From La Bohème to La Wally: How Organizational Status Affects the (Un)conventionality of Opera Repertoires

In this paper we examine the relationship between organizational status and nonconformity in complex institutional fields characterized by the enduring tension between divergent institutional logics. First, we hypothesize the existence of an inverted U-shaped (IUS) relationship between status and nonconformity. Second, we argue that legitimacy and celebrity enhancing signals, that complement the external perception of a firm’s market identity, moderate the relationship between status and nonconformity, by springing up or inhibiting opportunities for firms to protect vs. raise their status position through high status patterns of affiliations. Specifically, we argue that while celebrity enhancing efforts reinforce middle status nonconformist behaviors by emphasizing the exceptional and positive valence of their nonconformist undertakings, legitimacy enhancing signals constraint middle status deviant behaviors and reverse the IUS curve. Unveiling the taken-for-granted traits of their identities hampers middle status ambition to raise the social hierarchy through nonconformity but fosters low and high status freedom of deviance through a reinforced security in their social position. We found strong support for our arguments in statistical analysis of 42 Italian opera houses repertoires from 2004 to 2011. We synthesize our findings by offering an integrated framework on how the interplay between status, legitimacy and celebrity enhancing signals affects organizations’ ability to depart from established institutional frameworks under conditions of institutional complexity

Statistical analysis of a survey about diffusion of binge drinking and drunkorexia among students in Palermo

Youth alcohol consumption is a major global public health concern. Previous reviews have concluded that exposure to alcohol marketing was associated with drinking initiation and higher alcohol consumption among youth. From January to May 2017, a survey has been conducted through administration of questionnaires about the diffusion of Binge Drinking and Drunkorexia among the students of Palermo. Test was administered, during school time, to 2331 students between the ages of 13 and 20. Regarding the analysis of the questionnaires, 97,8% of student declares to have drunk at least once: their first taste of alcoholic drink happens at the age of thirteen/fourteen. They prefer to drink at the disco or pub (48% disco; 22% pub) on Friday and Saturday evening (92%). 52% of students also declare to associate alcohol to cigarette smoking. Another important statistic is that 736 girls and 61 boys declare to prefer to restrict food intake in order to consume greater quantities of alcohol and to avoid weight gain. In order to evaluate youth alcohol consumption in a different contest, it was created an online survey thanks to Google forms. This study involved 500 young people from Palermo between the ages of 19 and 30. The extrapolation of data confirmed the same results of the questionnaires on paper. In this test, however, it was also evaluated the spreading of drink-driving (68,5%). The present survey suggests that there is an expansion of such practices in young population. In conclusion, it appears necessary to adopt measures of information and prevention to reduce territorial diffusion

Gambling: spreading among students in Palermo

Adolescents represent a particularly high-risk group and they are also vulnerable to the development of gambling related problems. Thanks to technological advances in gaming industry (slot machines, video lottery terminals, casino-types games) new form of gambling are continuously appearing. With the purpose of having an idea about the spreading of gambling among the students of Palermo, a survey has been conducted through administration of questionnaires during the period from January to May 2017: this study involved 1622 students (686 boys and 936 girls) between the age of 14 and 19. In this survey it has been demonstrated that only 15% of students have never played; 36% declare they have played cards with money at least once in their life and 19% of them play lotteries and scratchers; some others have played sport betting (14%), bingo (7%), slot machines (5%), horse betting (4%). The money spent on a single day is between 1 and 10 euros (584 students); 530 teenagers spend 1 euro or less; 132 between 1 o and 100 euros; 16 students more than 100 euros/die. Moreover, most alarming is evidence indicating that there is a considerable number of students who have gambling players parents (father 18,65%; mother 16,4%; both of them 4,52%): this is considered an important vulnerability factor. The analysis of the picked data suggests that there is a widespread diffusion of gambling among the adolescent population. So, to conclude, the present research points out the need to complete immediate interventions on both levels of information and prevention

Immuno-oncological treatment of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) in advanced stage with Nivolumab

Immuno-oncology marked a therapeutic revolution in the treatment of cancer. Thanks to the new strategy that aims to awaken the immune system to fight cancer cells, there has been a change in the clinical course in the treatment of advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). Our study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of nivolumab monotherapy in the treatment of patients with advanced stage IIIB/IV non-small cell lung cancer beyond the second line. The results showed a progression-free survival of 7.35 months and an improvement in the quality of life of patients compared to other treatments. In addition, no type 3 and type 4 adverse reactions were detected in patients treated with Nivolumab. We hope that these results, already promising, will lead to an increase in overall survival in the future

