1,721,185 research outputs found
A T-Shaped perspective for building holistic sustainability reporting in the digital era
No full textIn the last three decades, the increasing attention around the sustainability has stimulated several international debates about the topic of performance measurement approaches. With the aim
of conceptually addressing the multiple challenges behind sustainability performance measurement, the paper explores how recent sustainability reporting regulations, particularly the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive can foster a holistic approach. Thanks to the support provided by the T-Shaped logic
and the Systems-Thinking approach, a conceptual model is proposed to analyse role, condition, and contribution of ongoing digital transition on sustainability management and sustainability performance measurement. Reflections herein provide insights for researchers, professionals, and policymakers on integrating specialized skills with broader capabilities to better capture the contextual and subjective dimensions of sustainability. The originality lies in proposing an innovative conceptual framework
for bridging specialized competences with inter- and multidisciplinary capabilities in sustainability reporting
Technological and organizational innovation: the enterprise in the era of the network of networks
No full textABSTRACT
Purpose. The revolution of Information Communication Technology (ICT), in particular the
Internet, and all the wake of economic and social changes that follow, is an irreversible process,
and to which we must adapt. The decentralization of intelligence in the global communication
networks and the centrality of ideas and knowledge are leading to the affirmation of a new
paradigm: the economics of networking and collaboration mainly based on the open innovation.
The mainframe’s era of the 40s and 60s characterized by control and centralized management of
information without the possibility of user access, it has gone to the era of stand-alone in the late
60s where every personal computer was equipped with its own information processing capacity,
to reach today’s era of network where each computer has the ability to connect with the rest of
the world.
We are in the midst of a technological, economic and organizational transformation enabling us
to renegotiate the conditions of freedom and productivity, and from which are emerging new
social and economic practices. A development without the Internet would be like industrialization
without electricity in the industrial era. This transformation provides opportunities and imposes
challenges.
Internet, as a new platform of communication, in its continuous evolution has given rise to new
patterns of social interaction leading to the birth of a true digital culture. To link together two
nodes of the network means to relate them. Therefore, since the beginning the information
network has been immediately characterized for its “social aspect”. Today, billions of
interconnected individuals are able to participate in innovation, wealth creation and social
development in ways that once could only imagine. The interconnection logic, that makes all the nodes individuals of a single network, requires a
rethinking of the role of ICT within the company: technology is no longer just a tool with which
to effectively manage internal business processes and govern the internal complexity, it becomes
a real strategic tool through which companies rethink radically the way they manage their
business and pursue their own goals, rereading their value chain. Actually, the development and
survival of organizations depends on the access to new technologies of the Internet. Access,
however, is not just the acquisition of the technology itself. Access means above all developing
managerial skills, management techniques, a structure and an organizational culture for their
effective use.
The aim of this paper is to retrace the main stages of this process and to understand the real
benefits of the introduction of new technologies, as well as the transformations, in organizational,
cultural, and business terms, which necessarily have to be implemented by organizations in order
to build and maintain competitive advantage. The reflection that comes out, in a historical period
characterized by widespread de-structuring of organizations, is that it is better to cooperate than
compete. In this context, in order to understand better the relations, interactions, and the
relationship networks, this study relies on a systems thinking perspective, by defining the
openness degree of the systems and the governance of communication flows that derive as a
consequence.
Methodology. The methodological approach adopted, albeit of heuristic type, refers to the
positive method in that, starting from the analysis of the historical descriptive literature and nonfiction,
it is reached to formulate very precise research questions. The systemic interpretation, in
the light of the constructivist paradigm allows us to subvert the traditional explanatory report
“object-information-observer”, placing the observation function at the base of the explanatory
chain: “observer-information-object”. The prospect’s change is relevant because every
phenomenon in the eyes of the observer is a constructed reality or an invented one. The new
paradigm offers us the opportunity of a window, a visionary window, from which recognize that
the observer plays an important role in shaping the reality; so the views can be reconciled with
science.
