DONNE E GOVERNO D’IMPRESA Prospettive teoriche ed evidenze empiriche

La presente ricerca propone un framework interpretativo in prospettiva gender mainstream e una verifica empirica dell’influsso delle donne nel governo dell’impresa su tre “grand challenges” in management: innovazione, internazionalizzazione e sostenibilità. Tale ricerca si inserisce nell’ambito degli studi sul governo d’impresa e, ispirata dalla lente interpretativa fornita dalla Stewardship Theory e dalle teorie femministe, indaga la rilevanza che la soglia minima di tre donne nel governo di impresa (Teoria della Massa Critica) assume nelle scelte strategiche. Il framework, integrando la Social Identity Theory, indaga anche la rilevanza degli ostacoli che derivano dalla costruzione sociale degli stereotipi di un dato contesto culturale sulla possibilità di influsso delle donne al governo dell’impresa. Completato il quadro degli aspetti definitori e teorici, il lavoro analizza lo stato dell’arte degli studi con specifico riferimento al ruolo delle donne sulle scelte strategiche i innovazione, internazionalizzazione e sostenibilità. Segue una analisi empirica effettuata su un campione di oltre 15 mila imprese italiane. Il lavoro offre infine un quadro di sintesi e riflessione teorica, un’agenda di ricerca e un insieme di implicazioni manageriali e di policy sulla base dei risultati conseguiti. Questo lavoro intende infatti fornire, da un lato, indicazioni teoriche utili allo sviluppo della ricerca accademica sul tema e, dall’altro, analisi a supporto alle scelte politiche nazionali e internazionali

Multi-scale modeling study of the source contributions to near-surface ozone and sulfur oxides levels over California during the ARCTAS-CARB period

Chronic high surface ozone (O_3) levels and the increasing sulfur oxides (SO_x = SO_2 + SO_4) ambient concentrations over South Coast (SC) and other areas of California (CA) are affected by both local emissions and long-range transport. In this paper, multi-scale tracer, full-chemistry and adjoint simulations using the STEM atmospheric chemistry model are conducted to assess the contribution of local emission sourcesto SC O_3 and to evaluate the impacts of transported sulfur and local emissions on the SC sulfur budgetduring the ARCTAS-CARB experiment period in 2008. Sensitivity simulations quantify contributions of biogenic and fire emissions to SC O_3 levels. California biogenic and fire emissions contribute 3–4 ppb to near-surface O_3 over SC, with larger contributions to other regions in CA. During a long-range transport event from Asia starting from 22 June, high SO_x levels (up to ~0.7 ppb of SO_2 and ~1.3 ppb of SO_4) is observed above ~6 km, but they did not affect CA surface air quality. The elevated SO_x observed at 1–4 km is estimated to enhance surface SO_x over SC by ~0.25 ppb (upper limit) on ~24 June. The near-surface SO_x levels over SC during the flight week are attributed mostly to local emissions. Two anthropogenic SO_x emission inventories (EIs) from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are compared and applied in 60 km and 12 km chemical transport simulations, and the results are compared withobservations. The CARB EI shows improvements over the National Emission Inventory (NEI) by EPA, but generally underestimates surface SC SO_x by about a factor of two. Adjoint sensitivity analysis indicated that SO_2 levels at 00:00 UTC (17:00 local time) at six SC surface sites were influenced by previous day maritime emissions over the ocean, the terrestrial emissions over nearby urban areas, and by transported SO_2 from the north through both terrestrial and maritime areas. Overall maritime emissions contribute 10–70% of SO2 and 20–60% fine SO_4 on-shore and over the most terrestrial areas, with contributions decreasing with in-land distance from the coast. Maritime emissions also modify the photochemical environment, shifting O_3 production over coastal SC to more VOC-limited conditions. These suggest an important role for shipping emission controls in reducing fine particle and O_3 concentrations in SC

A regional scale modeling analysis of aerosol and trace gas distributions over the eastern Pacific during the INTEX-B field campaign

The Sulfur Transport and dEposition Model (STEM) is applied to the analysis of observations obtained during the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment-Phase B (INTEX-B), conducted over the eastern Pacific Ocean during spring 2006. Predicted trace gas and aerosol distributions over the Pacific are presented and discussed in terms of transport and source region contributions. Trace species distributions show a strong west (high) to east (low) gradient, with the bulk of the pollutant transport over the central Pacific occurring between similar to 20 degrees N and 50 degrees N in the 2-6 km altitude range. These distributions are evaluated in the eastern Pacific by comparison with the NASA DC-8 and NSF/NCAR C-130 airborne measurements along with observations from the Mt. Bachelor (MBO) surface site. Thirty different meteorological, trace gas and aerosol parameters are compared. In general the meteorological fields are better predicted than gas phase species, which in turn are better predicted than aerosol quantities. PAN is found to be significantly overpredicted over the eastern Pacific, which is attributed to uncertainties in the chemical reaction mechanisms used in current atmospheric chemistry models in general and to the specifically high PAN production in the SAPRC-99 mechanism used in the regional model. A systematic underprediction of the elevated sulfate layer in the eastern Pacific observed by the C-130 is another issue that is identified and discussed. Results from source region tagged CO simulations are used to estimate how the different source regions around the Pacific contribute to the trace gas species distributions. During this period the largest contributions were from China and from fires in South/Southeast and North Asia. For the C-130 flights, which operated off the coast of the Northwest US, the regional CO contributions range as follows: China (35%), South/Southeast Asia fires (35%), North America anthropogenic (20%), and North Asia fires (10%). The transport of pollution into the western US is studied at MBO and a variety of events with elevated Asian dust, and periods with contributions from China and fires from both Asia and North America are discussed. The role of heterogeneous chemistry on the composition over the eastern Pacific is also studied. The impacts of heterogeneous reactions at specific times can be significant, increasing sulfate and nitrate aerosol production and reducing gas phase nitric acid levels appreciably (~50%)

