64 research outputs found
International Co-Operations and Entrepreneurship Development: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
Even if the need to innovate has always existed, it has been accentuated in recent years due to the acceleration of technological change and the growing world competition: entrepreneurship - meant as the individual capacity to take risk, to produce innovation and to predict and act upon change â becomes a crucial factor of firmsâ competitiveness. At the same time, international alliances have been recognised, above all in emerging countries, as the best way to improve local firmsâ entrepreneurship and learning capability. However strategic alliances show a high degree of failure, thus posing the need to investigate the factors that can impact on their longevity and success. According to the above considerations, the aim of our paper is to investigate: a) the linkage between national culture and entrepreneurship, b) how culture affects firmsâ propensity to international co-operation.entrepreneurship; knowledge; culture; individualism vs. collectivism.
Managing Expatriation, Repatriation and Organisational Learning in MNCs: an Integrative Framework
In the expanding global economy knowledge has became one of the most strategically-significant resource, so that firmsâ competitive advantage depends, more and more, on their ability to create, transfer and protect knowledge asset. Since very few firms are able to develop a wide range of knowledge internally, expatriation and repatriation may be considered as important sources of competitive advantage, thanks to the huge amount of knowledge, both tacit and explicit, that corporate may acquire by managing the cycle. Prior researches mainly investigated the intra-organisational knowledge transfer â from headquarter to subsidiaries â allowed by the expatriates. Very few studies, on the contrary, focused on the âreverseâ process â from the subsidiaries to headquarter. According to this, we aim at deeply investigate the conditions upon which intra-organisational knowledge transfer may occur, and corporate learning process may be fostered, as well. In doing so, we focus on the entire expatriate-repatriate cycle, assuming that the effectiveness of knowledge transfer depend on the way the whole process is managed. An integrative theoretical model will be finally suggested, and recommendations for further researches will be proposed.multinational; expatriation; repatriation; knowledge transfer; organisational learning.
Carme Riera: el subjecte de la seducciĂł
PresentaciĂł del dossier de la revista "Lectora" dedicat a Carme Rier
Professional Ethics and Knowledge Sharing within Supply Chain: the Role of Trust
Background: The paper aims to provide an integrative review of empirical literature on factors affecting knowledge sharing in supply chain, analyzing the various results of the published articles about the topic to find out critical factors. Method: A quality-quantitative mixed method has been adopted in our exploratory study. Delphi method, a qualitative approach, has been initially applied to design a conceptual model for knowledge sharing within supply chain. After this, through a review of literature, 21 articles have been analyzed based on the resulted model to present the critical factors. Finally, the resulting model has been examined and evaluated in the case study, by a quantitative approach. The main instrument of the study is a researcher-made questionnaire. The statistical population comprises all the managers of Khorasan Electricity Supply Chain in Iran (461 people). 215 of them have been selected as samples, using Stratified Random Sampling. Data analyzed by using SPSS 21 software, Z-test, Friedman test, and Student's t-test. Results: According to the results, a model for knowledge sharing in supply chain has been developed based on 5 dimensions and 38 factors. In addition, Communication, trust, and absorptive capacity of knowledge receiver are primary factors in a majority of articles. Also, inter-organizational trust is at average level in Khorasan Electricity Supply Chain, Iran. Conclusion: This paper will contribute to improve understanding on the role of trust as one of the most important components of professional ethics in promoting the culture of knowledge sharing among members
Enhancing virtual education through human-machine interaction: lessons from VEHUB4YOU
