextrous business process management are adopted to study the Agencies’ “problematic situation” and identify innovative solutions to address it. The paper contributes to research and practice on process innovation and digital transformation of public administrations: three important lessons are derived and discussed also taking into consideration Industry 5.0, the vision on the future of industry recently proposed by the European Commission. Finally, the adoption of process theory combined with ambidextrous Business Process Management is an underexplored research method in the field of Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Facility Management (AEC/FM) research. The results reported in the study reaffirm the potential deriving from its adoption also in such a field.

Measuring the openness of innovation is essential to understanding whether and under which conditions increasing openness is beneficial for organizations. However, no consensus has been so far achieved on which dimensions characterize the openness of innovation, which approach should be used to measure it, or which unit of analysis should be adopted. This paper proposes an approach, named ATOM (Aggregative Technique for Openness Measurement), to characterize and measure the openness of innovation, rooted in the concepts of knowledge supply (KS) and innovation practice (IP). As prescribed by the confirmation phase of theory building model, the approach has been successfully applied to a real innovation project. The paper contributes to clarifying the concept of innovation openness and attempts to improve its measurement by adopting a micro-level unit of analysis (i.e., single KS within an innovation project) as well as dimensions that extant literature considers relevant to managing external collaborations. The proposed approach can also support firms involved in an innovation project to (i) identify and measure the criticality of knowledge supplies, (ii) assess the openness of the adopted innovation practices, and (iii) support ex-post learning on the way the project was managed.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the firm’s role in the value creation process. In particular, after categorizing the activities that firms carry out to facilitate the creation of value, the “value space,” an actionable framework within which different dimensions of value creation are integrated, is developed and discussed. Design/methodology/approach – The framework is built up on process theory, an in-depth review of the literature and a multiple case study carried out on 65 European firms in the furniture industry. Findings – The value space is both a practical and theoretically based framework which contributes to the development of a more holistic and “actionable” view on the role of firm in the value creation process; also it provides managers with a tool to support the analysis, management and innovation of the value creation process. Originality/value – The systematic categorization of firms’ activities and their subsequent integration into a value creation framework are a missing piece in terms of understanding the value creation process carried out by firms. Also, by facilitating the analysis and innovation of the value creation process, the framework can be used to support both exploitative and explorative business process management.

Unresilient and fragile regions need methods and data able to make policy-makers acknowledge the specific criticalities by which they are affected, so as to build effective development strategies and policies. This research explores whether and to what extent well-being and sustainability measurement frameworks are able to recognize crisis areas. We identified Taranto (Italy), declared as both a National Priority Contaminated Site and a Complex Industrial Crisis area, as a paradigmatic and extreme case of crisis areas and adopted the single case approach to address our research question. After reviewing several frameworks able to measure well-being at local level, we focused on Benessere Equo e Sostenibile dei Territori (Equitable and Sustainable Territorial Well-being, BESdT). We used two aggregate indexes to analyze data, namely the Adjusted Mazziotta-Pareto Index and the Adjusted Differences Mean Index. The study shows that, although BESdT does detect some criticalities of the examined area, it seems not able to adequately frame the multifaceted crisis that affects the area of Taranto. Even in presence of a full-blown crisis, the problematic situation does not always reflect into lower territorial performance, neither at the level of single indicators nor at the level of entire domains. Such discrepancy appears to be particularly evident within the economic domain. The paper ends with a discussion on the research and policy implications and some proposals for further research.

