Team dynamics and technology impact on creative and cultural industries

The creative economy has become a powerful transformative driving force in the world. Its potential for development is vast and waiting to be totally unlocked. It represents one of the most rapidly growing sectors of the world economy, not just in terms of income generation but also for job creation and export earnings. For these reasons, an increasing interest on the contexts of creative and cultural industries has emerged in the last years and, since human creativity and innovation, at both the individual level and group level, are the key drivers of these industries, they have attracted the attention of numerous researchers who started investigating these phenomena. Therefore, the aim of this dissertation is to contribute to this stream of research by investigating two sectors belonging to the CCI: music and visual arts. Specifically, the first part of this thesis will be focused on the analysis of the music industry and the effects that diverse teams might have on the performances achieved. I will discuss how characteristics of the group can serve to either enhance or constrain engagement in creative processes, the development of creative outcomes, and ultimately project performance. The second part of this dissertation will instead shift the attention to cultural industries, specifically visual arts, to investigate the controversial effects that technology might have on the dynamics of this sector. Indeed, since technological innovations and digitization have hit old and new economic sectors pervasively, it is important to investigate the attitude to change of the people already in the sector to understand if they will resist the change or operate in favour of it. As a matter of fact, these individuals can consider technology as a chance to reshape and empower their role or, on the contrary, they might not be able to redefine their role in the new technology-driven competitive scenario, and they may feel threatened of being replaced by technological innovation.The creative economy has become a powerful transformative driving force in the world. Its potential for development is vast and waiting to be totally unlocked. It represents one of the most rapidly growing sectors of the world economy, not just in terms of income generation but also for job creation and export earnings. For these reasons, an increasing interest on the contexts of creative and cultural industries has emerged in the last years and, since human creativity and innovation, at both the individual level and group level, are the key drivers of these industries, they have attracted the attention of numerous researchers who started investigating these phenomena. Therefore, the aim of this dissertation is to contribute to this stream of research by investigating two sectors belonging to the CCI: music and visual arts. Specifically, the first part of this thesis will be focused on the analysis of the music industry and the effects that diverse teams might have on the performances achieved. I will discuss how characteristics of the group can serve to either enhance or constrain engagement in creative processes, the development of creative outcomes, and ultimately project performance. The second part of this dissertation will instead shift the attention to cultural industries, specifically visual arts, to investigate the controversial effects that technology might have on the dynamics of this sector. Indeed, since technological innovations and digitization have hit old and new economic sectors pervasively, it is important to investigate the attitude to change of the people already in the sector to understand if they will resist the change or operate in favour of it. As a matter of fact, these individuals can consider technology as a chance to reshape and empower their role or, on the contrary, they might not be able to redefine their role in the new technology-driven competitive scenario, and they may feel threatened of being replaced by technological innovation.LUISS PhD Thesi

Crowdsourcing in the Fashion Industry

In today’s cutthroat competitive world of fashion, flexibility and adaptability are essential elements for a company to survive in this industry. As such, there is a growing interest for open innovation and crowdsourcing as tools that might boost the competitiveness in the industry. By embracing open innovation, the use of external knowledge to emphasize internal creativity and expand market influence, industries can reach beyond their own internal resources and develop better ideas, faster and at a lower cost. The fashion industry is no exception. Specifically, crowdsourcing is lowering the fashion industry’s barriers to entry and giving the public an opportunity to not just shape a brand but also determine the trends of an entire sector. This chapter aims at analyzing the features, the pros, and the cons of crowdsourcing in the fashion industry focusing on the perspectives of both the companies and the customers

Bid premiums and cumulative abnormal returns: An empirical investigation on the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic

Economic conditions within the market affect the likelihood of performing a business combination between firms. Indeed, the level of uncertainty during period of crisis plays a relevant role in M&A transactions. This paper is one of the first attempts to investigate the relationship between health crisis and business combinations. The findings show that while the bid premiums computed using the target's share price thirty days before the transaction announcement increase for M&A operations performed during health crises, the cumulative abnormal returns decrease

Antecedents of labor shortage in the rural hospitality industry: a comparative study of employees and employers

Although the role of human capital in the hospitality sector is critical, the industry faces challenges in attracting workers with a poor industry image frequently mentioned regarding labor shortages. This research paper attempts to investigate the factors influencing labor shortages by presenting the perspectives of employees and employers.Design/methodology/approachPrecisely 232 rural hospitality industry employees (n = 128) and employers (n = 104) in Northern Italy were surveyed using a written close-ended online survey and a quantitative research design as part of a convenience sampling approach. For hypotheses testing, Spearman's rho was used.FindingsA relationship between the shortage of professional workers and a variety of factors was found, including professional, digital, social and green skills, industry-intrinsic characteristics and symbolic image attributes of the industry. The findings show that some factors are more important for employees, while others are more significant for employers.Practical implicationsThis study demonstrates several practical implications for the hospitality sector by addressing the under-researched stakeholder group of existing hospitality employees, e.g. improving working conditions, reduction of manual operations through digital technologies, realistic career planning, employer branding, identification of skill deficiencies and provision of specialized trainings.Originality/valueMost research on labor shortages in the hospitality industry has focused on the perspective of either employees or employers. This study compares both perspectives, including the industry image, to gain a realistic picture of the relevant factors for a rural tourism destination in Northern Italy

