Performance measurement and management. A literature review focussed on the role played by management theories with a deep dive into the industry 4.0 environment

PURPOSE: The aim of this paper is to review the theoretical lenses used in performance measurement and management in a traditional and industry 4.0 environment and to contribute to understanding the current state of research in the field and its future development. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: This paper performs a structured review of the existing performance measurement and management literature, with the objective to investigate the current state of research, looking at popular theories in more detail, as well as to propose possible avenues for future consideration for the field to develop further moving forward. Particularly, this paper focusses on and identifies (1) theoretical lenses that are dominating this field, (2) the role played by specific theories and the way different theories are used together and finally, (3) an in-depth dive into relevant theories for performance measurement and management applied in an industry 4.0 environment. FINDINGS: Key findings highlight the growing number of publications, leading authors and journals where research is published. The findings also include the identification and detailed analysis of the most popular theories leveraged by scholars also in reference to research methodologies. A thorough analysis of Industry 4.0 performance measurement and management is then carried out, as this is one of the identified emerging themes in the research field. Findings here include the identification of relevant research and the suggestion of significant theories that can help build this specific body of knowledge. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This research offers a key contribution by providing a powerful “theoretical toolkit” to researchers and practitioners working in performance measurement and management and industry 4.0 fields

Can we trust ESG Ratings? Some insights based on a bibliometric analysis of ESG data quality and rating reliability

The aim of this research is to investigate the quality and reliability of ESG data provided by companies, as well as the accuracy and objectivity of ESG ratings produced by sus- tainability rating agencies (SRAs). Since SRAs use companies’ non-financial information as input data when formulating their ESG ratings, these two topics appear to be strictly interconnected. Drawing on the Shanon and Weaver (1949) model of communication, we have addressed these issues by means of a systematic literature review combined with a bibliometric anal- ysis. In our investigation we run: i) the co-citation analysis to detect the seminal papers; ii) a keyword co-occurrence analysis to explore how the main features of the academic debate have unfolded in the last five years; iii) a keyword co-occurrence analysis to obtain a network visualisation map to explore how the research broad scope was articulated in different clusters (i.e., themes of research). Among the clusters that emerged from the mapping, we have decided to delve into the streams of research we consider most relevant and deal with: the relationships between ESG and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Namely, we deem that AI may allow us to process massive amounts of data that contain crucial infor- mation for ESG investing. However, even if computer algorithms are able to analyse all information available efficiently, and in a timely manner, managers and investors should be aware of their opportunities and criticisms, while scholars should list propositions for advancing the research on these topics

Introduction to the proceedings of the Piccola Impresa/Small Business 5th Workshop: “Beyond the crisis: what is the future for small businesses? Challenges, opportunities and lessons learned”

In this volume, we are pleased to present the proceedings of the 5th Workshop organised by the journal Piccola Impresa/Small Business in collaboration with the Association for the study of small enterprises (ASPI), the Research Center on Entrepreneurship and Small-medium firms (CRIMPI), the Italian Academy of Business Economics (AIDEA) and the European Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ECSB). The workshop title was “Beyond the crisis: what is the future for small businesses? Challenges, opportunities and lessons learned”, and it took place online on December 4-5, 2021. The aim of the conference was to bring together scholars of entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized enterprises, to discuss the emerging issues following the Covid-19 pandemic. As we have highlighted in the call for papers of the workshop and a previous editorial published in the journal mentioned above (Pencarelli et al. 2021), the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered the largest public health crisis in living memory, with serious—and still unpredictable—consequences for the global economy. Available data clearly shows that SMEs have particularly suffered from economic downturn: their inherent weaknesses have amplified and accelerated the effects of the crisis compared to larger firms (Cowling et al., 2020; OECD, 2020). Notably, in Italy, the Covid-19 outbreak has challenged SMEs’ survival after a decade of a slow and incomplete recovery (CERVED, 2020, 2021)

The role of alexithymia in the development of functional motor symptoms (conversion disorder).