Sustainability reporting is the process by which companies describe how they deal with their own economic, environmental, and social impacts, thus making stakeholders able to recognize the value of sustainable practices. As stressed in the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines, which act as a de facto standard for sustainability reporting, sustainable reports should take into account the stakeholders’ view. In particular, engaging stakeholders is essential to carry out the materiality analysis, by which organizations can identify their own more relevant sustainability aspects. Yet, on the one hand, the existing guidelines do not provide specific indications on how to get stakeholders actually engaged; on the other hand, research on quantitative techniques to support stakeholder engagement in materiality analysis is scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is the development of a quantitative structured approach based on multi-attribute group decision-making techniques to effectively and reliably support stakeholder engagement during materiality analysis in sustainability reporting. As it more strictly guides the reporting process, the proposed approach at the same time simplifies materiality analysis and makes it more reliable. Though any company can adopt the approach, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are expected to particularly benefit from it, due to the quite limited implementation effort that is required. With this respect, the approach has been validated on a sample of Italian SMEs belonging to different sectors.

This paper analyzes the practices adopted and difficulties experienced by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to transfer socially responsible behaviors to suppliers that operate in developing countries. In particular, a multiple case study was conducted on five Italian socially responsible SMEs. It was found that companies use different strategies as well as diverse management systems and tools to address Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues along their supply chains (SCs). The paper is innovative mainly since few are the existing studies that investigate the CSR practices adopted by SMEs in the SC. Furthermore, it is argued that our research can be helpful to SME managers willing to deal with CSR issues along their SCs, especially when developing countries are involved.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a methodological framework for assessing coordination in information intensive processes in a perspective of government innovation needs.Design/methodology/approachIn the literature on e‐government most of the assessment efforts challenge mere technological issues, completeness of supplied services, and number of users “attracted”; we describe a methodological framework for addressing coordination problems in information‐intensive processes, explore the potential effectiveness of the proposed approach within an e‐government system managing authoritative procedures in Natural Parks, and finally discuss strengths and limitations of the methodology.FindingsProvides the framework for testing the proposed methodology in developing land use permissions in natural parks.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed methodology considers that governmental procedure are well monitored and known with respect to information flows, individual tasks and performances. The applicability of the proposed methodology in government processes can present some limitations when dealing with complex and inter‐institutional procedures whose information flows and roles are not clearly identifiable. Moreover, the methodology is dedicated to sequential procedures.Practical implicationsAlthough other and in some cases more complex methodologies are available to assess coordination, the suggested methodology is easy to be applied and needs information that is not difficult to be acquired. It provides support to improve the analyzed process as it estimates the coordination load involved by different ways to implement it.Originality/valueThe paper approaches the e‐government assessment problem focusing on the opportunity for the organization to learn about itself and producing organizational innovation.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the new product management practices adopted by low‐tech small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the context of design‐intensive products.Design/methodology/approachThe results are based on a multi‐case comparative setting covering SMEs in furniture industry in three countries, Italy, Spain and Finland.FindingsThe study shows considerable differences in performance that occur in terms of the degree of design and innovation, goal orientation and the systematics by which a single furniture business is managed. Proactiveness and freedom in design and innovation together with systematic new product development (NPD) and goal orientation enhances NPD performance. As to the new product uniqueness, innovative design is applicable in furniture industry much as in a similar way as new technological knowledge is in technology industries. The management education and/or interests which are closely related to furniture design and decoration have a clear impact on the level up to which innovative designs are implemented.Practical implicationsThe study has direct implications for furniture companies aiming at improving their competitiveness and NPD effectiveness. The study points out the importance of creating a proper innovative culture and being open to new ideas if export markets are targeted.Originality/valueTechnology intensive products in large‐ and medium‐sized companies have been the main focus of NPD performance research, also facing the risk of over‐generalization due to cross‐industry approaches. Low‐tech industries however play a major role as to national income and employment. In this respect the present study aims to highlight the prevailing NPD practices in small design‐intensive firms in the furniture industry by reporting any management gaps which may occur in terms of new product performance.