The modern educational environment is experiencing changes due to the progress of technology (Canestrino et al., 2023). The introduction of technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, and data analytics has ushered in an era filled with both opportunities and challenges. At the core of this shift is the idea of interaction between humans and machines blurring the boundaries between actions and technological automation in educational environments (Caputo et al., 2018). While there are advantages to incorporating technology in education, it's crucial not to overlook the complexities and important considerations involved (Caputo, 2024). A major concern revolves around finding a balance between using technology to improve learning outcomes while preserving aspects like creativity, empathy, and critical thinking (Saviano et al., 2023). As educators increasingly rely on AI algorithms for learning experiences and automated grading systems, questions arise about the impacts on human connections and the development of social and emotional skills in students
Il Trasferimento della Conoscenza nelle reti di Imprese
La complessa articolazione dello scenario competitivo in cui le im-prese operano, profondamente modificato dal consolidamento del pro-cesso di globalizzazione e dalla pervasivitĂ delle nuove tecnologie, ha indotto una rivisitazione critica delle tradizionali fonti del vantaggio competitivo, enfatizzando il ruolo che le risorse immateriali assumono per il successo delle iniziative. La capacitĂ delle imprese di rispondere alla crescente varietĂ e va-riabilitĂ ambientale appare influenzata, in misura sempre maggiore, dalla disponibilitĂ di capitale umano e di risorse intangibili, piuttosto che dalla accessibilitĂ a risorse fisiche e materiali: in questa prospetti-va si attribuisce un ruolo strategico ai processi di apprendimento come meccanismo attraverso il quale accrescere il patrimonio cogni-tivo delle imprese e concretizzare vantaggi competitivi duraturi e di-fendibili, sia a livello nazionale, sia a livello internazionale. Eâ cresciuta, nellâottica delineata, lâattenzione degli studiosi nei con-fronti della conoscenza quale fonte di differenziazione e di competitivi-tĂ delle organizzazioni economiche: la creazione e la successiva mobiliz-zazione di risorse cognitive, sempre piĂč disperse a causa dellâestensione dellâarena competitiva su scala mondiale, assumono, pertanto, un ruolo centrale nelle attivitĂ di impresa. Alla luce delle considerazioni riportate, la prima parte del lavoro Ăš stata orientata alla sistematizzazione dei diversi approcci teorici rela-tivi ai processi di creazione e diffusione della conoscenza, eviden-ziando limiti, differenze e sovrapposizioni rinvenibili tra i principali contributi esaminati. La conoscenza, quale oggetto di studio delle discipline economico-aziendali, ha assunto rilievo a partire dagli inizi degli anni â90, in con-comitanza al consolidamento delle concettualizzazioni relative alle no-zioni di âdynamic capabilitiesâ, âorganizational capabilities/learningâ e di âintel-lectual capitalâ . Da semplice strumento funzionale, finalizzata alla realizzazione di al-tri processi organizzativi, la conoscenza Ăš divenuta una risorsa da gestire in sĂ©, capace di produrre valore per il solo fatto di essere capitalizzata. La delineata enfasi sul concetto di conoscenza e sul rilievo assunto dalla stessa nellâambito dei processi di creazione del valore Ăš stata, nello specifico, interpretata come la naturale evoluzione della visione di im-presa come insieme eterogeneo di risorse, che dai contributi pionieristici elaborati in seno alla Resource Based View of the firm, ha trovato la sua massima espressione nelle concettualizzazioni proposte dagli esponenti della Capability-Based e della Knowledge-based View of the firm. Nellâambito dei delineati paradigmi teorici, sono stati esaminati i principali ostacoli connessi ai processi di gestione del know how, ap-profondendo, in particolare, i fattori in grado di ostacolare, o alterna-tivamente, facilitare il processo di trasferimento del sapere. Tra que-sti Ăš stato evidenziato il ruolo preminente che le strutture reticolari hanno nel sostenere e supportare le singole imprese ad acquisire nuove conoscenze e ad innescare efficaci processi di apprendimento e trasferimento di knowledge tra i partner. I rapporti di cooperazione si affermano, in altri termini, come strumento indispensabile per il superamento dei gap di risorse incontrati dalle organizzazioni eco-nomiche nellâimplementazione delle proprie strategie: da essi posso-no discendere rilevanti opportunitĂ di apprendimento per i partner coinvolti, i quali, internalizzando l'uno le skill dell'altro, possono mi-gliorare la propria conseguire migliori posizionamenti competitivi. Un significativo numero di esponenti della letteratura economico aziendale, nazionale ed internazionale, riconosce, dunque, la relazio-ne esistente tra network e knowledge: lâautonomia caratterizzante le ar-chitetture reticolari consente lo sviluppo di una pluralitĂ di nuove a-ree generatrici di imprenditorialitĂ e di know-how ; la presenza di que-ste forme organizzative flessibili influenza lâimpresa e rende possibile la creazione di una rete di interrelazioni allâinterno della quale ogni nodo si configura come un detentore di nuove conoscenze e compe-tenze. Il rilievo