BACKGROUND: The mechanisms leading to the development of functional motor symptoms (FMS) are of pathophysiological and clinical relevance, yet are poorly understood. AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether impaired emotional processing at the cognitive level (alexithymia) is present in patients affected by FMS. We conducted a cross-sectional study in a population of patients with FMS and in two control groups (patients with organic movement disorders (OMD) and healthy volunteers). METHODS: 55 patients with FMS, 33 patients affected by OMD and 34 healthy volunteers were recruited. The assessment included the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes' Test and the Structured Clinical Interview for Personality Disorders. RESULTS: Alexithymia was present in 34.5% of patients with FMS, 9.1% with OMD and 5.9% of the healthy volunteers, which was significantly higher in the FMS group (χ(2) (2)=14.129, p<0.001), even after controlling for the severity of symptoms of depression. Group differences in mean scores were observed on both the difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty describing feelings dimensions of the TAS-20, whereas the externally orientated thinking subscale score was similar across the three groups. Regarding personality disorder, χ(2) analysis showed a significantly higher prominence of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) in the FMS group (χ(2) (2)=16.217, p<0.001) and 71.4% of those with OCPD also reached threshold criteria for alexithymia. CONCLUSIONS: Because alexithymia is a mental state denoting the inability to identify emotions at a cognitive level, one hypothesis is that some patients misattribute autonomic symptoms of anxiety, for example, tremor, paraesthesiae, paralysis, to that of a physical illness. Further work is required to understand the contribution of OCPD to the development of FMS

Closed-Loop Manufacturing for Aerospace Industry: An Integrated PLM-MOM Solution to Support the Wing Box Assembly Process

The aim of this research is to provide an example of the importance that integrated Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Manufacturing Operation Management (MOM) systems have in realizing the Digital Manufacturing. The research first examines what the Digital Manufacturing involves and then identifies Digital Twin and the related Digital Thread as key elements. PLM and MOM solutions support the Digital Twin and the Digital Thread allowing the exchange of product-related information between the digital manufacturing model and the physical manufacturing execution. A Digital Twin of a wing box and its assembly process is created in PLM by building the bill of material and bill of process. Then it is shown how in MOM system the production phase is facilitated by managing production operations, advanced scheduling and supporting the execution of the processes and how the analysis of the manufacturing performance is possible. The result integrating these systems is to have the right information at the right place at the right time along with the related benefits in terms of costs, time and quality. The activity has been developed in Siemens Industry Software under the European Project AirGreen 2, an integrated research action of the REG IADP (Regional Innovative Aircraft Demonstration Platform) part of the Joint Technical Programme, the steering and coordination of LEONARDO Aircraft. The AirGreen 2 project is an Innovation Action funded by the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking under the European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under Grant Agreement N\ub0807089 REG IADP)

The anticipation, perception of affective touch in women with, recovered from Anorexia Nervosa

Disruptions in reward processing and anhedonia have long been observed in Anorexia Nervosa (AN). Interoceptive deficits have also been observed in AN, including reduced tactile pleasure. However, the extent to which this tactile anhedonia is specifically liked to an impairment in a specialized, interoceptive C-tactile system originating at the periphery, or a more top-down mechanism in the processing of tactile pleasantness remains debated. Here, we investigated differences between patients with and recovered from AN and healthy controls in the perception of pleasantness of touch delivered in a CT-optimal versus a CT-non-optimal manner, and in their top-down, anticipatory beliefs about the perceived pleasantness of touch. To this end, we measured the anticipated pleasantness of various materials touching the skin and the perceived pleasantness of light, dynamic touch applied to theforearmof 27 women with AN, 24 women who have recovered and 30 healthy controls using C Tactile (CT) afferents-optimal (slow) and non-optimal (fast) velocities. Our results showed that both clinical groups anticipated tactile experiences and rated delivered tactile stimuli as less pleasant than healthy controls, but the latter difference was not related to the CT optimality of the stimulation. Instead, differences in the perception of CT-optimal touch were predicted by differences in top-down beliefs, alexithymia and interoceptive sensibility. Thus, tactile anhedonia in AN might persist as a trait even after otherwise successful recovery of AN and it is not linked to a bottom-up interoceptive deficit in the CT system, but rather to a learned, defective top-down anticipation of tactile pleasantness

Exploring entity-centric methods in the UK Government Web Archive

Being able to explore large digital collections effectively is of interest to both academics and practitioners alike. The need to go beyond the provision of keyword-driven functionality to features that support exploration and discovery is widely recognised. In addition, providers are seeking to support more diverse groups of users with varying information needs and tasks. Increasing amounts of cultural heritage are being stored in web archives that present unique challenges as a form of digital cultural heritage. This paper describes a collaboration between the University of Sheffield and the UK National Archives to investigate entity-based methods for exploring the UK Government Web Archive