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Dall'Innovazione alla Start-up - L'esperienza di imprenditori italiani in Italia e in California
No full text"The concept of Innovation is prevalent in so many studies, books and blogs as to. become, in some ways, a trite term. Some of these writings present a “recipe” for how. to make an innovative product, while others offer advice about how to expand a business. with an innovative idea, and still others focus their attention on some specific aspects. of this vast concept.. Nevertheless, a univocal description of the concept of innovation does not exist;. the only certainty is with regard to its importance. One of the many definitions that. could be representative is that given by Schumpeter, according to which innovation is. the introduction for the first time, into the economic or social system, of a new product,. process or system (Schumpeter J. A., 1911). This implies an entrepreneurial act. capable of passing an invention from the conceptual phase to concrete commercial. application. A business structure that supports such a transformation is therefore essential.. In this study, we will focus our attention precisely on the businesses that translate. an idea into “innovative businesses,” also known as “startups.”. The origins of this type of business can be found in the United States and, more. specifically, in California. South of San Francisco, in the area the entire world knows. as Silicon Valley, a unique and inimitable “entrepreneurial ecosystem” developed,. from which all countries today seek to draw ideas and inspiration.. This ecosystem is constituted of some distinctive elements such as: The presence of many big businesses.. The presence of universities, such as Berkeley and Stanford, that are. the principal sources of intellectual capital.. The presence of solid financial structures of venture capitalism, angel. investors and legal support.. The presence of consistent human capital coming from various countries. and the influence this has on the general cultural environment.. The culture of failure together with the presence of brilliant personalities. like Steve Jobs, Bill Hewlett and David Packard (to cite some of. the most famous), driven by a preeminent desire to create innovation.. In Italy, following the economic crisis of 2008, the boom of the ecosystem tied to. innovative startups could be explained by the desire for recovery and development.. The research project (carried out over approximately one year) from which this. work arises was born following studies performed at the University of California,. Berkeley. During that period, the research conducted in the area allowed for the indepth. analysis of the Californian situation and the understanding of the dynamics that. are at play this entrepreneurial ecosystem.. The objective was to analyze all of the key variables existing between startups. created by Italians, in Italy and in Silicon Valley, to then note any commonalities and. differences that may exist (not only cultural and in the ecosystem but also in the business. models used).. Although the two ecosystems (Italian and Californian) are not comparable, it was. still possible to research and compare the reasons for which Italians choose to build. their businesses in Italy or in California. The entire research project was developed. from this starting point, based on which the results will be presented in this work.. More specifically, the work is divided into five chapters, together with a preface. by Prof. Alberto Onetti and a presentation of the work.. The first chapter aims to explain the historic developments of the concept of innovation. in economic and managerial literature, in order to understand the determinants. that are at the core of the innovative businesses that drive startups.. The second chapter provides the definition of startups and describes the organizational. models, their life cycles and the players that participate in the same, specifically. those who are not part of the traditional ecosystems such as advisors and mentors, the. role played by business incubators and accelerators and the characteristics of backers. such as angel investors and venture capitalists.. The third chapter concentrates on the historic development of the Californian and. Italian ecosystems. The same concludes with a map that traces, based on the life cycle. of the startup, the general trends related to the profile of the innovative businesses. and the players who comprise them.. In the fourth chapter, the empirical analysis and the results obtained are presented.. The sample considered is comprised of 52 startups, 22 created by Italians with at least. one branch in the United States, and 30 created by Italians in Italy. Through the use. of a questionnaire, it was possible to better understand the various determinants, from. general information characterizing the startupper and business to past experiences. from the incubation factors to the investment and location factors that drive Italian. startups, both in Silicon Valley and in Italy.. To supplement the questionnaire, interviews were also conducted on part of the. sample to better understand the specific situations of the startups and to collect various. opinions regarding the strong and weak points of doing business in Italy and in. Silicon Valley.. Finally, the fifth chapter presents a critical analysis of the results of the research. project and the conclusions of the authors. To provide further opportunities to inspire. the reflections of the readers, the chapter also relates opinions on the theme, “Startups. and the Future of Italy” by some of the principal players of the Italian startup scene,. such as: Riccardo Luna, Augusto Coppola, Stefano Bernardi and Niccolò Sanarico.. The volume offers a representation of the economic panorama concerning the new. entrepreneurial ecosystem, which is gradually becoming stabilized through the establishment. of new businesses identifiable as startups.. The objective of the authors was to describe, in a balanced way, the important and. varied aspects of innovation, emphasizing both the particular elements of the scientific. debate and the methods with which, on the various international markets, the. theoretic concepts were transformed into competitive advantage for existing companies. and in new best practices for newly established businesses.. The text is addressed primarily to experts in the sector and to those who work in. the field of startups, such as consultants, managers and entrepreneurs, but does not. exclude those who would simply like to deepen their knowledge or acquire new skills,. with the ultimate goal of encouraging reflection about the subject.