Knowledge Supply Chains (KSCs) are the networks that provide knowledge supplies so nourishing one or more business processes carried out by a firm. KSCs are particularly crucial for innovation development processes. The need to recur to open KSCs during the accomplishment of such processes is indeed emphasized by the recent literature on open innovation (Kirschbaum, 2005; Chesbrough, 2006; Gassman, 2006; Van de Vrande et al., 2009). However, as scholars adopt different definitions of openness and stress different practices, it is not clear what open really means (Dahlander and Gann, 2010). Research is called for to further classify the different practices and, above all, to measure the impact of open vs. closed innovation so as to support companies in the identification of the right balance (Enkel et al., 2009). In the paper a methodology to map and analyze KSCs arising during an innovation development process is proposed. The methodology is described with specific reference to New Product Development (NPD) which is widely common as well as strategic in many firms. The methodology supports the characterization of the knowledge supplies (also in terms of the adopted collaboration approach) and the assessment of their criticality within the NPD process. Hence, it (1) contributes to make the concept of openness clearer and (2) provide companies with a clear picture of the process and its criticalities.

By materiality analysis, companies identify material aspects, i.e., the most relevant topics that their sustainability report must address. This paper questions the excessive subjectivity that the global reporting initiative (GRI) guidelines grants to companies in identifying their own material aspects, which might elicit opportunistic behaviours. To mitigate the abuse of discretion and prevent its consequences, we present an approach to identify topics to be mandatorily considered as material, and apply it to the agri-food sector. Results are rooted in international standards and rating systems and move from evaluations of an international panel of scholars acknowledged as experts in that sector. By identifying the topics that are at the core of sustainability for the agri-food companies and suggesting them as mandatory for sustainability reporting, the paper helps reducing the chance of relevant topics omitted, and ultimately improves reliability and comparability of sustainability reports.

This chapter focuses on social innovation, a topic that the literature has been increasingly discussing in the last decade. The authors revise the many available (and, to some extent, too general) definitions as well as identify the main features that have been claimed as relevant for social innovation (e.g. Mumford, 2002), which concur in providing its definition. By doing so, they pursue the assessment of a less fuzzy definition of social innovation and make a first attempt to focus on the role that companies play in developing as well as scaling social innovations. The adopted approach exploits the literature review and is based on an in-depth analysis of the definitions of social innovation: the authors collected and catalogued them, so identifying the main dimensions of analysis. Clarifying what social innovation is and the role that companies play in social innovation initiatives can increase companies' awareness of what they (can) do with respect to social innovation, possibly taking advantage of this in terms of business objectives.

This paper is aimed at investigating the properties which should characterize a knowledge technology (KT), that is, a technology suitable to effectively support knowledge management. After an outline of the scientific background and of the main current research tracks on knowledge management, the paper focuses on knowledge transfer, which is analyzed by two main cognitive processes: codification and interpretation. The paper argues that, to define the properties of a KT, it is necessary to analyze the cognitive context in which knowledge transfer takes place. A cognitive approach for knowledge transfer analysis is then proposed to guide the definition of the KT properties, and some examples are discussed focusing on some basic technologies of the Internet.

Companies deal with many decision-making processes whose impact on the global performance can be very strong. As a consequence, the role of Decision Support Systems (DSSs) within the organization is critical. The ability of managing uncertainty turns to be a crucial issue for a DSS. In particular, the design of a DSS, that requires the formalization of the expert's preferences is usually affected by uncertainty. In this case, evaluating the system's robustness is an effective way to evaluate its ability in managing uncertainty. In this paper fuzzy logic is proposed as a technique to design a robust DSS. A quantitative method and an experiment to compare the robustness of a DSS based on fuzzy logic and the one of a weighting method are proposed.

PurposeThe authors aim to investigate the concept of open innovation, identify different open innovation practices which help describe the continuum between closed and open innovation, and propose a framework that suggests an association between innovation contexts and practices.Design/methodology/approachThe authors first identify the variables to describe innovation contexts and practices. Such variables are developed based on the literature and on a previous paper by the same authors in 2011. Then, they establish an association between contexts and practices, and test it through cases drawn from the existing literature.FindingsThe paper proposes a detailed assessment of open innovation practices and suggests the association between each of them and diverse innovation contexts. A few case examples drawn from the literature prove coherent with the theoretical framework underlying the proposed association.Practical implicationsThe authors' results (and specifically the framework) enhance the organizations' awareness of the open innovation concept and the possible practices to implement it, as well as supporting managers to better select open innovation practices in different contexts.Originality/valueThis paper discusses the concept of open innovation practices to enhance the comprehension of the open innovation concept. Also, to the authors' knowledge, the proposed association between context and practices is original in that there are no similar theoretical frameworks that help organizations selecting innovation practices.

