The governmentality of corporate (un)sustainability: the case of the ILVA steel plant in Taranto (Italy)

The present research aims to investigate the role of states in governing the sustain- ability trajectories and decisions of companies and their local communities. Draw- ing on Dean’s (Governmentality: power and rule in modern society, SAGE, London, 2009) “analytics of government” as the theoretical framework, the paper focuses on detecting how the Italian Government “problematised” the sustainability-related risks associated with the ILVA steel plant in Taranto, whose levels of pollution have worried both the Italian authorities and the European Union Commission. The anal- ysis also considers the “regimes of governance” under which the risks have been addressed and then explains the “utopian ideal” that the Italian Government tried to achieve by allowing the company to continue its activity, contrary to the Italian Judiciary’s provision to halt the hot working area of the steel plant in July 2012. Patterns related to Dean’s framework were identi ed through an iterative process of manual elaborative coding of the o cial documents ascribable to the main actors involved in governing the sustainability-related risks at ILVA. The ndings show that the Italian Government took its decisions on ILVA in the name of relevant risks of unemployment, economic development and territorial competitiveness. The Ital- ian Government adopted several practices of governance to make these risks more “visible” and to silence the environmental and health risks that, otherwise, would have emphasised the unsustainability of the business activities. The paper extends the growing body of research that investigates corporate (un)sustainability practices by showing how states may directly in uence sustainability-related corporate risks in the name of a higher public interest

Family firms and innovation: the role of ventured-start-ups

Technological innovation can be defined as the set of activities through which a firm conceives, designs, manufactures, and introduces a new product, technology, system or technique (Freeman, 1976). It can take place according to different strategies: through internal R&D and by mean of external knowledge acquisition (Cassiman and Veugelers, 2006). Extant studies are predominantly focused on the analysis of the \u201cinternal perspective\u201d, while there is a research gap on how firms can reach technological innovation by mean of venture capital initiatives (Dushnitsky and Lenox, 2005). The present paper aims to fill this gap by focusing on how family small and medium entities (SMEs) may develop technological innovations by creating ventured start-ups. In particular, considering the previous studies which identified the family firms\u2019 peculiar characteristics in terms of processes like corporate governance (Randoy and Goel, 2003), internationalization (Zahra, 2003), entrepreneurship (Naldi et al., 2007) and financing (Romano et al., 2001), the research investigates how the family firm\u2019s ownership structure affects its technological innovation activities and outcomes (Hoskisson et al., 2002)

Sustainable development goals and the strategic role of business: A systematic literature review

The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an urgent call for action by all countries that provide a global framework for achieving global develop- ment while balancing social, economic, and environmental sustainability. SDGs are addressed to all actors in society, but both academia and professional recognize the particular importance of businesses. However, research is still needed to understand the role of companies as sustainable development agents. Relying on Scopus data- base consultation, the current research adopts an interdisciplinary systematic litera- ture review to investigate, analyze, and present state-of-the-art academic literature on the role of businesses in tackling SDGs. The final sample comprises 101 papers published between 2015 and 2020. It provides evidence that the main topics dis- cussed by scholars are related to aspects of strategy execution. Recognizing different streams that are currently unexplored—despite strictly related to strategic business activities and to the sustainable development as a whole—the study provides many insights for future research on business and SDGs

Exploring Corporate Crisis Communication after COVID-19: The Role of Enterprise Risk Management in (Re)Building Trust

This study aims at investigating whether Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) sophistication shaped different COVID-19 crisis communication strategies. We assess the level of ERM sophistication of the FTSE-MIB Italian listed companies, and we study the pattern of risk communication strategies building on Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT). We find that companies with a low level of ERM sophistication generally adopt a crisis communication strategy based on a “denying/diminish” approach. In contrast, companies with higher ERM sophistication adopt a “diminish/rebuild” strategy. Our results extend previous literature on crisis communication by looking at the unique case of the COVID-19, a non-company-specific crisis that hit all firms. Results show company crisis communication strategies depend on prior risk management characteristics. Thus companies willing to protect their reputation and (re)build public trust because of a crisis should invest not only in risk communication but also in their risk management process

Characteristics of skin and soft tissues infections in children between 0-14 years who received care at the pediatric emergency department of Pereira Rossell Hospital Center during 2014