Findings. The work sheds light on the birth of a new production mode based on collaborative and
decentralized models, referred to as “weapons of mass collaboration”. Based on these changes
develops the Enterprise 2.0. The user-consumer, takes on a new look, acquires an active, fluid,
and a growing power. This reveals that innovation can come, indeed is coming from below, from
the same skilled users who increasingly thin the line between professionals and amateurs. Then
the focus goes towards the future talking about the Web 3.0 or Semantic Web. This is nothing
more than the further transformation of the WWW in an environment where the published
documents are associated with information and data (metadata) that specify the semantic context
in a format suitable for the question, the interpretation and, more generally, automatic processing.
Research limits. This is essentially a theoretical work. While providing a description of the
experience of Procter & Gamble and the InnoCentive platform (a virtual intermediary that allows
the exchange of information and technology), the current study does not provide an analysis of
empirical data to support conceptualized ideas.
Practical implications. The organizations can reap significant benefits of the new economic paradigm, leveraging the partnership to cut costs and accelerate the pace of innovation. Another
influential implication on macro and micro-organizational structures is the transition from an
economy of scale to one of flexibility and breadth. Finally, it is noted that the operating economic
unit is no longer the company, but the economic project around which the network is formed
between businesses and segments of companies and their subcontractors.
Originality of the study. The real novelty lies in recognizing that it makes little sense to study
the framework of relations that mutually interconnect actions and reactions of the suprasystems
and the enterprise system through causation relationships. It is not significant to search the
reasons and responsibilities of a progressive decline of the systemic equilibrium in the action of
the single component. The systemic approach makes it clear that the “chain” of causations is
circulated. The illusion of having identified a principle or a cause, to which other causes must be
associated linearly, must be considered only an epistemological “trick”. Breaking the circularity
of the interaction has a value only in terms of static representations of the phenomena. As saying
that in the confusion on what came first, the “chicken or the egg”, you decide, assuming to be the
hens, to start from the hen. For years, adopting this epistemological premise, the
macroeconomists have attributed the reasons of the evolutionary change to the socio-economic
systems, as micro-economists to the behaviour of markets, as industrial economists to the
dynamic sectors, and as business economists to the dynamics of business organizations. The
viable systems vision eliminates any distinction; reading the context as “the” system of systems
exceeds any reductionist prospective and leads to the unity of the behaviour of each single
component/entity. In this perspective, the context can be thought of as a body of water, a lake or
sea, in which interact water, fish, seaweed, sand, and thousands of other micro-components, and
where any occurrence is not a matter of only one organism but a concern of the whole. Only a
systems view makes it understandable that every possible behaviour of every possible component
of the environment cannot and must not be listed as “good” or “bad” in absolute terms, but must
be assessed in relation to the levels of consonance that manifest with the context. It is considered
“good” if it increases or at least does not decrease levels of consonance, it should instead be
considered “bad” if it reduces the consonance, tends to upset the “equilibrium” of the system, and
introduces elements of complexity
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Le scelte manageriali tra sistemi, conoscenza e vitalità
No full textFinalità del presente lavoro è proporre una concezione aperta e dinamica delle organizzazioni che estenda la visione oltre i confini della struttura e consideri il dinamismo ambientale come fonte di opportunità piuttosto che di complessità. Tale concezione indirizza verso un approccio di governo delle organizzazioni volto a preservarne e rafforzarne le condizioni di vitalità, orientando le scelte manageriali nel governo del delicato equilibrio tra competitività e consonanza.
