Digital analytics and high organizational performance: a fuzzy-set QCA approach

Empirical evidence and previous literature on the effect of customer analytics on organizational performance demonstrate contrasting results. The enormous expansion of digital customer-related data, which is accessible almost freely and in real time, has made this a critical issue for contemporary marketing managers. Employing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analyses (fsQCA), this study examines which configurations of digital analytics and organizational customer-related culture, processes and capabilities drive high market performance. The evidence finds certain conditions are necessary for achieving high market performance, and other conditions constitute a path of sufficient conditions, depending on the level of environmental dynamisms

Durability demonstration programme for EURO6 passenger cars: thermal load to after-treatment systems

The thermal aging of emission control devices is the most important cause of vehicles' emissions deterioration. This report compares the thermal load generated by the Standard Road Cycle (SRC) with that generated by the Worldwide-harmonized Light-duty Test Cycle (WLTC) on 2 gasoline and 2 diesel vehicles, confirming that the SRC is fit for the purpose.JRC.C.4-Sustainable Transpor

Smart Cities as Organizational Fields: A Framework for Mapping Sustainability-Enabling Configurations

Despite the impressive growth of smart city initiatives worldwide, an organizational theory of smart city has yet to be developed, and we lack models addressing the unprecedented organizational and management challenges that emerge in smart city contexts. Traditional models are often of little use, because smart cities pursue different goals than traditional organizations, are based on networked, cross-boundary activity systems, rely on distributed innovation processes, and imply adaptive policy-making. Complex combinations of factors may lead to vicious or virtuous cycles in smart city initiatives, but we know very little about how these factors may be identified and mapped. Based on an inductive study of a set of primary and secondary sources, we develop a framework for the configurational analysis of smart cities viewed as place-specific organizational fields. This framework identifies five key dimensions in the configurations of smart city fields; these five dimensions are mapped through five sub-frameworks, which can be used both separately as well as for an integrated analysis. Our contribution is conceived to support longitudinal studies, natural experiments and comparative analyses on smart city fields, and to improve our understanding of how different combinations of factors affect the capability of smart innovations to translate into city resilience, sustainability and quality of life. In addition, our results suggest that new forms of place-based entrepreneurship constitute the engine that allows for the dynamic collaboration between government, citizens and research centers in successful smart city organizational fields

Business network commons and their fragilities: Emerging configurations of local organizational fields

This study introduces the concept of business network commons as valuable, fragile resources that are available for partnering firms' collective use but that also require users' engagement and collaboration to be protected and/or (re)generated. Building on the theory of commons and the literature on self-organizing networks and organizational fields, this study identifies organizational variables that shape the network's local organizational field and play a relevant role in protecting and developing business network commons. These variables are participatory architecture, organizational integration, and the presence of specific mechanisms for opportunism prevention and resolution. The fsQCA analysis suggests that specific combinations of these three organizational variables at network level enable high firm performance through the development and protection of business network commons. The boundary conditions under which different network-level organizational configurations can equifinally lead to high firm-level performance depend on the different possible levels of fragility of the business network commons at stake

Overcoming the Blockchain Oracle Problem in the Traceability of Non-Fungible Products

Blockchain implications within the sustainability domain are rapidly arousing the interest of researchers and institutions. However, despite the avalanche of articles, papers, and recently published books, innovation in the blockchain domain is still heavily influenced by light literature, such as news, articles, opinion posts, and white papers. Lacking a homogeneous literature background, case studies often fall into storytelling, providing mere descriptions of the facts according to the writers\u2019 impressions and opinions. We therefore investigate blockchain adoption for sustainable purposes through a case study while remaining firmly grounded in three main theoretical literature streams: knowledge management, knowledge infrastructure, and trust. Since blockchain interaction with the real world is managed by oracles, addressing the oracle problem is essential in order to evaluate the effectiveness of blockchain for sustainability issues. However, to the best of the authors\u2019 knowledge, no other paper has effciently addressed this subject or even mentioned it. Recognizing its scarce consideration in the literature, the oracle problem will be analyzed in both theoretical and practical terms, thereby providing a way to solve the issues related to non-fungible products in the supply chain. Choice over the selected case study was made in light of the divergence in motives for the adoption of blockchain (economic over social), which makes the results more inferable at a broader scale and offers an insight into how sustainable innovations can also be economically viabl

