The Creation of sustainable Value in SMEs. A case study.

Purpose: The paper studies the way in which a small-medium size enterprise (SME) in Campania (Italy) creates sustainability into its corporate strategy, the practices it puts in place and how its CS strategies reflect on accumulating and enhancing intangible assets. Methodology/Research limitations: A qualitative case study methodology is used. The use of a single case study, as always, limits the generalizing of these findings. Findings: Entrepreneurs‟ ethical beliefs and value systems play a fundamental role in shaping sustainable corporate strategy. Furthermore, the type of competitive strategy selected based on innovation, quality and responsibility emerges both in terms of well defined management procedures and supply network system as a whole in order to involve partners in the process of sustainable innovation. In this context, such value creation is extended to the sustainability of the intellectual capital. Research Implications: The link between the creation of sustainable value and intangible assets is analyzed in depth with reference to SMEs. Practical Implications: Entrepreneurs and managers can benefit from the study in order to build a network organization capable of achieving effective and sustainable development. Originality/value: The proposed process of creation of sustainable value based on sharing and the co-creation of knowledge emerges fully in the case study analyzed. The study pivots on the issues of innovation and eco-sustainability in a context of drivers for CS and business ethics

The drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility in the supply chain. A case study.

Purpose: The paper studies the way in which a SME integrates CSR into its corporate strategy, the practices it puts in place and how its CSR strategies reflect on its suppliers and customers relations. Methodology/Research limitations: A qualitative case study methodology is used. The use of a single case study limits the generalizing capacity of these findings. Findings: The entrepreneur’s ethical beliefs and value system play a fundamental role in shaping sustainable corporate strategy. Furthermore, the type of competitive strategy selected based on innovation, quality and responsibility clearly emerges both in terms of well defined management procedures and supply chain relations as a whole aimed at involving partners in the process of sustainable innovation. Originality/value: The paper presents a SME that has devised an original innovative business model. The study pivots on the issues of innovation and eco-sustainability in a context of drivers for CRS and business ethics. These values are considered fundamental at International level; the United Nations has declared 2011 the “International Year of Forestry”

An open innovation approach to co-produce scientific knowledge: an examination of citizen science in the healthcare ecosystem

Purpose The article applies the citizen science phenomenon - i.e. lay people involvement in research endeavours aimed at pushing forward scientific knowledge - to healthcare. Attention is paid to initiatives intended to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic as an illustrative case to exemplify the contribution of citizen science to system-wide innovation in healthcare. Design/methodology/approach A mixed methodology consisting of three sequential steps was developed. Firstly, a realist literature review was carried out to contextualize citizen science to healthcare. Then, an account of successfully completed large-scale, online citizen science projects dealing with healthcare and medicine has been conducted in order to obtain preliminary information about distinguishing features of citizen science in healthcare. Thirdly, a broad search of citizen science initiatives targeted to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic has been performed. A comparative case study approach has been undertaken to examine the attributes of such projects and to unravel their peculiarities. Findings Citizen science enacts the development of a lively healthcare ecosystem, which takes its nourishment from the voluntary contribution of lay people. Citizen scientists play different roles in accomplishing citizen science initiatives, ranging from data collectors to data analysts. Alongside enabling big data management, citizen science contributes to lay people's education and empowerment, soliciting their active involvement in service co-production and value co-creation. Practical implications Citizen science is still underexplored in healthcare. Even though further evidence is needed to emphasize the value of lay people's involvement in scientific research applied to healthcare, citizen science is expected to revolutionize the way innovation is pursued and achieved in the healthcare ecosystem. Engaging lay people in a co-creating partnership with expert scientist can help us to address unprecedented health-related challenges and to shape the future of healthcare. Tailored health policy and management interventions are required to empower lay people and to stimulate their active engagement in value co-creation. Originality/value Citizen science relies on the wisdom of the crowd to address major issues faced by healthcare organizations. The article comes up with a state of the art investigation of citizen science in healthcare, shedding light on its attributes and envisioning avenues for further development

What about Data-Driven Business Models? Mapping the Literature and Scoping Future Avenues

The paper aims to perform an assessment of the literature at the intersection of data and business models, examining the extent to which the data-driven business model (DDBM) is considered in the current literature and how it is characterised in terms of approaches, benefits and barriers. A systematic literature review (SRL) of the available body of knowledge on these topics was performed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach. The SRL reveals limited but rapidly growing coverage of the cutting-edge phenomenon on the part of scientific studies. In problematising the extant literature, competitive, cultural and strategic approaches are proposed together with the relative enablers fostering the adoption of each approach. Benefits and barriers to the implementation of a DDBM are also discussed across technical, organisational and financial dimensions. The insights derived from a critical review of the DDBM literature point out gaps, which may itself inform future research and theory development in this area, as well as support practitioners’ decision-making on the datatisation of business models