che le architetture reticolari assumono in qualitĂ di âfacilita-toriâ dei meccanismi di trasferimento cognitivo, ha indotto ad unâattenta analisi delle problematiche connesse ai processi di appren-dimento inter-organizzativo, in relazione alle peculiaritĂ morfologi-che che possono denotare una definita rete di imprese. In coerenza con lâ impostazione delineata, la seconda parte del lavoro Ăš stata in-centrata sullâanalisi dei processi di apprendimento e delle dinamiche evolutive tipici delle reti di piccole imprese. Le concettualizzazioni teoriche proposte sono state, pertanto, de-clinate in relazione alle specificitĂ dei network oggetto di indagine e ciĂČ al fine di pervenire ad unâinterpretazione cognitiva di una parti-colare tipologia di rete, quella distrettuale, per sua natura âlocalizza-taâ e profondamente radicata nel contesto territoriale di appartenen-za, e dei cambiamenti in atto. Lâaffermarsi di nuove regole della competizione internazionale, in-fatti, ha progressivamente contribuito ad indirizzare le imprese di-strettuali verso la ricerca di nuovi mercati in cui operare sottoline-ando i potenziali rischi di una dissoluzione cognitiva dei distretti in-dustriali tradizionalmente intesi. Nei casi di internazionalizzazione produttiva, in particolare, si ve-rifica una transizione di fasi precedentemente realizzate allâinterno del sistema locale verso sistemi collocati allâesterno. In questâottica, il decentramento di fasi di lavorazione a livello in-ternazionale puĂČ essere considerato una delle cause del progressivo deterioramento delle relazioni di interdipendenza cui si assiste a livel-lo locale e uno degli stimoli alla replicazione degli assetti relazionali esistenti in nuovi ambiti territoriali. Il fenomeno sarebbe, pertanto, in grado di condurre ad una pro-gressiva disintegrazione del distretto industriale canonico, almeno nella sua configurazione tradizionale di sistema autosufficiente ed au-tocontenuto, e ad una replicazione di modelli cooperativi in contesti internazionali a forte attrattivitĂ . Coerentemente con le osservazioni proposte, e' stata, infine, posta attenzione alle opportunitĂ offerte dai mercati latino-americani, con particolare riferimento allâarea brasiliana, allâinternazionalizzazione delle imprese distrettuali italiane, individuando nellâesistenza di cluster di imprese locali e nelle omogeneitĂ culturali, alcune delle determi-nanti in grado di guidare le scelte di localizzazione nellâarea. Accanto a motivazioni di tipo labour seeking o cost seeking, le impre-se italiane si avvantaggiano e in una prospettiva resource-based, della possibilitĂ di inserirsi in circuiti relazionali giĂ esistenti sfruttando, in unâottica di apprendimento inter-organizzativo, le potenzialitĂ insite nella costituzione di knowledge system locali. A sostegno dellâesistenza, in America Latina, di condizioni favore-voli allâinternazionalizzazione delle imprese italiane, sono stati, per-tanto, analizzati sia gli assetti degli principali cluster di imprese pre-senti nel territorio, sia lâimpatto che le omogeneitĂ culturali possono avere sui processi di integrazione in loco. Le tematiche oggetto di indagine sono state approfondite attraver-so lo studio della letteratura economico-aziendale esistente sui diver-si temi trattati e supportate dallâutilizzo di una multiple case studies anal-ysis con lâobiettivo di confutare, alternativamente, supportare le ar-gomentazioni teoriche proposte. A tal proposito si sottolinea come le evidenze empiriche abbiano, nella maggioranza dei casi, confermato le ipotesi teoriche di parten-za, pur evidenziando la necessitĂ di ulteriori approfondimenti. LâAnalisi dei diversi cluster di imprese presenti in Brasile e dei dif-ferenti casi di internazionalizzazione di imprese distrettuali in Ameri-ca Latina ha permesso, in sintonia con il pensiero di Yin (1998), di affrontare la complessitĂ del tema trattato, consentendo, attraverso il ricorso contemporaneo a piĂč fonti (documenti, interviste, osserva-zioni) una contestualizzazione dei fenomeni osservati
Culture and Business Ethics: The impact on firmsâ management of value chain activities
Both globalisation and the growing international competition have affected the complexity of
academic inquiry about business ethic and firmsâ social responsibility. The interest of academics for the
underlined subjects is, particularly, supported by the wide range of studies actually available on the topic.
However, further research is necessary according both to the complexity of the issue and to the more
recent and greater environmental changes.
The traditional approach to business ethics may be, particularly, extended by the theoretical
contributions coming out from Cross-Cultural Management studies, since what is ethically ârightâ and
âwrongâ is culturally determined (Adler, 1981, Robertson, 2002; De George, 1993; Donaldson and
Dunfee, 1994, 1999).
