John Cabot University ScholarShip
Not a member yet
907 research outputs found
Sort by
Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Enterprise Risk Management: Insights from Manufacturing and Professional Services
No full textThis thesis examines how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) within firms, with a particular focus on the
marketing and financial functions.
The research question investigates how AI influences risk identification, evaluation and management processes, and whether its integration contributes to value creation and competitive advantage. To address this question, the study adopts a qualitative methodology based exclusively on secondary sources, including income statements, transparency reports, institutional documents, macroeconomic analyses and scientific literature.
The research compares two fundamentally different realities: PwC, a global professional services firm, and Falmec S.p.A., an Italian manufacturing company in the premium household appliances sector. In the case of PwC, AI enhances auditing, internal controls, predictive analytics and data management by integrating intangible resources such as specialized human capital, managerial knowledge systems and proprietary methodologies.
ERM emerges as a cognitive infrastructure that supports transparency, innovation and intelligent risk-taking. In the Falmec case, ERM reflects technological and production choices oriented toward sustainability, energy efficiency and the reduction of operational risks. The company’s income statement shows solid financial performance and an ability to generate value in uncertain contexts, while AI is increasingly used for market analysis and the personalization of marketing strategies.
The findings highlight that AI integration, risk management capabilities and intangible resources represent decisive factors for resilience and competitiveness.
AI strengthens ERM, making it more predictive and strategic, while a mature ERM system ensures the responsible and efficient use of AI. In both cases, value creation depends on the firm’s capacity for intelligent risk-taking, organizational knowledge and advanced technologies, transforming risk from a defensive element into a driver of innovation
Augustus, the new Aeneas: The use of Homeric identities in the re-establishment of Roman Values
No full textThesis (B.A. in Art History)--John Cabot University, Fall 2025.During the aftermath of the Civil Wars and the battle of Actium, Augustus’ image gradually became a man who held the Roman states interest above all else. A large part of his program was his pietas. This specific value was an integral part of his image, as Augustus branded himself around restoring the Roman Republic. The idea of pietas is an interesting one, as it derives completely from the Roman tradition. After the battle of Actium of 31 BCE Augustus commissioned Vergil’s Aeneid, which included major themes of pietas. This is an unusual inclusion as Vergil’s epic derives from the Greek tradition of epics, something that focuses on conflict between those within the society itself. As a definition attributed to duty toward one state, pietas is uniquely a Roman word. The emphasis placed on this specifically Roman word brings into question by Vergil used Homers epics as a blueprint in the first place. Vergil, as an author present during the time of Augustus, utilizes both the Greek tradition and the current political situation for his own benefit in order to illustrate what is means to be a Roman
Uncovering the Role of Weak Ties in Implicit Networks of Influence: A Network Analysis on Recommendation Algorithms’ Neighborhood
No full textPurpose
In the contemporary postmodern context, consumers are often portrayed as liberated from social ties, fostering an environment conducive to individualism. Algorithmic artifacts, such as recommendation algorithms (RAs), are contributing to this paradigm by functioning as anti-link tools: they establish implicit social links among individuals with similar preferences, giving rise to clusters termed neighborhoods. These neighborhoods facilitate the provision of personalized suggestions based on shared interests, paradoxically fostering social connections amid the backdrop of individualism. RAs actively generate implicit networks of influence characterized by users sharing analogous preferences, thereby enhancing the predictability of user behaviors. Despite extensive research on explicit networks of influence and the impact of RAs on decision-making, there remains a scarcity of evidence on how users influence others within implicitly generated networks and the roles they play in shaping information flow across such networks. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap by examining how user interactions contribute to influence dynamics and information dissemination within implicit networks.
Design/methodology/approach
This study, drawing on the strength of weak ties theory, analyzes with a social network analysis a real-world network of 37,427 users and 1,300 products facilitated by RAs on an e-commerce platform.
Findings
The results contribute to literature on word-of-mouth (WOM) by clarifying the inherent characteristics and interconnections within implicit influence networks driven by recommendation agents (RAs). The findings identify the key users responsible for accelerating recommendations diffusion within these networks and reveal significant implications for scholars and marketers seeking to comprehend the effects of product recommendations in e-commerce contexts and refine their targeting strategies.
Research limitations/implications
The results contribute to the existing literature by highlighting the inherent characteristics and connections of implicit networks of influence facilitated by recommendation agents (RAs), identify the key users who facilitate the flow of the information inside the networks.
Practical implications
The paper shed light on substantial implications for WOM scholars and marketers aiming to understand the effects of product recommendations in an e-commerce setting and targeting processes.