Death and the Societies of Late Antiquity

Ce volume bilingue, comprenant un ensemble de 28 contributions disponibles en français et en anglais (dans leur version longue ou abrégée), propose d’établir un état des lieux des réflexions, recherches et études conduites sur le fait funéraire à l’époque tardo-antique au sein des provinces de l’Empire romain et sur leurs régions limitrophes, afin d’ouvrir de nouvelles perspectives sur ses évolutions possibles. Au cours des trois dernières décennies, les transformations considérables des méthodologies déployées sur le terrain et en laboratoire ont permis un renouveau des questionnements sur les populations et les pratiques funéraires de l’Antiquité tardive, période marquée par de multiples changements politiques, sociaux, démographiques et culturels. L’apparition de ce qui a été initialement désigné comme une « Anthropologie de terrain », qui fut le début de la démarche archéothanatologique, puis le récent développement d’approches collaboratives entre des domaines scientifiques divers (archéothanatologie, biochimie et géochimie, génétique, histoire, épigraphie par exemple) ont été décisives pour le renouvellement des problématiques d’étude : révision d’anciens concepts comme apparition d’axes d’analyse inédits. Les recherches rassemblées dans cet ouvrage sont articulées autour de quatre grands thèmes : l’évolution des pratiques funéraires dans le temps, l’identité sociale dans la mort, les ensembles funéraires en transformation (organisation et topographie) et les territoires de l’empire (du cœur aux marges). Ces études proposent un réexamen et une révision des données, tant anthropologiques qu’archéologiques ou historiques sur l’Antiquité tardive, et révèlent, à cet égard, une mosaïque de paysages politiques, sociaux et culturels singulièrement riches et complexes. Elles accroissent nos connaissances sur le traitement des défunts, l’emplacement des aires funéraires ou encore la structure des sépultures, en révélant une diversité de pratiques, et permettent au final de relancer la réflexion sur la manière dont les sociétés tardo-antiques envisagent la mort et sur les éléments permettant d’identifier et de définir la diversité des groupes qui les composent. Elles démontrent ce faisant que nous pouvons véritablement appréhender les structures culturelles et sociales des communautés anciennes et leurs potentielles transformations, à partir de l’étude des pratiques funéraires.This bilingual volume proposes to draw up an assessment of the recent research conducted on funerary behavior during Late Antiquity in the provinces of the Roman Empire and on their borders, in order to open new perspectives on its possible developments. The considerable transformations of the methodologies have raised the need for a renewal of the questions on the funerary practices during Late Antiquity, a period marked by multiple political, social, demographic and cultural changes. The emergence field anthropology, which was the beginning of archaeothanatology, and then the recent development of collaborative approaches between various scientific fields (archaeothanatology, biochemistry and geochemistry, genetics, history, epigraphy, for example), have been decisive. The research collected in this book is structured around four main themes: Evolution of funerary practices over time; Social identity through death; Changing burial grounds (organisation and topography); Territories of the Empire (from the heart to the margins). These studies propose a review and a revision of the data, both anthropological and archaeological or historical on Late Antiquity, and reveal a mosaic of political, social, and cultural landscapes singularly rich and complex. In doing so, they demonstrate that we can truly understand the cultural and social structures of ancient communities and their potential transformations, based on the study of funerary practices

Exploring the social, strategic and community-based antecedents of norm-breaking behaviors: evidence from the Italian opera field

Distinctiveness and conformity are core interests for researchers of organizations and management studies. Distinctiveness allows firms to cultivate new identities and styles and to contribute to the evolution of entire industries through innovation. However, conformity is recommended as audiences are more likely to accept organizations whose product offering follow widely established normative expectations embodied in conventional product features while sanctioning nonconforming behaviors that run against the taken for grantedness of established prescriptions. Several studies have investigated how organizations face the tension between conformity and distinctiveness as a way of gaining social and economic benefits (e.g., status advantage, reputation improvement, better financial performance and competitive advantage). My dissertation focuses on unexplored social, strategic and community-based factors enabling organizations to pursue distinctiveness even in contexts where conformity pressures are strong. I explore this topic in the innovative empirical setting of Italian opera where opera houses’ need to achieve distinctiveness through the artistic renewal of their programming strategies clashes with the necessity for them to conform to taken for granted expectations for the preservation of a historically established operatic patrimony. This research falls into two broad streams. The first examines how organizations’ social positioning (i.e., social standing) affects their ability to violate established normative prescriptions through nonconforming behaviors and which strategic actions enable them to offset the penalties of nonconformity. The second sheds light on the community-based antecedents of opera houses’ non-conforming behaviors and contributes specifically to the arts management literature on innovation in performing arts organizations. Within this second perspective I conducted an analysis of the opera audiences’ profile as a way of providing opera managers who aspire to renew their artistic program with insight into the specific traits that characterize their audience. The dissertation is structured as follows. First, using network analysis and panel data regression analysis, I explore how organizations’ social positioning (its status) affects their willingness to adopt nonconforming behaviors. Second, I theorize and empirically test how organizations can act strategically to mitigate the potential penalties that derive from a particular form of norm-breaking behaviors which consists in hybridizing the features of a taken for granted category of products infused with established normative prescriptions. Focusing specifically on the arts management literature, I then theorize about the political and economic factors that may drive norm-breaking behaviors in the field of opera. Finally I close the dissertation with an analysis of the profile of the Italian opera audience as a way of providing opera houses’ managers with an in depth knowledge of their audience-base which can be put at the service of the development of innovative programming strategies