Knowledge Supply Chains (KSCs) are the networks that provide knowledge supplies so nourishing one or more business processes carried out by a firm. KSCs are particularly crucial for innovation development processes. The need to recur to open KSCs during the accomplishment of such processes is indeed emphasized by the recent literature on open innovation (Kirschbaum, 2005; Chesbrought, 2006; Gassman, 2006; Van de Vrande et al., 2009). However, as scholars adopt different definitions of openness and stress different practices, it is not clear what open really means (Dahlander and Gann, 2010). Research is called for to further classify the different practices and, above all, to measure the impact of open vs. closed innovation so as to support companies in the identification of the right balance (Enkel et al., 2009). In the paper a methodology to map and analyze KSCs arising during an innovation development process is proposed. The methodology is described with specific reference to New Product Development (NPD) which is widely common as well as strategic in many firms. The methodology supports the characterization of the knowledge supplies (also in terms of the adopted collaboration approach) and the assessment of their criticality within the NPD process. Hence, it (1) contributes to make the concept of openness clearer and (2) provide companies with a clear picture of the process and its criticalities.

The aim of the chapter is to investigate how Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) deal with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) along the supply chains to which they belong. The analysis is carried out by a literature review that aims at identifying: the role played by SMEs, both as buyers and suppliers; the practices implemented; drivers, risks, barriers to small business social responsibility in the supply chain, and the means to overcome such barriers. Most of the reviewed papers deal with small business social responsibility in general and investigate the role of SMEs only as suppliers of large customers. The most cited driver, risk, barrier, and means are: supply chain pressure, exclusion from supply chains, low power by SMEs, and partnership, respectively. The study also stresses questions that would benefit from further research, such as the effect of supply chain pressure on small business social responsibility. The study contributes to fill a gap in the literature as, to our knowledge, no literature reviews on small business social responsibility in supply chains have been developed.

Free/Libre open source software (FLOSS, e.g., Linux or Apache) is primarily developed by distributed teams. Developers contribute from around the world and coordinate their activity almost exclusively by means of email and bulletin boards, yet some how profit from the advantages and evade the challenges of distributed software development. In this article we investigate the structure and the coordination practices adopted by development teams during the bug-fixing process, which is considered one of main areas of FLOSS project success. In particular, based on a codification of the messages recorded in the bug tracking system of four projects, we identify the accomplished tasks, the adopted coordination mechanisms, and the role undertaken by both the FLOSS development team and the FLOSS community. We conclude with suggestions for further research.

Shared understandings are important for software development as they guide effective individual contributions and coordination of the software development process. However, it is not clear if such understandings can be developed in highly distributed groups that do not regularly meet face-to-face. In this paper, we present the results of a preliminary analysis of shared mental models within a Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development team. We analyzed mental models using cognitive mapping and process analysis and compared the models of four developers from the Apache Lucene Java project. Our analysis suggests that there is a high level of sharing among core developers but the sharing is not complete, with some differences related to tenure and role in the project. Finally, we suggest directions for further research on shared mental models in FLOSS teams.