La metodologia interpretativa adottata evidenzia la necessità di recuperare schemi generali nella dotazione dell’economia d’impresa, riconoscendo nel pensiero sistemico un fondamentale paradigma di riferimento. A tal fine, il lavoro propone l’adozione dell’Approccio Sistemico Vitale e ne illustra il contributo interpretativo nella definizione delle scelte di governo della rete concepita come struttura di un sistema
flessibile e dinamico, evidenziando i possibili limiti di una visione ancorata a paradigmi tradizionali attraverso l’analisi del caso delle reti di franchising
MANUFACTURING SYSTEM SIMULATION AND HUMAN ROBOT INTERACTION IN VIRTUAL REALITY
No full textVirtual Reality techniques are relatively new, having experienced significant
development only during the last few years, in accordance with the progress
achieved by computer science and hardware and software technologies. Therefore,
there has not yet been a great diffusion and application of VR techniques in the
industrial field, in spite of the constant reduction in the costs. This is particularly true
in Italy, the subject of this discussion. The study of such advanced design systems
has led to the realization of an immersive environment in which new procedures for
the evaluation of product prototypes, ergonomics and manufacturing operations have
been simulated. The positive and enthusiastic response received from the industrial
world has confirmed that these methodologies can be extremely useful in the design
phase, influencing the development time and the quality of industrial products.
The application of the environment realized to robotics, ergonomics, plant
simulations and maintainability verifications has allowed us to highlight the
advantages offered by a design methodology: the possibility of working on the
industrial product in the first phase of conception; of placing the designer in front of
the virtual reproduction of the product in a realistic way; and of interacting with the
same concept. All this allows the modification and improvement of the product
characteristics in real time with a remarkable saving of time and costs. Moreover,
during the application of VR to industrial case studies, the designers could take
advantage of the developed methodology in the design phase, in particular in the
planning of new service systems, having the possibility to visualize and to interact
with models in real dimensions.
The research area “Virtual Manufacturing” (hereafter often abbreviated as VM) can
be defined as an integrated manufacturing environment which can enhance one or
more levels of decision and control in the manufacturing process. Several domains
can be addressed: Product and Process Design, Process and Production Planning,
Machine Tools and Robot and Manufacturing Systems. As automation technologies
such as CAD/CAM have substantially shortened the time required to design
products, VM is having a similar effect on the manufacturing phase thanks to the
modelling, simulation and optimisation of the product and the processes involved in
its fabrication.
Manufacturing is an indispensable part of the economy and is the central activity that
encompasses product, process, resources and plant. Nowadays products are more and
more complex, processes are highly sophisticated and use micro-technology and
mechatronics and market demand is evolving and expanding rapidly, so that we need
a flexible and lean production. Moreover manufacturing enterprises may be widely
distributed geographically and linked conceptually in terms of dependence and
material, information and knowledge flow. In this complex and developing
environment, industrialists must be informed about their processes before their
application in order to “get it right first time”. To achieve this goal, the use of a VM
environment provides a computer-based environment to simulate individual
manufacturing processes and the total manufacturing enterprise. VM systems enable
early optimization of cost, quality and time drivers, achieve integrated product, process and resource design and finally allow an early consideration of productivity
and affordability.
The aim of this research activity is to present an updated vision of VM through
different aspects. This study will take into account the market penetration of several
tools with respect to their state of development and the differences in terms of effort
and level of detail between industrial tools and academic research. We will describe
the trends and results achieved in the automotive, aerospace and railway fields, in
terms of the Digital Product Creation Process to design the product and the
manufacturing process
How dynamic capabilities matter for the implementation of a successful equity crowdfunding campaign
No full textThis chapter provides a dynamic capabilities view in order to understand if the characteristics of a crowdfunding campaign, and hence its probability of failure or success, are related to a firm’s capabilities. It explores three dimensions: coordinating/integrating activities, learning and strategic competitive response processes. The chapter focuses on one of these new sources, crowd-funding. This term is considered as an umbrella, under which is included equity crowdfunding that consists of an open call in which entrepreneurs sell a specified amount of equity or bond-like shares in a company on the Internet, hoping to attract a large group of investors. The chapter provides a new dimension of analysis in order to facilitate the understanding of the equity crowdfunding phenomenon for the firm. It examines the dynamic capabilities of firms with the implementation of a successful equity crowdfunding campaign and analyzes what is the role of different categories of dynamic capabilities in the implementation of such a campaign
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