Knowing Through Consulting in Action

Management consulting firms are often discussed as being the firms whose core product is knowledge itself. However, despite the fact that consulting firms are generally aware of the value of knowledge for their own organizations and for their clients, the empirical evidence shows that even today the (economic and, above all, cognitive) value-creation potential related to the transition from consulting approaches geared to the transfer of “best practices” (consultant as expert) to consulting approaches geared to the cooperative creation of new knowledge and managerial capabilities (consultant as a facilitator of new managerial knowledge and capabilities creation processes) is rarely consciously perceived and, consequently, is not adequately planned for and exploited. This book interprets management consulting from a knowledge perspective, and proposes a general conceptual framework for investigating and interpreting that potential

The co-evolutionary relationship between digitalization and organizational agility: Ongoing debates, theoretical developments and future research perspectives

This study is the first to provide a systematic review of the literature focused on the relationship between digitalization and organizational agility (OA). It applies the bibliographic coupling method to 171 peer-reviewed contributions published by 30 June 2021. It uses the digitalization perspective to investigate the enablers, barriers and benefits of processes aimed at providing firms with the agility required to effectively face increasingly turbulent environments. Three different, though interconnected, thematic clusters are discovered and analysed, respectively focusing on big-data analytic capabilities as crucial drivers of OA, the relationship between digitalization and agility at a supply chain level, and the role of information technology capabilities in improving OA. By adopting a dynamic capabilities perspective, this study overcomes the traditional view, which mainly considers digital capabilities enablers of OA, rather than as possible outcomes. Our findings reveal that, in addition to being complex, the relationship between digitalization and OA has a bidirectional character. This study also identifies extant research gaps and develops 13 original research propositions on possible future research pathways and new managerial solutions

Come la consulenza direzionale crea conoscenza

The management consulting firm is commonly considered the archetype of the knowledge-intensive firm. However, the theme of knowledge creation through the implementation of the consultancy intervention is still a widely unexplored research field . This work aims at filling this gap by proposing a conceptual model whose aim is to clarify and trace the cognitive paths used as a means of expression by the potential of managerial knowledge creation of the management consultancy intervention. The proposed model represents originally applies the theories interpreting the dynamics of knowledge creation as knowledge conversion processes to the specific context of the consultancy relationship. It contributed to the understanding that, in advanced consultancy contexts, this potential consists in the possibility of generating new entrepreneurial knowledge which is not only explicit but also, and above all, silent (such as, for example, new experiential diagnostic skills and new abilities for the intuition of the solution to business problems)

Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Strategic Flexibility, Agility, And Organizational Resilience: A Conceptual Framework Based On Existing Literature

In today’s economically turbulent times, it is imperative that organizations remain flexible and resilient in order to adapt themselves to an ever-changing environment. To facilitate this, organizations should rely upon pliant structures of information, whilst simultaneously continuing to incorporate more rigid infrastructures in order to allow for the collection and analysis of large amounts of both internal and external data. This juxtaposition gives rise to the need for a trade-off. While academic literature has stressed that information systems may represent a burden for organizations pursuing strategic agility, flexibility, and organizational resilience, this paper highlights the ways in which Analytical, Automatic, Adaptive, and Agile information systems - or Big Data Analytics (BDA) capable information systems - may be helpful. In particular, this paper proposes BDA capable information systems, tied with artificial intelligence capabilities, as a trade-off solution. Alongside this, it also proposes some further implications of the topic for scholars and practitioners

The big data-business strategy interconnection: a grand challenge for knowledge management. A review and future perspectives

Purpose – Designing knowledge management systems capable of transforming big data into information characterised by strategic value is a major challenge faced nowadays by firms in almost all industries. However, in the managerial field, big data is now mainly used to support operational activities, while its strategic potential is still largely unexploited. Based on these considerations, this study proposes an overview of the literature regarding the relationship between big data and business strategy. Design/methodology/approach – A bibliographic coupling method is applied over a dataset of 128 peerreviewed articles, published from 2013 (first year when articles regarding the big data-business strategy relationship were published) to 2019. Thereafter, a systematic literature review is presented on 116 papers, which were found to be interconnected based on the VOSviewer algorithm. Findings – This study discovers the existence of four thematic clusters. Three of the clusters relate to the following topics: big data and supply chain strategy; big data, personalisation and co-creation strategies; big data, strategic planning and strategic value creation. The fourth cluster concerns the relationship between big data and knowledge management and represents a ‘bridge’ between the other three clusters. Research implications – Based on the bibliometric analysis and the systematic literature review, this study identifies relevant understudied topics and research gaps, which are suggested as future research directions. Originality/value – This is the first study to systematise and discuss the literature concerning the relationship between big data and firm strategy