"Lo sviluppo del marchio Ecolabel nel settore turistico"
No full textThe concept of ‘environmental consumption’ helps in developing an interest in eco-labels. This is a shift away from traditional command and control measures imposed by governments towards market governance which is a self-regulatory new environmental policy instrument, eco-labelling. Taken into consideration of this eco-labels potentiality to attain sustainability, various eco-labelling schemes have been introduced since early 90’s. Ecolabels is a voluntary labelling systems for food and consumer products. They are a form of sustainability measurement directed at consumers, intended to make it easy to take environmental concerns into account when shopping. Some labels quantify pollution or energy consumption by way of index scores or units of measurement; others simply assert compliance with a set of practices or minimum requirements for sustainability or reduction of harm to the environment. The EU Ecolabel is a voluntary product label. It was established in 1992 to encourage businesses to market products and services that meet high standards of environmental performance and quality. The labels are awarded according to environmental criteria set by the member states of the EU with involvement of industry and consumer and environmental NGOs European Commission of Environment. These criteria cover the whole life cycle of a product, from the extraction of raw materials, through manufacture, distribution, use and disposal of the product. These assessment criteria are not generic and specific products and services have their own criteria. There is a significant body of legislation that has been assembled to back up the EU Eco Label which has been periodically reviewed since 1992 to keep the text up to date and ensure that lessons learned in the implementation of ecolabel schemes are incorporated. The EU Ecolabel is part of a broader EU Action Plan on Sustainable Consumption and Production and Sustainable Industrial Policy adopted by the European Commission on 16 July 2008, which also links the Flower to other EU policies such as Green Public Procurement (GPP) and Ecodesign of Energy Using products
Connection between Carbon Footprint and Green Consuming: Opportunity or threat for correct development?
No full text"The term Carbon Footprint has become well known and very popular in recent years not only in the scientific world. This increasing attention of public opinion towards environmental problems has induced companies to pay attention to new categories of consumers, the so called “Green Consumer”, and to put into practice communicative strategies of sustainability. The reasons why Carbon Footprint has become notoriously diffused in less time than a complete LCA analysis, is due to easier calculation and better communication.. The aim of this research is to individualize the causes and the consequences of possible connections in the diffusion of Carbon Footprint and Green Consuming, highlighting in a SWOT analysis the strong and weak points of these ties and pointing out the linked opportunities and threats.
Life Cycle Assessment nel comparto petrolifero: valutazione della possibilità di applicazione nel settore dei biocarburanti
No full textEnvironmental Analysis Based on Life Cycle Assessment: An Empirical Investigation on the Conventional and Hybrid Powertrain
No full textThe Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCA) methodology is today considered as a crucial paradigm with multiple levels of analysis, including the economic, social and environmental aspects. In this scenario, the purpose of the present research is to carry out an accurate and extensive LCA based analysis to compare the environmental impact, between conventional gasoline and hybrid vehicle powertrains. Two different powertrain scenarios were considered maintaining the same vehicle chassis. The performed analysis concerned resources and energy consumption as well as pollutant emission of each process, evaluating the impact of powertrain production, the vehicle use phase, and powertrain end of life scenarios. A large set of indicators-including human toxicity, eutrophication, and acidification-was considered. The study indicates that the potential of electrified vehicles basically depends on efficient production and recycling of the battery. We found that the conventional powertrain determines a higher Global Warming Potential (GWP) than hybrid powertrain (by almost 30%). Conversely, the water-related impact is higher in hybrid powertrain, and this is associated to the extraction and processing of the metal and mischmetal within the battery pack. Furthermore, the incidence of transport in the use phase for the conventional powertrain has high impact related to freshwater and marine aquatic ecotoxicity
Evidence and Experience of Open Sustainability Innovation Practices in the Food Sector
No full textThe adoption of an “open sustainability innovation” approach in business could
be a strategic advantage to reach both industry objectives and sustainability goals. The food sector is facing a constant increase in competition. In order to address the high
competition that involves the food industry, sustainability and innovation practices can be strategically effective, especially with an open sustainability innovation approach. In the literature, we found many examples of open innovation applications and their implications for sustainable strategy. These applications are important for reducing cost and time to market, as well as for a company’s impact on the environment and food
security. In this paper, the authors show the evidence of these implications. In particular,
starting from the state of the art of the food sector, we highlight the empirical results of ten case studies. By analyzing these cases, we can gain a better awareness on how and why these approaches are currently being applied by food sector companies
Motivations behind the EMAS stagnation and enabling measures to stimulate new registrations: characterization of Public Administrations and Private-owned organizations
No full textThe Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is a voluntary Regulation that defines a management instrument
developed by the European Commission for companies and other organisations to evaluate, report, and improve
their environmental performance.Today the EMAS is undergoing a revision process, in order to fit organizations’
and stakeholders’ requirements and increase its diffusion. Italy accounts for roughly 1,000 of the 4,000 certified
European organizations, and, especially during the last five years, a growing number of organizations have not
renewed the certification. This context determined a stagnation in the number of EMAS registered organizations.