Originality/value
To the best of authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first investigation into the implicit networks of influence facilitated by Ras
Life in Relief: Humanitarianism, Governance, and the Politics of the Permanent Emergency in Gaza
No full textMaster of Arts in International Affairs -- John Cabot University, Fall 2025.This dissertation provides a detailed examination of the shift in Gaza from being a perpetual state of crisis to becoming a model for humanitarian governance. This shift is examined in detail, in addition to the changes it underwent due to the 2023 conflict after 7 October 2023. The methodological approach employed by this study is based on a qualitative document analysis of UN and NGO appeal documents; UN and NGO Situation Reports and Cluster Documents; Legal and Policy documents from the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Egypt, Israel and other major donor states; and critically reviewed literature regarding humanitarianism, sovereignty and the relationship between humanitarianism, development and peace (the HDP). These documents are analyzed using a theoretical lens of Fassin’s “Humanitarian Reason”, Agier’s “Humanitarian Government”, Feldman’s “Triangular Sovereignty” and the critique of Resilience, Humanitarian Neoliberalism and the HDP. An Analysis of these documents reveals that during the period 2007-2023, Gaza has been subject to a form of fragmented sovereignty in which three parties: the Israeli state; Hamas and Donors have collectively contributed to establishing the parameters for living conditions. The collapse of basic services, the dependency on foreign assistance for nearly all aspects of life in Gaza, and the simultaneous political assault on the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) demonstrate how precarious is the relationship between “humanity” and “independence” and both donor politics and the policies of the blockade and the control of land access by the Israeli military. Humanitarian principles are therefore not just limited or restricted; they are substantially redefined: humanity is reduced to medical triage under siege, neutrality is defined as an approach to accessing populations, independence is defined as compliance with intense conditionalities, and impartiality is defined by logistical and algorithmic processes
The Future of Writing Instruction at John Cabot University
No full textJohn Cabot University (JCU), like many other institutions, has been adapting to the changes in writing and research brought on by the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) in academia. However, JCU’s Writing Center also presents an interesting case study, as it grapples with additional hurdles in heterogeneous writing, language, reading and information literacy skills based on its diverse student body and with Italian labor laws that have led it to be solely run by faculty tutors. Through its collaborations with the JCU Frohring Library and Center for Teaching and Learning in the form of information and AI literacy workshops and a recently published Strengthening Guide, the Writing Center is ready for the future of harnessing AI in the writing process
Chewing Through Excess: Materiality, Class, and Commodification in Janine Antoni’s Gnaw
No full textThesis (B.A. in Art History, Minor in Art and Design)--John Cabot University, Spring 2025.This thesis examines Janine Antoni’s Gnaw (1992) and the related work Phenylethylamine, exploring how its materiality—chocolate and lard, specifically—serves as a thinking device to reconsider class, consumerism, and food “waste” in contemporary art. Antoni’s Gnaw is a multi-part sculpture; the first part of the work consists of two 600-pound blocks, one of chocolate and one of lard, which are carved into by Antoni’s own mouth. The chewed material, then repurposed into numerous heart-shaped chocolate boxes and lard lipsticks. These recast objects are both artworks and commodities, displayed on glass shelving in the exhibition space. The art-objects offer deep contemplation on the work by way of process, material of the objects themselves, and contextual framing. How, then, does Gnaw leverage materiality to gauge the relationship between excess, food waste, and social class? How do foodstuffs become an object of misuse when they circumvent necessity to serve as an art world commodity? The research relies on primary sources, such as interviews, along with Janine Antoni’s own writings and interviews. Scholarly literature on the artist’s engagement with materiality, the body, and foodstuffs is also used in this critique to trace the lineage of Antoni’s work as it relates to both food art and artistic practices in the 1990s. The historiography of food art as well as context on Minimalism, Conceptualism, and sculpture will be important to understand. In addition to art history, it will be crucial to note other fields such as food studies and sociology, specifically as they relate to class and material culture. Overall, this interdisciplinary approach allows for a comprehensive investigation into how food art is reconfigured in Gnaw, complicating the relationship between consumerism and class. In the context of Antoni’s 1992 work, the use of food acts as a subversion of its utilitarian function, thereby frustrating the expectations of use. The current state of scholarship on Antoni’s artwork favors either a feminist analysis understood through body-process and performance art, or it focuses on the viewer’s sensory experiences. Current art-historical writing on food art avoids considering how the use of food as an artistic medium can be a form of sociological inquiry. As a result, it is a necessary addition to question foodstuffs within the relationship to both class and material culture. Therefore, rather than examining food art within the context of participatory engagement or philosophical debates, this thesis analyzes the role of food in art as an extension to the sociological function of the material. Through a mixed-methodological approach of material history and socioeconomic analysis during the 1990s, close attention to the influence of Minimalism and Conceptualism in Antoni’s Gnaw will also be necessary. Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical framework is also pertinent here, particularly his concepts of cultural capital and habitus, which aid in understanding how Gnaw subverts notions of taste and distinction. In turn, this helps to analyze Antoni's manipulation of food and prompts further inquiry into the social hierarchies embedded in the production, consumption, and disposal of food—and art as wasteful excess. Janine Antoni’s work raises new questions about the commodification of waste: when food, a necessity, becomes an art object, the artist herself paradoxically engages in the “misuse” of the material
Did Remote Working Push the Growth of Coworking Spaces? The Italian Cities Case Study
No full textThe rescheduling of working methods due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a surge in remote working arrangements and demand for collaborative spaces, like coworking spaces (CSs). Within this context, the paper analyses the growth and location of Italian CSs before and after the COVID-19 pandemic (2018–2023) by merging new data sources and exploring their determinants. Applying a mixed-methods approach through qualitative and quantitative (count data model and spatial analysis) analyses, we show that Italian CSs are located and grown in large urban areas and medium-sized cities. The market potential – proxied by the presence of knowledge workers, the capacity to work remotely, the occupation's social skill intensity, the presence of self-employed workers and the concentration of innovation – and a stronger broadband endowment trigger CS growth. The spatial analysis and the interviews show a lower demand for CSs in suburban areas around large cities, probably because remote workers prefer to commute to nearby cities to exploit urbanisation economies
Trump’s Transactional Approach to the Crises in Ukraine and Gaza: Expediency or New Conflict Mediation Diplomacy?
No full textThesis (B.A. in International Affairs, Minor in Legal Studies)--John Cabot University, Fall 2025.This thesis investigates why President Donald Trump’s revival of transactional diplomacy, defined as an approach centered on bargaining, leverage, and short-term gain, poses a challenge to the stability of the international order. To examine how this shift reshaped U.S. engagement in conflict mediation, the study conducts a qualitative content analysis of primary sources, including official speeches, policy documents, diplomatic records, and multilateral statements, and applies neoclassical realist and constructivist frameworks. Using Ukraine and Gaza as case studies, the research finds that Trump’s reliance on tariffs, foreign investment mechanisms, personalized negotiations, and envoy-driven deals subordinated multilateral institutions to bilateral pressure, weakening core legal norms embedded in the UN Charter, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, NATO’s Article 5, and the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. The analysis shows that in both conflicts, transactionalism blurred the line between negotiation and coercion, conditioned aid and reconstruction on political concessions, marginalized local consent, and enabled the imposition of externally driven governance structures. These findings indicate that while transactional diplomacy offers speed, flexibility, and clear pursuit of national advantage, it simultaneously erodes legal predictability, destabilizes alliances, and accelerates a shift toward a fragmented international landscape in which economic leverage overrides collective norms. The thesis concludes that unless international institutions adapt to constrain coercive bargaining, the rule-based order risks further deterioration
Sculpting Identity: Motherhood, the Search for Self, and Raphaël’s Genesis Series
No full textMaster of Arts in Art History -- John Cabot University, Spring 2025.Antonietta Raphaël was a Lithuanian artist of Jewish origin whose sculptural work developed in the context of political and social life in fascist Italy. Motherhood became the central theme of Raphaël’s sculptural practice, constituting a keystone that interlaced her personal experiences, her social roles as a mother and artist, and her philosophical reflections. This thesis considers the theme of motherhood with regard to the development of Raphaël’s artistic language and the thematic evolution of her works, from intimate portraits of daughters and protective mothers to abstract images embodying the universal role of a female body as the beginning of the world. This research interprets the artist’s sculptures through the existing contextual framework while also offering some innovations. Thus, the series of sculptures on motherhood are grouped thematically and divided into chronological stages. Raphaël’s series of works from the pre-war period is interpreted in the context of European and Italian sculptural development, emigration, racial discrimination, and the position of women in a patriarchal interwar society. Furthermore, analyzing her post-war sculptures highlights a previously unstudied yet potentially significant factor: the responses of contemporary critics and art historians, which also could have influenced the artist’s thematic preferences in her late work. Raphaël’s sculptures became an expression of her personal history and, most importantly, a way of reconsidering global historical processes from a female point of view. This thesis contributes to research on the development of the theme of motherhood by emphasizing the importance of evaluating these works within both their thematic and material evolution, and their context