Business ethics studies concern with what may be do or not in undertaking business (De George,
1993), involving the rules that govern business activities and the values embedded in the business
practice, as well. Both scholars and researchers generally recognise the impact of culture on the definition
of ethical standards, as well as on the relationship between some cultural variables and firmsâ ethical
behaviour (Wines and Napier, 1992; Cohen, Pant and Sharp, 1996; Husted, 2000, 2001). When culture
differs, also ethical views about business may vary and an âethic gapâ may arise. According to our
previous research, an âethic gapâ may, specifically, occur every time that what is considered a-moral in
the home country, became moral in the host country. Similarly, an âethic gapâ develops also in the
opposite situation, when business behaviour is valuated as moral in the origin country, but not in the host
one (Canestrino, 2007).
The above observations point up the necessity to identify the moral standards that international
companies should refer to in such a situation.
The theoretical contrast between ethical absolutism and relativism seems especially play a very
important role in the understanding of modern firmsâ internationalisation process, as well as in the
interpretation of the behaviour that companies adopt within the context in which they operate, or intend to
work. While recognising the importance of each mentioned positions, we support the idea that absolutism
may lead to the failure of international initiatives: the absolutist perspective, in fact, seems to overlap with
the guidelines that drove the internationalisation of American Corporations, during the 60s, and which did
not show positive results over time. the highlighted perspective, in fact, led foreign firms to transfer their
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own cultural models and managerial behaviour in the host country, fostering the emergence of
organisational hybrids characterised by negative synergies (Calvelli, 1998).
On the contrary, relativism fosters firmsâ adaptation to local contexts, in coherence with cultural and
moral standard prevailing in the different markets. According to relativists, no ethical norms are better
than others. As a consequence, when firms enter new markets, they have to adapt their activities to the
host country rules, in the observance of the so-called principle of âWhen in Rome, do as the Romans doâ
(Larrison, 1998).
Not every values and believes, however, are able to affect firms behaviour, as well as not every value
chain activities are modified according to local cultural standard.
Referring to the first point, we, particularly, support the idea that only values and believes, deeply
embedded in a context, may influence firmsâ behaviour, since they cannot easily be modified over time.
In such situation firms usually adapt their own activities, not only to the moral standard prevailing in the
host country, but also to the ethic rules arising in the domestic context, as well. Similarly, we believe that
not all value chain activities will be adapted to the prevailing moral standard: empirical evidences, in fact,
show that firms tend to focus their attention mainly on production, marketing and finance. Depending on
the above- mentioned observations, we want to understand the inner reasons of the underlined choices.
According to a relativist approach, our paper aims at deeply investigate:
âą Which cultural values and believes are able to affect firms behaviour, thus impelling an adaptation
of value chain activities to the moral standards prevailing both in the host countries and in the
origin contexts of internationalisation processes;
âą Which value chain activities are mainly adapted to the prevailing moral standard and which are
the reasons of firmâs choices.
A multiple case study analysis was carried out in order to support or, alternatively, refute our
hypothesis. Both our university database and interviews were used for collecting valuable information
about the topic
Collective Network and Communities of Practice: the transformation of the Priorat Wine Region
One of the most interesting stories of the late 20th century winemaking was the rebirth of the Priorat region. Located in the north-eastern of Spain, Priorat has been completely transformed from a forgotten land into a top quality wine production district, becoming the second Spanish region, after Rioja, to be awarded Denomination de Origen Calificada (DOCa) status.
Previous studies about the Priorat have pointed out geographical and environmental reasons to explain regional success. Other works have remarked marketing and internationalization aspects in justifying the extraordinary gained results. However, our empirical data, obtained through different interviews with the main characters and through observation show evidence of other reasons. The aim of this paper is to better understand the evolution of the Priorat over time and to inquire about the key success factors that have fostered its results, affecting also regional social and economic ground.
Preliminary data show evidence that although there are many aspects which collide and contribute to this success, knowledge sharing and the development of a cluster or collective network play a crucial role. According to the above considerations, we have been able to identify those aspects that have fostered the rising of a local network, giving particular attention to knowledge sharing processes. First, our findings show that practice is the underlying key aspect which sustains the possibility of knowledge sharing. Second, there have been three mechanisms which have facilitated knowledge sharing within the network: the existence of boundary objects, the performance of a brokering role and finally, storytelling
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