When Digitalization Meets Omnichannel in International Markets: A Case Study from the Agri-Food Industry

Digitalization is prompting small and medium-sized enterprises to structural and strategic transformations, also providing new opportunities to expand and succeed in foreign markets. However, relatively few studies have investigated emergent digital technologies in international business management. Contextually, there is still a dearth of research on the multi-faceted impacts of digitalization on omnichannel strategy characterizing most of the global business environment today. This paper, therefore, aims to examine the impact of digitalization on omnichannel choices adopted by internationalized SMEs. A qualitative approach, based on a single case study methodology, is adopted. An Italian agri-food SME is chosen as this industry is considered a key and distinctive pillar of Made in Italy in the international markets. Findings reveal the potential of digital technologies’ applications in an omnichannel environment, blurring the boundaries between channels, through a synergetic integration of them. This evidence contributes to the existing literature on technology management and omnichannel strategies in the international context by rereading these phenomena through a smart ecosystem lens. In addition, this study provides practical insights on how multiple channels adopted by Made in Italy SMEs can be integrated, managed, and operated synergistically on international markets to sustain a digitalized value creation

Curiosity as Brazilian tourist motivation in visiting Europe

Although the theme of push and pull motivations has received increasing attention in tourist behavior literature, little attention has been devoted to the investigation of the interaction between single push motivations and visitor loyalty and other relevant variables influencing tourist behavior. Given its undoubtable relevance in motivating human behavior, we propose curiosity as a single push motive by examining its causal relationships with destination attributes (evaluated in holistic way), attitude toward destination, and loyalty. In particular, we tested a new research model on a sample of 273 potential Brazilian travelers to Europe by using a structural equation modeling approach. Sample size is in line with the state-of-the-art in literature (Ciasullo et al., 2017). The data moderately well fitted the "curiosity model" and the findings highlighted that curiosity plays a crucial role in shaping attitude and pull motivation, and in influencing tourist loyalty. Consequently, destination managers or European Union institutions should magnify the role of curiosity, attitude towards destination, and pull motivations in terms of marketing policies

Reti d’impresa. Criticità e prospettive per la produttività dei sistemi produttivi campani.

Il presente lavoro è frutto di una ricerca condotta nell’ambito del progetto “Le politiche per la competitività dei sistemi produttivi campani: mappatura delle reti ed analisi degli strumenti al fine di rafforzare l’azione amministrativa”. Il progetto nasce dall’Accordo Quadro tra la Regione Campania e l’Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, l’Università degli Studi di Napoli Parthenope, l’Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, l’Università degli Studi di Salerno, l’Università degli Studi del Sannio, l’Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa, con lo scopo di elaborare politiche ed interventi efficaci per il miglioramento della competitività complessiva del sistema produttivo campano. Nell’ambito di tale cornice di fondo, l’Ateneo di Salerno si è posto l’obiettivo di pervenire a una ricostruzione delle reti di imprese sia formali sia informali rilevandone, altresì, peculiarità e criticità. Nello specifico sono state approfondite due dimensioni. La prima ha privilegiato un focus di tipo normativo, volto ad intercettare le modalità reticolari di impresa regolamentate in chiave istituzionale, definite e formalizzate all’interno del quadro legislativo regionale, nazionale e comunitario. Rispetto a ciascuna tipologia reticolare sono state analizzate peculiarità e finalità oltre al riferimento normativo. La seconda, approfondita attraverso una review della letteratura nazionale e internazionale, ha inteso ottenere una categorizzazione in base ai driver per la formazione delle reti con un focus specifico alle tipologie reticolari informali. Parallelamente, tramite l’applicazione in ambiente GIS, si è proceduto ad un’analisi di mappatura della distribuzione e clusterizzazione dei sistemi produttivi locali e dei sistemi locali di conoscenza e innovazione; della distribuzione territoriale delle grandi imprese. Non da ultimo, le riflessioni maturate in chiave teorica sono state approfondite attraverso l’analisi di case study sviluppati con riferimento a settori di rilevanza strategica per lo sviluppo territoriale campano. I risultati complessivi della ricerca hanno permesso da un lato di delineare e proporre un modello di sintesi delle reti di impresa teso a qualificare i driver e le strategie più adeguate per l’incremento della competitività; dall’altro di evidenziare criticità e indicazioni teorico- manageriali oltre che di policy per lo sviluppo degli aggregati reticolari campan