Food Sustainability as a Strategic Value Driver in the Hotel Industry

This paper aims at exploring the impact of green food on consumers’ purchase attitudes toward a hotel stay and on consumers’ behavioral intentions (i.e., intention to visit the hotel, intention to offer positive recommendations to others and willingness to pay a premium price), focusing on an Italian perspective where the food is a worldwide famous cultural element. This research employed a survey sent out by email to a database of contacts provided by an Italian company that operates in tourism. Data collection was completed in four weeks and the initial dataset counted 3586 of target respondents. A total of 302 surveys were completed and the data were analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM). Firstly, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed, followed by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) that leads to the estimation of the structural model. The results show that personal beliefs toward green food are positively associated with respondents’ purchase attitudes toward green food. Moreover, stronger purchase attitudes toward green food lead to more favorable purchase attitudes toward hotels that offer green food, further substantiating the investigation about whether or not consumers’ attitudes employ similar concerns on sustainability for their daily purchases as well as for vacation products and services. In turn, the latter purchase attitudes are positively associated with individual behavioral intentions toward hotels that offer green food

When the Law Shapes Nonprofit Boards: The Key Role of Local Stakeholders

The study investigates how governance mechanisms can affect community representation within nonprofit organizations, focusing on Italian Bank Foundations where the community is on board by law. To investigate what governance arrangements increase substantive and symbolic representation, the study adjusts Guo and Musso\u2019s framework by considering several formal mechanisms for appointing board members and the residence of board members as a new aspect of descriptive representation. A content analysis of the statutes and an email survey show that formal mechanisms contribute to substantive representation, whereas descriptive and participatory arrangements enhance symbolic representation. In addition, this study explores the moderating influence of local stakeholders in appointing board members, offering a wider point of view on the relationships among the five dimensions of representation

L’introduzione di un Performance Management System nell’Esercito Italiano

Nel corso degli ultimi trent’anni, il New Public Management (NPM) ha ispirato le riforme manageriali nel settore pubblico in tutto il mondo (OECD 2009). La valutazione delle performance e i sistemi di controllo gestionali sono stati i principali strumenti utilizzati dal NPM per aumentare l’efficienza e l’efficacia delle organizzazioni pubbliche (Hood 1991). Anche in Italia, i vari governi hanno adottato tale approccio, emanando diversi provvedimenti legislativi per promuovere la gestione delle performance. Nel presente lavoro si è utilizzato il framework proposto da Bouckaert e Halligan (2008) per analizzare e descrivere l’implementazione di un performance management system (PMS) all’interno dell’Esercito Italiano e per cogliere come determinati fattori abbiano contraddistinto tale processo organizzativo

INTERORGANIZATIONAL NETWORKS OF E-INTERMEDIARIES: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

In this theory-building research, we seek to understand how the emerging systems of e-intermediation influnce the evolution of novel inter-organizational networks. We chose Yoox, a leading e-intermediary in the fashion industry, as an exemplary case. We found that the core technological capabilities of the e-intermediator, rather than deterministically triggering a single coordination strategy (as mainstream literature predicts), have been exploited to develop a range of interaction approaches, including market, hierarchy, and cooperative network relationships. At this phase of our research in progress, we can extract provisionary propositions from our field study. The most representative propositions we elaborated are the following: (i) when Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) empower e-intermediation B2B interactions, they can effectively support market, hierarchy, or cooperative network interactions; that is, ICTs facilitate inter-organizational dynamism; (ii) e-intermediation does not encourage, per se, preferential or typical inter-organizational coordination forms. Partnering organizations develop market and/or hierarchy and/or cooperative network interactions depending on their perceptions of irreplaceability, as well as on other factors such as managerial strategies, concerns, and previous relational experiences; (iii) in e-intermediation business networks, the e-intermediary´s technological leadership is more likely to produce a long-term competitive advantage if it is leveraged to feed and enrich the e-intermediary´s relational leadership dynamically over time

A Methodological Framework for the Integrated Design of Decision-Intensive Care Pathways\u2014an Application to the Management of COPD Patients

Healthcare processes are by nature complex, mostly due to their multi-disciplinary character that requires continuous coordination between care providers. They encompass both organizational and clinical tasks, the latter ones driven by med- ical knowledge, which is inherently incomplete and distributed among people having different expertise and roles. Care pathways refer to planning and coordination of care processes related to specific groups of patients in a given setting. The goal in defining and following care pathways is to improve the quality of care in terms of patient satisfaction, costs reduction, and medical outcome. Thus, care pathways are a promising methodological tool for standardizing care and decision-making. Business process management techniques can successfully be used for representing organiza- tional aspects of care pathways in a standard, readable, and accessible way, while supporting process development, analysis, and re-engineering. In this paper, we intro- duce a methodological framework that fosters the integrated design, implementation, and enactment of care processes and related decisions, while considering proper rep- resentation and management of organizational and clinical information. We focus here and discuss in detail the design phase, which encompasses the simulation of care pathways. We show how business process model and notation (BPMN) and decision model and notation (DMN) can be combined for supporting intertwined aspects of decision-intensive care pathways. As a proof-of-concept, the proposed methodology has been applied to design care pathways related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the region of Veneto, in Italy