Diego Batalla: Estudiante de Medicina, Ciclo de Metodología Científica II, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Uruguay. La contribución en la realización del trabajo fue equivalente a la de los demás estudiantes.-- Florencia Maldonado: Estudiante de Medicina, Ciclo de Metodología Científica II, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Uruguay.-- Florencia Panfilo: Estudiante de Medicina, Ciclo de Metodología Científica II, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Uruguay.-- Virginia Rivero: Estudiante de Medicina, Ciclo de Metodología Científica II, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Uruguay.-- Nicolás Sierra: Estudiante de Medicina, Ciclo de Metodología Científica II, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Uruguay.-- Lorena Pardo: Docente supervisor. Clínica Pediátrica C, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.-- Silvia Koziol: Docente supervisor. Clínica Pediátrica C, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay. Contacto: Lorena Pardo. E-mail: [email protected] infecciones de piel y tejidos blandos son causa frecuente de consulta. Staphylococcus aureus y Streptococcus pyogenes son los agentes más frecuentes. El surgimiento de cepas de S. aureus meticilino resistentes determinó cambios en la morbimortalidad de dichas infecciones y en las pautas terapéuticas. Se propuso describir las características microbiológicas y clínicas de las infecciones de piel y tejidos blandos en niños que consultaron en el Departamento de Emergencia Pediátrica del Centro Hospitalario Pereira Rossell. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo retrospectivo en el que se captaron los niños de 0-14 años que consultaron en el Departamento de Emergencia del Centro Hospitalario Pereira Rossell por infecciones de piel y tejidos blandos durante el año 2014. Se incluyeron 102 niños con los siguientes diagnósticos: Impétigo 51, absceso 16, celulitis 16, forúnculo 5, panadizo 5, otros 9. En el 70% de los casos fue a aislado S. aureus; de estos el 75% eran meticilino sensibles y 25% meticilino resistentes. La frecuencia de S. aureus meticilino resistente fue mayor en celulitis, abscesos y forúnculos. No se aislaron cepas multirresistentes. No se encontró resistencia constitutiva a la clindamicina, sólo 3 casos (4%) mostraron resistencia inducible a este antibiótico. Clindamicina y trimetoprim-sulfametoxazol son opciones terapéuticas para S.aureus. En los casos con resistencia a eritromicina es necesario detectar resistencia inducible a clindamicina. En los niños asistidos en el Centro Hospitalario Pereira Rossell la resistencia inducible a clindamicina no resulta un problema. Estos hallazgos necesitan ser complementados con estudios multicéntricos.Skin and soft tissue infections are a common reason for consultation. Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes are the most frequent agents. The emergence of S. aureus strains of methicillin resistant determined changes in morbidity and mortality of these infections and in therapeutic guidelines. The aim to describe microbiological and clinical features of skin and soft tissue infections in children who recieved care at Pediatric Emergency Depatment of Pereira Rossel Hospital. A descriptive, retrospective study was conducted among children between 0-14 years with skin or soft tissue infections who received care at the pediatric emergency department of Centro Hospitalario Pereira Rossell during 2014. 102 patients were included with the following diagnoses: Impetigo 51, abscess 16, cellulitis 16, furuncle 5, paronychia 5, others 9. S. aureus was isolated in 70%; from which 75% were methicillin sensitive and 25% methicillin resistant. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus frequency was higher in celluli tis, abscesses and boils. No multiresistant strains were isolated. No constitutive clindamycine resistant. S. aureus isolates where found, and only 3 (4%) had clindamycine inducible resistance. Clindamycin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole are therapeutic options for S. aureus. Erythromycin strains should be tested for clindamycin inducible resistance. Clindacymin inducible resistance is not a problem at Centro Hospitalario Pereira Rosell. These findings need to be complemented with multicenter studies

La gestione del rischio e la sua comunicazione GAP TEORICI ED EVIDENZE EMPIRICHE NELLE SOCIETÀ QUOTATE ITALIANE

In recent decades, there has been an explosion of risk reporting by compa- nies. What is risk? How do companies manage risks? Risks are logically distinct from their management, therefore, risk disclosure (RD) is different from risk management disclosure (RMD). The current work ts into the research stream on RD aiming at extending the focus on RMD and the process underlying such communication. First, a systematic review of the accounting literature investigates the topic of RMD to identify theoretical gaps. Second, the study empirically veri es the main emerging gap. Indeed, through telephonic interviews to people in charge of risk management, the study investigates how the nature and extent of the RMD in the Corporate Governance report is determined in Italian listed companies