This paper deals with Logistics Social Responsibility (LSR), i.e. the socially responsible management of the supply chain under a cross-functional perspective. In particular, the goal of the paper is to develop a taxonomy of the LSR practices adopted by firms. The taxonomy is built based on a literature review and an empirical analysis. In particular, the empirical analysis deals with the analysis of the non-financial reports (i.e. social, environmental, sustainability report, environmental statement, and/or SA8000 report) published by a sample of Italian companies. The taxonomy involves 47 different LSR practices classified based on five areas, namely Purchasing Social Responsibility, Sustainable Transportation, Sustainable Packaging, Sustainable Warehousing, and Reverse Logistics. The practices are further investigated to assess which and to what extent they are adopted by different categories of companies. To this aim, we use an ad hoc -defined metric, the Adoption Index, and carry out a cross-analysis. By providing an encompassing view of all the LSR issues and practices, our paper represents an initial attempt to fill a gap in the literature on LSR.

Shared understandings are important for software development as they guide to effective individual contributions to, and coordination of, the software development process. In this paper, we present the theoretical background and research design for a proposed study on shared mental models within Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development teams. In particular, we plan to perform case studies on several projects and to use cognitive maps analysis to represent and compare the mental models of the involved members so as to gauge the degree of common knowledge and the development of a collective mind as well as to better understand the reasons that underlie team members actions and the way common mental models, if any, arise.

Several approaches, processes and organizational forms to develop and properly manage knowledge in a company have been proposed in the literature. However, there is a lack of methodologies aimed at supporting the analysis and implementation of a knowledge management (KM) strategy, the organizational approach to manage and leverage the company's knowledge. In this paper, two main and opposite KM strategies are pointed out: the knowledge market and the knowledge community. A model is then proposed to assess the current KM strategy adopted by a company and its distance from the two extreme KM strategies. The model can support companies in the identification of suitable actions to better implement their KM strategy and to foster KM practices in the organization. The effectiveness of the model is also tested on a real case of application. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A few methods have been proposed in the literature to identify and address problems that arise during New Product Development (NPD). In this paper, cognitive maps are used to investigate such problems. In particular, the development of four new sofa models as performed in a company working in Southern Italy is studied. Based on direct observations and interviews with actors involved in the process, maps depicting the entire development process and the four examined cases are developed and analyzed. The analysis results show that some interpretative and cognitive issues are mainly responsible for the problems caused in NPD. Moreover, cognitive maps reveal a powerful tool to analyze and study the NPD process.

PurposeSets out to investigate business modeling techniques (BMTs) which can be used to support and improve innovation processes within small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approachBased on a literature review, different analysis perspectives on innovation processes are identified and discussed, and some firm needs and problems are pointed out. The importance of BMTs to firms is further tested by an empirical study whose initial results are reported. Finally, by matching problems and techniques characterized by the same ontology, the BMTs most suitable to address SME needs are identified and their role within the innovation process discussed.FindingsThe main result of the paper is the identification of the problems facing SMEs in innovation processes and the possible support offered by BMTs. Though methods and models alone do not assure the success in the innovation development process (IDP), they are enabling factors and can support the creation of strategies, reasoning, insights and communication.Originality/valueThe adoption of such BMTs, facilitating the codification of the characteristics of the IDP, might be particularly useful in those environments where, due to the lack of specialized resources, it is difficult to structure all of the information related to the innovation process and to exploit the related benefits and opportunities

This paper proposes a methodology to describe the information flows involved in the coordination of production processes. To this end, a process is represented as a set of interdependent tasks accomplished by resources. To manage task interdependencies, resources make decisions and exchange messages according to their decision-making responsibilities. By the assessment of a process coordination load , namely the effort required for resources to address coordination problems, the methodology can help managers enhance the adopted coordination form or improve the performed process as well as support the selection of the coordination technologies that better satisfy the information requirements.

This paper describes the application of a methodology to analyse and improve innovation projects by emphasising their information-intensive nature. The methodology eases the measurement of the information flows that emerge within a project due to coordination needs and also provides useful information to identify new coordination mechanisms and project improvements. The consistency and the usefulness of the methodology results are discussed through two case studies, namely the implementation project of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and the project for the incremental innovation of the injection pump for diesel engines. Both cases were carried out at a manufacturing plant located in the South of Italy. The plant is part of a larger networked production system operated by a German company in the automotive industry.