Amplifon in the US: A Story of Customer-Centric International Growth

Amplifon is a multinational corporation, headquartered in Milan, that operates in the retail hearing aids sector. The company has an extensive network of shops, and it specializes in customizing and fitting hearing aids and in distributing an extensive range of accessories to solve problems related to the loss of hearing. Since 2001, Amplifon has been listed on the Italian Stock Exchange. It joined the STAR segment in 2008, the FTSE-MIB Index in 2018, the Stoxx Europe 600 in 2019, and the MSCI Global Standard index in 2020. Amplifon is expected to have close to €2 billion in sales in 2021. It operates in 27 countries, and it has around 18,000 employees in a network of 11,500 points of sale. Amplifon competes in the hearing aid retail market, an industry that is highly fragmented at the global level. Amplifon is the global leader, with almost twice the market share of its largest competitor, but its worldwide share is just over 11%. The major players in the industry compete fiercely to lead the consolidation of the space. The sector is undergoing rapid development, thanks in part to the modernization impulse given by Amplifon in recent years. Hearing devices are highly technological products with continuous innovation, and distribution models are now experimenting with digitalization opportunities. Moreover, renewed interest in consumer hearing devices like Apple AirPods is bringing new products and technologies to market. The challenges facing competitors are diverse and complex. The market that best exemplifies the size and the depth of the challenges in the US market where Amplifon has been present since the early 1990s. Giulio Pizzini (Chief Strategy & Business Development Officer at Amplifon) explained the company’s challenges in the US market: “In the US we are the leader in the premium market, but we want to further increase our market share and consolidate our competitive position. Leadership in the US is fundamental not only because it is the largest retail market, covering around 40% of the world market, but also because this is the most innovative market where new technologies and innovation in retail tend to emerge first.

Boards of Directors’ Contribution to Strategy: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

Manuscript Type: Literature review.Research Question/Issue: Over the last four decades, research on the relationship between boards of directors and strategy has proliferated. Yet to date there is little theoretical and empirical agreement regarding the question of how boards of directors contribute to strategy. This review assesses the extant literature by highlighting emerging trends and identifying several avenues for future research.Research Findings/Insights: Using a content-analysis of 150 articles published in 23 manage-ment journals until 2007, we describe and analyze how research on boards of directors and strategy has evolved over time. We illustrate how topics, theories, settings and sources of data interact and influence insights about board-strategy relationships during three specific periods.Theoretical/Academic Implications: Our study illustrates that research on boards of directors and strategy evolved from normative and structural approaches to behavioral and cognitive approaches. Our results encourage future studies (i) to examine the impact of institutional and context-specific factors on the (expected) contribution of boards to strategy, and (ii) to apply alternative methods to fully capture the impact of board processes and dynamics on strategy-making.Practical/Policy Implications: The increasing interest in boards of directors’ contribution to strategy echoes a movement towards more strategic involvement of boards of directors. However, best governance practices and the emphasis on board independence and control may hinder the board contribution to the strategic decision-making. Our study invites investors and policy-makers to consider the requirements for an effective strategic task when they nominee board members and develop new regulations.boards of directors;contribution to strategy;literature review

Vaginal cuff recurrence after radical cystectomy: an under - studied site of bladder cancer relapse

Vaginal cuff recurrence of tumor following radical cystectomy is a rare site of disease recurrence, however it has never been specifically studied. The aim of the study is to evaluate incidence, risk factors, and long-term oncologic outcomes of vaginal cuff recurrence in a cohort of female patients treated with radical cystectomy for invasive urothelial carcinoma of the bladder

Minimally invasive urologic surgery is safe during COVID-19: experience from two high-volume centers in Italy

Potential risks of COVID-19 spread during minimally invasive procedures caused several concerns among surgeons, despite the lack of high-level evidence. Urological robotic and laparoscopic surgery is performed in elective setting in almost all occasions, thus allowing adequate planning and stratification. Two high-volume urological centers in Italy performed 77 robotic and laparoscopic surgeries during the \u201clockdown\u201d period and adopted various strategies to prevent contamination. First of all, all patients were tested negative with nasopharyngeal swab before the surgical intervention. Patients and personnel were provided adequate personal protective equipment and intraoperative strategies to prevent smoke formation and pneumoperitoneum spread were adopted. No patients nor staff members tested positive for COVID-19 during a 15-day follow-up period. In conclusion, minimally invasive urologic surgery can be safely performed during the pandemic period with adequate planning. We believe that renouncing the benefits of it would be counterproductive, especially in a scenario of long-lasting cohabitation with the virus

Board tasks in small firms: The importance of motivation and evaluations

The attention to board of directors in small firms is increasing. Traditionally they have been considered to be passive and labeled paper boards or aunt boards. However, boards in small firms are now undergoing major changes. In this paper we test hypotheses of what makes boards active and allows them to contribute to value creation. Activity is seen in relation to board task involvement. Predictions based on agency theory, resource dependence theory and the resource based view of the firm are used to explore board task involvement. In a sample of 347 small firms we got strong support for hypotheses highlighting the use of the knowledge of the board members and various board maintenance tools, such as regular board evaluations, to increase board task involvement. Various contextual variables were included as control variables, but few were significantly related to board task involvement. Actionable advice to boards in small firms is provided

Liposomes characterization for market approval as pharmaceutical products: Analytical methods, guidelines and standardized protocols