A Design Thinking Approach for Museum Institutions

In these recent years, museum institutions are facing challenges such as deepening diversity among audiences and within the workforce, shifting authority and keeping pace with the creation of a digital offering to be provided in the new shared economy. Additionally, museums cannot just deliver knowledge as information anymore. They are forced to seek to be relevant and meaningful for the audiences and the society. Thus, a visitor-centered approach needs to be developed. The design thinking framework can help museum professionals to face the challenges they handle in today’s world. Indeed, this approach is focused on people and not on a specific product or service. The goal is to understand the needs of customers, their wishes and, based on this information, find the best solution to respond to the type of problem identified or the strategy to be developed. For this reason, the ratio of this discipline provides that people are stimulated to find alternative, creative, and innovative solutions designed and built on the reality of the facts and not dictated by instinct. The aim of this chapter is to investigate the characteristics of the design thinking approach and to analyze how this framework can be implemented in museum institutions

Preventing Financial Statement Frauds through Better Corporate Governance

Acting within the agency theory theoretical framework, the paper focuses on the role of the corporate governance as a system to monitor and predict the fraud occurrence and magnitude. Specifically, the study examines the impact of the quality of the corporate governance of the firms, for which a fraud was detected, on the fraud occurrence and magnitude. We posit that fraudulent behaviours, by those who can take advantage of information asymmetry and gain personal benefits from them, can occur when strong agency problems emerge and a weak governance exists. Thus, the financial statement fraud can be seen as the result of high agency problems and high conflicts of interests not solved by the company. Starting from a sample of 101 listed companies, for which a fraud was detected, using a principal component analysis, we develop a corporate governance index, which measures the quality of the governance system of the firms. To test the hypothesis, we run a multinomial logistic regression on a cross-sectional analysis, controlling the results with a matched sample of firms that did not experienced any fraud. Empirical evidences seem to confirm the existence of a negative relationship between the quality of the corporate governance system of a firm and both the financial statement fraud occurrence and magnitude, indicating the governance system of the firm as a fraud deterrent for any amount of financial statement fraud. These findings are even stronger for firms characterized by the presence of a blockholder. This study contributes to the governance literature by focusing on the corporate governance quality and its impact on financial statement frauds. Moreover, the analysis suggests that a good level of governance can help companies to mitigate the agency problems and to detect fraudulent behaviours, thus our empirical evidence can guide regulators in developing regulations to avoid the fraud occurrence

Digital technologies to fight the pandemic crisis: evidence from the vatican museums

Museums assume a central role in our social orders. In addition to the fact that they preserve our legacy, yet they likewise give spaces in which to encourage instruction, motivation, and exchange. Based on the values of respect and cultural diversity, museums fortify social cohesion, foster creativity, pass on collective memory and act as agents of sustainability. Besides, their role in supporting other industries, for example the tourism sector, is a vital factor to favor local and national economies. During unexpected occurrences, various cultural and professional organizations have already kept on loaning themselves as sources of resilience and backing for networks, growing new frameworks to guarantee access to culture and training. However, it is fundamental to identify how museums and cultural institutions affirm their social role by modifying the channels available when an unpredictable event affects their everyday business. This article aims to understand how museums adjust to the changes forced by unexpected occurrences, namely COVID-19, especially by exploring how they use social media channels to react and to recover from the repercussions of emergent circumstances

Job-related diversity and team performance: An empirical analysis of the US music industry

A significant amount of research has been carried out to investigate the existing bonds between team characteristics and team outcomes in contexts of social creativity. Specifically, how work group diversity affects its performance is of great relevance but unfortunately, there is no clear understanding of the diversity-performance relationship. Therefore, to improve our understanding of this phenomenon, it would be worthwhile to investigate further empirical settings. For this reason, we decided to study the music industry that, to our knowledge, has never been chosen as empirical setting for the application of the theoretical constructs linked to the topic of team diversity and performance. Our research aims at analyze the US music industry to study the relationship between job-related characteristics of team diversity and team performances

The changing face of museum tour guides: how to raise audience interest and engagement through digital technology

In the last decade new technologies have provided opportunities for the valorization of cultural heritage, but they have also offered valuable solutions for the audience engagement. It is also true that digital transformation provides exceptional challenges for human resources working in the sector. This is particularly critical in traditional environments, like museums. Usually, museums have been seen as keepers of knowledge and this aspect has led to an attitude of substantial closing toward new forms of accessibility to this culture. More recently, these institutions have understood the importance of innovation and renewal within the promotional strategies to attract more visitors and improve their experience. But technological change requires trained staff able to favor its adoption and make its benefits clear for visitors. Along this perspective, museums should intervene in redefining the role and the competencies that tour guides need to develop to operate in a renovated scenario, driven by technological innovations