An ambidextrous approach to practice-based innovation for social product development: lessons from a Dutch company

In the face of increasing competition, an organization’s capacity to acquire knowledge from the outside has become fundamental for new product development. Pertinent extant literature has stressed how an organization should practice social product development, allowing for the inclusion of all types of stakeholders in idea generation, selection, validation, and commercialization. This study investigates how organizations can acquire, maintain, and use different sources of knowledge via ambidextrous habits of exploitation and exploration to sustain social product development. A case study based on 27 semi-structured interviews and field observations at a leading, large-size, Dutch food-service company has been carried out. The findings illustrate the organizational processes and mechanisms that the company has adopted to address and combine practice- and research-based knowledge, as well as the main barriers limiting the accumulation and usage of this knowledge inside organizational boundaries

New Product Development: a review of the main contributions in the last ten years of research

Research on new product development have increased enormously over the last 10 years. As markets are becoming increasingly fluid and unstable, companies had to become more flexible and de-structured, thereby trying to overcome traditional approaches which used to interpret new product development as a process formed by a linear sequence of successive stages, traditionally undertaken within corporate boundaries. Based on these considerations, this study offers an overview of the evolution of the management literature regarding new product development, published over the last 10 years (2008-2018) in peer-reviewed journals. When applying a bibliometric analysis, we have discovered the existence of five clearly defined research clusters which we have investigated by reviewing the most relevant contributions. Also, the analysis has helped us to uncover the existence of promising research areas that have been little explored. As a result, we formulated some suggestions for further research to fill the existing gaps

DYNAMIC SIMULATION OF A SOLAR HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEM INCLUDING A SEASONAL STORAGE SERVING A SMALL ITALIAN RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT

A centralized solar hybrid heating and cooling system satisfying the thermal, cooling and sanitary water demands of a typical Italian small district composed of six residential buildings situated in Naples (southern Italy) is modelled, simulated and analysed through the software TRNSYS over a period of 5 years. The plant is based on the operation of solar thermal collectors coupled with seasonal borehole storage; the solar field is also composed of photovoltaic solar panels connected with electric energy storage. An adsorption chiller powered by solar energy is adopted for cooling purposes, while a condensing boiler is used as an auxiliary unit. The performance of the proposed system has been assessed from energy, environmental and economic points of view and contrasted with the operation of a typical Italian heating and cooling plant, highlighting the following main results: saving of primary energy consumption up to 40.2%; (decrease of equivalent CO2 emissions up to 38.4%; reduction of operating costs up to 40.1%; and simple pay-back period of about 20 years

Journal of Intellectual Capital: A Review of Emerging Themes and Future Trends

Purpose: This article aims to provide a bibliometric and systematic literature analysis of studies published in the Journal of Intellectual Capital (JIC) from 2014 to 2018 in order to highlight emerging themes and future trends. Methodology: The analysis focused on 187 papers published in the JIC over five years. A scientometric approach to data mining enabled the detection of patterns in the dataset. Precisely, the investigation was conducted by integrating a bibliometric analysis on VOSviewer with a systematic literature review. Findings: Four main streams of research have emerged in the JIC during the years of the analysis: reporting and disclosure of intellectual capital; intellectual capital research in universities, education and public sector; knowledge management; intellectual capital, financial performance, and market value. Research implications: The study offers compelling insights into the topics covered by the Journal of Intellectual Capital by identifying the main research gaps and trends along with future research avenues. Originality: Prior scholars mostly focused on systematic literature reviews, while the use of bibliometric methods generally seems to be a missing tile in the research domain. Also, none of the extant studies have focused on the Journal of Intellectual Capital regarding the 2014 to 2018 period. The use of both bibliometric and systematic approaches to literature review delivered remarkably fine-tuned results in terms of factors such as citations, contents, and evolution of clusters over time