234 research outputs found
Fashion system: the case of Italy
No full textThe aim of the research is to analyze the Italian “fashion system” and its commercial relations with the rest of the world. This paper tests the hypothesis that the Italian “fashion system” can be considered particularly representative at world level, thanks to the recognised creative and quality characteristics of the Made in Italy products. The main findings suggest that the Italian “fashion system” is particularly representative at international level, as Made in Italy products are appreciated worldwide and make fashion a symbol of the Italian economy. In addition, Italian companies have great abilities in the fashion system, due to investment in quality, innovation and creativity
The potential benefits of an ecomuseum for cycle tourism: Social, economic and environmental effects
No full textCycle tourism is a sustainable type of tourism from a social, economic and environmental point of view. The ecomuseum is an ‘instrument’ to share interests and to protect the cultural, historical and natural heritage of a region. The purpose of this research is to determine how an ecomuseum can improve the potential of cycle tourism as a type of tourism that maintains conservation of natural areas and common property. First, we review the literature with regard to cycle tourism and the ecomuseum phenomenon and then pay specific attention to the literature focusing on the social, economic and environmental effects. Considering that the research topic has been under-investigated until now, we selected a case-study approach. The selected case study includes all the study aspects: protection of the common property and natural areas; development of sustainable tourism; and organisation of a complex management system. It will be shown that an ecomuseum can be beneficial by attracting more cycle tourists and by having significant and favourable effects on sustainability. The research describes how many and what businesses can be developed thanks to an ecomuseum that combines the provision of cycle tourism in a natural setting with protection of the cultural heritage of a region. In addition, this research identifies the other stakeholders that may be connected with the project and may affect the environment and society, particularly the citizens. Finally, the results may be used in strategic planning by the involved municipalities
Smart city governance: exploring the institutional work of multiple actors towards collaboration
No full textPurpose: To address the growing pressure to foster effectiveness, sustainability and quality of life, local governments have focused on developing policies and initiatives designed to make their cities smarter. Despite the growing attention paid to this issue, an important but under-investigated issue is represented by the smart city governance. In this regard, in light of the claimed need for collaboration, the purpose of this paper is to investigate why and how different institutional works carried out by multiple actors may explain the way in which collaborative governance can be constructed in the context of a smart city. Design/methodology/approach: A rich in-depth case study has been carried out exploring the experience of a smart city in the north of Italy. The study explores the institutional works done by multiple actors (Lawrence et al., 2013) and their influence on the governance of the smart city. Findings: Collaboration is perceived to be instrumental in making a city smart, during the design and implementation phase, while generating new challenges that must be overcome by an integration of the political, technical and, especially, cultural work of the collective actors involved. Originality/value: Despite governance is recognized as a crucial factor for realizing a smartness-orientation, it is scarcely investigated. The main value of the current research is thus its contribution to overcome this gap providing new empirical evidence on the role of multiple actors in the smart city context
A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Volkswagen Letter to Shareholders after the Diesel Scandal
No full textCorporate scandals are events frequently followed by public distrust, intensified scrutiny and corporate measures aimed at explaining the wrongdoing. In the attempt to cope with these adverse consequences, companies may adopt a responsibility-driven approach to reporting and leverage on voluntary reporting to fulfil share/stakeholders’ informational rights. Letter to shareholders (LS) is one of the most important form of voluntary reporting that facilitates the company (in the person of the signer) to address a message to share/stakeholders. Drawing on Gray, Owen, and Adams’s (1996) definition of accountability, this study aims to inspect how LS helps discharge the duty to provide explanations in time of scandals. It particularly focuses on the Volkswagen “dieselgate” and critically examines the discourses that dominate the LS issued in the annual report 2015. The findings point out that the LS serves as an official document to openly apologise about the occurrence and refers to the scandal through metaphors and value assumptions. In particular, Volkswagen Chief Executive Officer writes about the scandal throughout the LS, however without mentioning the word “dieselgate”, and represents all the social actors involved in, and affected by, the scandal. This study contributes to prior literature on the Volkswagen dieselgate by providing insights on the company communication behaviour. It also contributes to extant literature on the LS by adding understandings of the discourses that may help companies discharge accountability through this document, especially in time of scandals
Digital Workflows for Cultural Tourism
No full textThe concept of resource management in relation to cultural heritage relies on the documentation and recording as its fundamental core. A consistent approach to document heritage sites is necessary for any conservation and monitoring actions as well as planning, design, communication and promotion project, because without baseline records, no direction can be taken.
This contribution focuses on exploring the role of digital revolution in heritage recording techniques and tools as well as data processing workflows and information visualization to support the conservation and stewardship of cultural heritage sites.
The case study of the Cultural Heritage site of Bagan, Myanmar, has been selected to illustrate how heritage documentation practices are approached from local, national, and international perspectives, and the results that can be obtained from each. The potential of this kind of digital records for cultural tourism promotion and management are then discussed
Corporate Governance in Listed Italian Family Firms: Impact on Performance and Comparison with Non-Family Firms
No full textThe main goal of this study is to analyse within listed Italian firms the impact of the board composition on performance, comparing this impact between family and non-family firms.
This variable has a significant impact on business performance. Indeed, a lot of studies underline the importance of the board composition through the composition-performance relationship, also if this relationship considers only financial indicators to measure the performance.
The research method is the analysis of a sample composed by listed Italian family and non-family firms (FTSE MIB and STAR) and the data used were taken from AIDA database and the “Borsa Italiana” website, which is the Italian website containing the official data of listed companies.
Family firms considered for the purposes of this study were chosen following two criteria: first, the family controls a relevant percentage of the ownership and, second, at least one family member has a management role and participates in the board.
This study contributes to the literature on family corporate governance and shows that the family involvement has a positive effect of company performance.
Further research will have the aim of eliminating the limitations of our study. In particular, we would like to increase the number of companies of the sample, considering all the listed companies on the Italian stock market and the non-listed ones; it could also be interesting to compare Italian listed companies with non-Italian ones
- …