Liposomes are nano-sized lipid-based vesicles widely studied for their drug delivery capabilities. Compared to standard carries they exhibit better properties such as improved site-targeting and drug release, protection of drugs from degradation and clearance, and lower toxic side effects. At present, scientific literature is rich of studies regarding liposomes-based systems, while 14 types of liposomal products have been authorized to the market by EMA and FDA and many others have been approved by national agencies. Although the interest in nanodevices and nanomedicine has steadily increased in the last two decades the development of documentation regulating and standardizing all the phases of their development and quality control still suffers from major inadequacy due to the intrinsic complexity of nano-systems characterization. Many generic documents (Type 1) discussing guidelines for the study of nano-systems (lipidic and not) have been proposed while there is a lack of robust and standardized methods (Type 2 documents). As a result, a widespread of different techniques, approaches and methodologies are being used, generating results of variable quality and hard to compare with each other. Additionally, such documents are often subject to updates and rewriting further complicating the topic. Within this context the aim of this work is focused on bridging the gap in liposome characterization: the most recent standardized methodologies suitable for liposomes characterization are here reported (with the corresponding Type 2 documents) and revised in a short and pragmatical way focused on providing the reader with a practical background of the state of the art. In particular, this paper will put the accent on the methodologies developed to evaluate the main critical quality attributes (CQAs) necessary for liposomes market approval

The Model Matching Problem for Max-Plus Linear Systems: a Geometric Approach

Linear systems over the max-plus algebra provide a suitable formalism to model discrete event systems where synchronization, without competition, is involved. In this paper, we consider a formulation of the model matching problem for systems of such class, in which the output of a given system, called the plant, is forced, by a suitable input, to track exactly that of a given model. A necessary and sufficient condition for its solvability is obtained by making a suitable use of geometric methods in the framework of systems over the max-plus algebra

Il trattamento endourologico retrogrado nella calcolosi renale

Negli ultimi 30 anni la terapia della calcolosi urinaria ha subito notevoli modificazioni in virtù dello sviluppo di tecnologie che hanno reso possibile eseguire trattamenti sempre meno invasivi. Anche le linee guida sono cambiate di conseguenza e attualmente prevedono che la litotrissia extracorporea rappresenti la prima opzione terapeutica per calcoli renali inferiori ai 20 mm come la litotrissia percutanea lo sia per calcoli di dimensioni superiori. Nel nostro studio abbiamo valutato efficacia e sicurezza della litotrissia per via retrograda come prima linea di trattamento della calcolosi renale. In 35 pazienti sottoposti a trattamento endourologico retrogrado abbiamo ottenuto una bonifica completa con il primo trattamento nel 63% dei casi e nell'80% con un ritrattamento. Complicanze maggiori, risolte senza sequele, sono comparse in 3 pazienti. Differenze significative sono emerse solo nel confronto dei risultati per calcoli inferiori e superiori a 20 mm. Nella nostra esperienza la RIRS può rappresentare la prima scelta di trattamento in alternativa alle altre opzioni sia per calcoli di piccole che di grandi dimensioni in casi selezionati, soprattutto se si tratta di calcolosi recidivante

5G-Based Multi-Sensor Platform for Monitoring of Workpieces and Machines: Prototype Hardware Design and Firmware

In this paper, we introduce a 5G-based multi-sensor platform for monitoring workpieces and machines. The prototype is realized within the EU-funded 5G-SMART project, which aims to enable smart manufacturing through 5G, demonstrating and validating new generation network technology in industrial processes. There are already state-of-the-art solutions, but with drawbacks such as limited flexibility, brief real-time capability, and sensors aimed at single applications. The 5G-SMART multi-sensor platform is designed to overcome these points and meet the requirements of Industry 4.0. The device is equipped with different sensors to acquire multiple data from workpieces and machines of the shop floor, wirelessly connected by 5G to the factory cloud. A hardware design description of the prototype is provided, focusing on the electronic components and their interaction with the microcontroller. Verification of the correct functioning of the board is given, with a basic library for the main peripherals used as a basis for the final firmware

Boards of Directors’ Contribution to Strategy: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

Manuscript Type: Literature review. Research Question/Issue: Over the last four decades, research on the relationship between boards of directors and strategy has proliferated. Yet to date there is little theoretical and empirical agreement regarding the question of how boards of directors contribute to strategy. This review assesses the extant literature by highlighting emerging trends and identifying several avenues for future research. Research Findings/Insights: Using a content-analysis of 150 articles published in 23 manage-ment journals until 2007, we describe and analyze how research on boards of directors and strategy has evolved over time. We illustrate how topics, theories, settings and sources of data interact and influence insights about board-strategy relationships during three specific periods. Theoretical/Academic Implications: Our study illustrates that research on boards of directors and strategy evolved from normative and structural approaches to behavioral and cognitive approaches. Our results encourage future studies (i) to examine the impact of institutional and context-specific factors on the (expected) contribution of boards to strategy, and (ii) to apply alternative methods to fully capture the impact of board processes and dynamics on strategy-making. Practical/Policy Implications: The increasing interest in boards of directors’ contribution to strategy echoes a movement towards more strategic involvement of boards of directors. However, best governance practices and the emphasis on board independence and control may hinder the board contribution to the strategic decision-making. Our study invites investors and policy-makers to consider the requirements for an effective strategic task when they nominee board members and develop new regulations