Thus, the aim of the survey is to investigate why a growing number of Italian organizations have dropped out of
EMAS, and to identify which enabling measures would be more effective in order to encourage organizations to
move back to the certification. The target of the questionnaire were the 339 Italian organizations that did not
renew their EMAS registration between 2010 and 2015, there were 99 respondents. In this paper, certified Public
Administrations and private-owned organizations are compared in order to delineate significant differences
between the two groups. Concerning motivations for not renewing EMAS, implementation costs were the key
reasons for both groups. Conversely, considering the possible enabling measures, while private-owned
organizations demand long term tax benefits, Public Administrations prefer a greater consideration of EMAS in
public funding. This paper systematically addresses the phenomenon for the first time, contributing to reducing
the existing gap in literature, and providing an input to decision-makers who are overseeing the EMAS revision
process
Business model configuration and dynamics for technology commercialization in mature markets.
Full text linkPurpose
The food industry is a well-established and complex industry. New entrants attempting to penetrate it via the commercialization of a new technological innovation could face high uncertainty and constraints. The capability to innovate through collaboration and to identify suitable strategies and innovative business models (BMs) can be particularly important for bringing a technological innovation to this market. However, although the potential for these capabilities has been advocated, we still lack a complete understanding of how new ventures could support the technology commercialization process via the development of BMs. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
To address this gap, this paper builds a conceptual framework that knits together the different bodies of extant literature (i.e. entrepreneurship, strategy and innovation) to analyze the BM innovation processes associated with the exploitation of emerging technologies; determines the suitability of the framework using data from the exploratory case study of IT IS 3D – a firm which has started to exploit 3D printing in the food industry; and improves the initial conceptual framework with the findings that emerged in the case study.
Findings
From this analysis it emerged that: companies could use more than one BM at a time; hence, BM innovation processes could co-exist and be run in parallel; the facing of high uncertainty might lead firms to choose a closed and/or a familiar BM, while explorative strategies could be pursued with open BMs; significant changes in strategies during the technology commercialization process are not necessarily reflected in a radical change in the BM; and firms could deliberately adopt interim strategies and BMs as means to identify the more suitable ones to reach the market.
Originality/value
This case study illustrates how firms could innovate the processes of their BM development to face the uncertainties linked with the entry into a mature and highly conservative industry (food)
Recycling technologies of nickel–metal hydride batteries: An LCA based analysis
No full textTransport, and particularly private mobility, is one of the main causes of polluting emissions. In order to reduce this problem, electric mobility has been strongly developed in recent years, also thanks to incentive policies implemented by many Countries. Even if electric vehicles represent an important step towards decarbonization, they still present some environmental criticalities related to the production and end of life of batteries, since its diffusion grows hand in hand with that of electric vehicles. In this scenario the present research represents the first life cycle assessment (LCA) for nickel–metal hydride (NiMH) batteries, which considers production and recycling processes. The analysis was carried out by comparing the impacts deriving from the production of batteries with those associated with recycling technologies, taking into consideration different recycling percentages. The results show the benefits deriving from end-of-life recycling of batteries for the preservation of natural resources and human toxicity
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