Local firms’ strategies and cluster coopetition in Tuscany: the case of “Toscana Promozione” Agency

This study examines a new paradigm of coopetition strategy emerged in Tuscany, one of the most famous Italian area in the world for cultural and economic heritage. Nowadays, global success in business requires that firms implement both competitive and cooperative strategies (i.e. coopetition). This strategy, according to Ray Noorda (the founder of Novell – an American multinational software and services company headquartered in Provo, Utah), considers the advantages arising when both cooperation and competition coexist in the same domains. In the last twenty years, articles related to coopetition investigated several aspect of this strategy; in contrast, industry level coopetition has been investigated less than the other features (Rusko, 2011). Giving the literature review, there is a lack in knowledge regarding the benefits of coopetition fostered by local governments with foreign governments. This study presents a new approach of industry-level coopetition through the qualitative case study of the economic promotion agency in Tuscany, Toscana Promozione. The paper presents a new paradigm of coopetition strategy in where firms are in a coopetition relationship with foreign competitors (and governments) thanks to the support of local authorities. The main result of the research is that the boundary between institution and entrepreneur must be clear, government and local authorities must enforce competitiveness to improve the environment in which firms cooperate with the institution and compete each other with their own strategy. However during economic downturn periods, government and local authorities should, also, consider the possibility to become promoter, and supporter, of emerging entrepreneurship

Local firms’ strategies and cluster coopetition in Tuscany: the case of “Toscana Promozione” Agency

This study examines a new paradigm of coopetition strategy emerged in Tuscany, one of the most famous Italian area in the world for cultural and economic heritage. Nowadays, global success in business requires that firms implement both competitive and cooperative strategies (i.e. coopetition). This strategy, according to Ray Noorda (the founder of Novell – an American multinational software and services company headquartered in Provo, Utah), considers the advantages arising when both cooperation and competition coexist in the same domains. In the last twenty years, articles related to coopetition investigated several aspect of this strategy; in contrast, industry level coopetition has been investigated less than the other features (Rusko, 2011). Giving the literature review, there is a lack in knowledge regarding the benefits of coopetition fostered by local governments with foreign governments. This study presents a new approach of industry-level coopetition through the qualitative case study of the economic promotion agency in Tuscany, Toscana Promozione. The paper presents a new paradigm of coopetition strategy in where firms are in a coopetition relationship with foreign competitors (and governments) thanks to the support of local authorities. The main result of the research is that the boundary between institution and entrepreneur must be clear, government and local authorities must enforce competitiveness to improve the environment in which firms cooperate with the institution and compete each other with their own strategy. However during economic downturn periods, government and local authorities should, also, consider the possibility to become promoter, and supporter, of emerging entrepreneurship

Italian Wikipedia and epilepsy: an infodemiological study of online information-seeking behavior

Wikipedia is the most commonly accessed source of health information by both healthcare professionals and the lay public worldwide. We aimed to evaluate information-seeking behavior of Internet users searching the Italian Wikipedia for articles related to epilepsy and its treatment. Using Pageviews Analysis, we assessed the total and mean monthly views of articles from the Italian Wikipedia devoted to epilepsy, epileptic syndromes, seizure type, and antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) from January 1, 2015 to October 31, 2017. We compared the views of the article on epilepsy with those of articles focusing on Alzheimer's disease, migraine, multiple sclerosis, syncope, and stroke and adjusted all results for crude disease prevalence. With the only exception of the article on multiple sclerosis, the adjusted views for the Italian Wikipedia article on epilepsy were higher than those for the other neurological disorders. The most viewed articles on seizure type were devoted to tonic-clonic seizure, typical absence seizure, tonic convulsive seizures, and clonic convulsive seizures. The most frequently accessed articles on epilepsy syndromes were about temporal lobe epilepsy and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. The most frequently viewed articles on AEDs were devoted to valproic acid, carbamazepine, and levetiracetam. Wikipedia searches seem to mirror patients' fears and worries about epilepsy more than its actual epidemiology. The ultimate reasons for searching online remain unknown. Epileptologists and epilepsy scientific societies should make greater efforts to work jointly with Wikipedia to convey more accurate and up-to-date information about epilepsy

Firms' challenges and social responsibilities during Covid-19: A Twitter analysis

This paper offers insights on the major issues and challenges firms face in the Covid-19 pandemic and their concerns for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) themes. To do so, we investigate large Italian firms' discussions on Twitter in the first nine months of the pandemic. Specifically, we ask: How is firms' Twitter discussion developing during the Covid-19 pandemic? Which CSR dimensions and topics do firms discuss? To what extent do they resonate with the public? We downloaded Twitter posts by the accounts of large Italian firms, and we built the bipartite network of accounts and hashtags. Using an entropy-based null model as a benchmark, we projected the information contained in the network into the accounts layers, identifying a network of accounts. We find that the network is composed of 13 communities and accounts at the core of the network focus on environmental sustainability, digital innovation, and safety. Firms' ownership type does not seem to influence the conversation. While the relevance of CSR hashtags and stakeholder engagement is relatively small, peculiarities arise in some communities. Overall, our paper highlights the contribution of online social networks and complex networks methods for management and strategy research, showing the role of online social media in understanding firms' issues, challenges, and responsibilities, with common narratives naturally emerging from data

Why and when do family firms invest less in talent management? The suppressor effect of risk aversion

none4siThis article explores the complex relationship between family firms and talent management practices. We use an international sample of medium-sized manufacturing firms to show that the relationship between family-owned firms and investment in talent management practices is mediated by the firm’s level of risk aversion, which is, in turn, moderated by industry competition. Risk-averse family-owned firms tend to invest less in talent management practices when industry competition is weak. In contrast, when competition increases, family-owned firms tend to invest in talent as much as non-family-owned firms do.openBasco, Rodrigo; Bassetti, Thomas; Dal Maso, Lorenzo; Lattanzi, NicolaBasco, Rodrigo; Bassetti, Thomas; Dal Maso, Lorenzo; Lattanzi, Nicol