Assessing the regional impacts of Mexico City emissions on air quality and chemistry

The impact of Mexico City (MCMA) emissions is examined by studying its effects on air quality, photochemistry, and on ozone production regimes by combining model products and aircraft observations from the MILAGRO experiment during March 2006. The modeled influence of MCMA emissions to enhancements in surface level NOx [NO subscript x], CO, and O3 [O subscript 3] concentrations (10–30% increase) are confined to distances <200 km, near surface. However, the extent of the influence is significantly larger at higher altitudes. Broader MCMA impacts (some 900 km Northeast of the city) are shown for specific outflow conditions in which enhanced ozone, NOy [NO subscript y], and MTBE mixing ratios over the Gulf of Mexico are linked to MCMA by source tagged tracers and sensitivity runs. This study shows that the "footprint" of MCMA on average is fairly local, with exception to reactive nitrogen, which can be transported long range in the form of PAN, acting as a reservoir and source of NOx [NO subscript x] with important regional ozone formation implications. The simulated effect of MCMA emissions of anthropogenic aerosol on photochemistry showed a maximum regional decrease of 40% in J[NO2→NO+O] [J [NO subscript 2 → NO + O]], and resulting in the reduction of ozone production by 5–10%. Observed ozone production efficiencies are evaluated as a function of distance from MCMA, and by modeled influence from MCMA. These tend to be much lower closer to MCMA, or in those points where modeled contribution from MCMA is large. This research shows that MCMA emissions do effect on regional air quality and photochemistry, both contributing large amounts of ozone and its precursors, but with caveat that aerosol concentrations hinder formation of ozone to its potential due to its reduction in photolysis rates.United States. National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNational Science Foundation (U. S.) (ATM award 0528227

Family Business and Competitive Strategy Research

The purpose of this chapter is to understand the contribution of family business research to competitive strategy. Family firms are those firms whose policy and direction are subject to significant influence by one or more family units; this influence is exerted through ownership and through the involvement of family members in management (Davis, 1983). To describe the advantages that firms take from their controlling families in terms of unique or distinctive resources and capabilities leading the firm itself to capture advantage-based rents, we follow the predictions related to the concept of ‘familiness’ (Habbershon, Williams and MacMillan, 2003). In this perspective, the unique bundle of resources family firms own implies the potential to provide an advantage over non family firms. Drawing on past literature, our deductive findings suggest three key characteristics of the family unit as potential predictors of firm’s competitive strategies: (a) the level of commitment, (b) the need of distinctiveness and (c) the long term vision. Anecdotal case studies support our arguments

Il ruolo delle risorse nei processi di diversificazione delle imprese familiari

Il lavoro intende fornire un framework teorico resource-based sulle strategie di diversificazione delle imprese familiari. In maggior dettaglio, sulla base dei principali costrutti e argomentazioni logiche caratterizzanti la teoria delle risorse, il lavoro esamina come le imprese familiari decidano di avviare una nuova attività stabilendo il tipo di diversificazione (correlata vs. conglomerale), i tempi di ingresso nel nuovo business e la modalità di ingresso maggiormente idonea (sviluppo interno, operazioni di acquisizione, alleanze strategiche). Pertanto, si delinea un quadro teorico complessivo che considera simultaneamente l’insieme delle principali scelte che attengono alla definizione di una strategia di diversificazione nelle imprese familiari

Main Trends in Regional Innovation Systems: An Author Co-citation Analysis

Regional Innovation Systems are increasingly attracting attention on behalf of accademics, practitioners and policy makers. This has produced a wide array of studies in the field, both regards the specific themes treated and the perspectives adopted. Though a number of sujective reviews of the field have been proposed, these tend to present the field according to the analysts' subjective biases and tends to meld what the field is with what the field should be. In order to overcome the limitations present in the subjective reviews proposed untill today, in this study we conduct an objective review of the main contributions to the Regional Innovation Systems fiels of studies

SME AND INNOVATION IN AUTOMATION: THE INFLUENCE OF FAMILY GOALS

Purpose. The paper examines whether, on the basis of Socio Emotional Wealth (SEW), family SMEs differ from non-family fi rms in their propensity to innovate in automation. Design/methodology/approach. Built on SEW, we hypothesise that family fi rms, especially SMEs, differ from non-family SMEs, in two needs: (a) the care for their employees and (b) the preservation of the image and reputation of the family and the fi rm in the community. The empirical analysis is based on a sample of 3,618 Italian SMEs and adopts the two-stage procedure proposed by Heckman (1976, 1979). Findings. Consistent with the SEW perspective, family SMEs are less inclined to innovate in automation. Practical and Social implications. The evidence of this study could be used to design policies that promote the innovation and application of automation by helping family SMEs to evaluate the positive and negative aspects and to overcome any resistance due to the influence of socio-emotional endowment on strategic decisions. From a managerial point of view, the critical issues that family SMEs face when deciding to innovate in automation are highlighted. Originality of the study. For the fi rst time it is analysed how much family involvement affects the strategic decision to innovate in automation in SMEs by applying SEW