MOTIVAZIONI E OBIETTIVI NELL’ADOZIONE DI SISTEMI DI MANAGEMENT DEL RISCHIO NELLE QUOTATE ITALIANE: UNA RICERCA EMPIRICA

Il capitolo contiene i risultati di una ricerca empirica, nell'ambito della pi\uf9 ampia ricerca contenuta nel volume, condotta attraverso la somministrazione di un questionario ad imprese quotate italiane, funzionale alla comprensione delle motivazioni di fondo che hanno spinto le stesse all'impianto di sistemi di Risk Managemen

Climate Change Risk Disclosure in Europe: The Role of Cultural-Cognitive, Regulative, and Normative Factors

Climate change is a key issue faced by the contemporary world. Through the lens of neoinstitutionalism and the normativity concept, this study examines whether cultural, regulative, and normative dimensions affect the quality of climate change risk disclosures. This paper uses a sample of 653 European companies and measures the quality of their disclosures based on Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) ratings. The results show that the quality of such disclosures is associated with cultural and normative dimensions, but substantive legitimacy is found to be influenced by all the examined institutional factors. The interactions between the examined cultural and normative dimensions are shown to be (not) important for firms that operated in weaker (stronger) regulative contexts prior to Directive 2014/95/EU. This study provides a better understanding of the challenges related to climate change reporting and the role of institutional differences in the process of achieving normativity in cross-national contexts such as that of the European Union

IR completeness and the role of the institutional factors: worldwide evidence

Around the world, some leading companies have started developing inte- grated reporting (IR), which expresses the interconnections between a firm’s strategy, governance, performance and prospects, as well as the contexts within which it operates (Frias-Acetuino et al., 2013). The International In- tegrated Reporting Council (IIRC) released in 2013 a framework about the integration of financial and non-financial information within a unique corpo- rate report. The adoption of such an IR is mandatory just in South Africa for listed companies since 2011, while it is voluntary adopted in all the other countries around the world. According to the IR framework (2013) an IR includes eight Content Ele- ments even if companies, adopting an IR in compliance to the framework, are let free to disclose which and how much about each of them. The Content El- ements are “fundamentally linked to each other and [...] not mutually exclu- sive” (IIRC, 2013, p. 24) and refer to: 1. Organizational overview and external environment, i.e. what the organization does and what are the circumstances under which it operates; 2. Governance, i.e. how the organization’s governance structure supports its ability to create value in the short, medium and long term; 3. Business model, i.e. description of the organization’s business model; 4. Risks and opportunities, i.e. the specific risks and opportunities that affect the organization’s ability to create value over the short, medium and long term, and how the organization deals with them; 5. Strategy and resource allocation, i.e. where the organization wants to go and how it intends to get there; 6. Per- formance, i.e. to what extent the organization has achieved its strategic objectives for the period and what are its outcomes in terms of effects on the capitals; 7. Outlook, i.e. the challenges and uncertainties the organization is likely to encounter in pursuing its strategy, and the potential implications for its business model and future performance; 8. Basis of presentation, i.e. how the organization determines what matters to include in the integrated report. Prior literature has already investigated the role of institutional factors – here intended in the forms of legal, political, and economic systems – on financial disclosure (for all La Porta et al., 1997; 1998). Most recent studies investigated institutional factors’ role dealing about non-financial infor- mation (e.g. Jensen and Berg, 2012; De Villier and Marquez, 2016; Coluccia et al., 2018). However little research investigated the integration of both fi- nancial and non-financial information within IR (Frias-Acetuino et al., 2013; Zhou et al., 2017). Further these few studies analyzed integrated report be- fore the IR framework development. Thus the current study aims at extend- ing such stream of literature by investigating the influence of institutional factors on IR completeness, here defined as the level of information about the Content Elements provided by a company in its IR. The paper is structured as follow: the second paragraph describes the institutional theory and prior literature at the base of the hypotheses development, the third paragraph deals with the research design, the fourth and fifth describe the findings of the analyses and the sixth discusses them and pro- vides conclusions