1,721,078 research outputs found
Managing Hybrid Realities: How to Successfully Combine Two Opposite Models?
No full textThe paper focuses on hybrid business and governance models, specifically referring the Italian
social and healthcare sector, in order to infer practical implications. Three types of business and
governance models can be conceptualised, namely the integrated, disintegrated and semiintegrated
models. From in-depth interviews with managers and board members of NPOs,
critical issues for managers of hybrid organizations have emerged. In particular, six factors best
describe hybrid business and governance models’ characteristics and aspects: internal and
external legitimacy, monetary exchanges, loss of identity risk, organizational structure and
constraints to growth. Comparisons between hybrid business and governance models will be
provided, highlighting each model’s advantages and disadvantages in relation to specific
criticalities
Keeping Hybrid organizations alive: Integrate or de-integrate commercial and social activities? Insights from the Italian Socio-Healthcare Sector
No full textThe paper focuses on critical managerial issues faced by non-profit organizations that have undergone substantial hybridization process, thus siding the traditional social programs with commercial activities. Such problems lead to three types of hybrid solutions: an integrated, a disintegrated and a semi-integrated model. From in-depth interviews with managers and board members of eight NPOs belonging to the Socio-Healthcare Italian sector, six critical factors best describe such model: internal and external legitimacy, monetary exchanges, loss of identity risk, organizational structure and constraints to growth. Comparisons between hybrid business and solutions have been provided, highlighting for each model advantages and disadvantages in relation to specific factor
Beyond Customer Needs Software Development: an Empirical Investigation of Its Forms and Individual-Level Causes
No full textMost innovation projects fail to meet quality, time and cost targets (Markham and Lee, 2013). Poor performance levels in new product and service development are typically attributed to a number of syndromes, such as design loopbacks, firefighting, escalation of commitment to a negative course of action (Repenning, 2001; Keil and Mahring, 2010). One syndrome that has been found to cause excess development costs, long delays and terminated projects but has not been adequately investigated by existing research, is that of overdesign (Coman and Ronen, 2010). Overdesign refers to designing and developing new products or services beyond what is required by the specifications and/or the requirements of the customer or the market. This phenomenon of “biting off more than one can and should chew” has been named in many different ways, e.g., scope overload, featuritis, requirements creep (Shmueli et al., 2015; Rust et al., 2006). This terminological confusion is an early indication of the need for a rigorous definition and conceptualization of the phenomenon.
A first objective of this study is to develop and test a taxonomy of overdesign that clarifies and captures the multifaceted nature of this phenomenon. Secondly, we comprehensively investigate the antecedents and performance consequences of overdesign. The few existing studies on this subject have mainly focused on individual and behavioral drivers of overdesign (Shmueli et al., 2015) in a software development context (Bjarnason et al., 2012). We complement these studies by hypothesizing and testing the effect of organizational, process and strategic factors (e.g., R&D and marketing incentive systems, timing of concept “freezing”, long-termism) on overdesign in multiple product categories.
Our research is carried out in two stages. In the first qualitative stage, we conducted interviews with product developers from different companies, both to understand the nature and origins of overdesign and to develop a taxonomy of the different forms of the phenomenon. In the second quantitative stage, we collected data about innovation projects in different industries, using a survey distributed to innovative ventures identified through a review of crowdfunding platforms. These data are then analyzed by means of structural equation modeling (SEM). The use of the survey method to identify antecedents and performance consequences of overdesign complements prior studies that were mainly based on case studies and experiments.
Preliminary results show that there are different and sometimes contrasting forms of overdesign, depending on the stage of the innovation process in which it occurs (early specification vs late design), and on the type of attributes it concerns (fit, taste, quality). We also find that the positive impact of behavioral factors (e.g., overconfidence and optimizing approach) on overdesign is magnified by the existence of organizational and process mechanisms, e.g., the use of buffering tactics to cope with unstable customer requirements, the low involvement of developers in early phases, the detailed specification of the new product upfront.
These findings offer several contributions to research on new product development, technology and innovation management and user-driven innovation. On a managerial level, this study informs managers of the origins and dangers of overdesign and warns them of the risks brought by some elements of traditional innovation management frameworks, such as waterfall development and stage-gate. It suggests that principles and techniques from agile and lean product development might prevent and alleviate overdesign, although this claim requires further research
How Non-profit Organization Boards Can Manage Volunteers as a Strategic Organizational Resource? Empirical Evidences from the Emergency Sector in Italy
No full textWhile strategy and strategic management represent traditional ‘classic’ streams of
research for commercial and for-profit business scholars, scarce attention has been dedicated
to delineating strategic implications for charity, voluntary, and non-profit organizations. Few
studies have investigated the antecedents characterizing volunteers’ behavioural attitudes that
allow managers to effectively understand, incentive, and respond to such individuals, as they
represent a crucial strategic resource for non-profit organizations. Specifically, we adopt an
approach drawn from the gift giving theory that perfectly interprets such tendency in
volunteers. This research adopts a quantitative protocol for deepening these important
strategic issues for the non-profit context. Specifically, a survey was sent to volunteers of 20
non-profit organizations in the region of Tuscany (Italy) for a total number of 379 usable
questionnaires. Then, a bivariate correlation between volunteers’ psychological attitudes and
behavioural intent analysed through a path analysis has been performed. The model clearly
shows that volunteers’ motivation and their behavioural intention to donate is mediated by a
reciprocity element. In a strategic sense, volunteers may enhance their organizational
contribution in an environment where they perceive a strong relational clearly signalised by
the managerial body. Thus, a continuous effort should be profuse to highlight such relational
aspect within the non-profit organization and to promote events and procedures that may
enhance it
The Sustainable Path of Social Enterprises toward Hybridity: Insights from a Multiple Case Study of Italian NPOs
No full textDespite the increasing attention to the hybridization phenomenon in the modern social
entrepreneurship literature, still little is known regarding the sustainable design of hybrid
organizational models of social enterprises. Literature has highlighted the existence of two
opposite stereotypes of hybrid organizational models, namely integrated and
compartmentalized. Nevertheless, the numerous intermediate structures existing between
these ‘pure’ forms have received limited attention yet. In order to fill such a gap, we conducted a
multiple case study analysis aiming at deepening knowledge about sustainable stereotypes for
hybrid organizations, finding what we label as the ‘semi-integrated’ model. Thanks to in-depth
interviews with managers and board members of 9 socially entrepreneurial non-profit
organizations (NPOs) operating in the Italian socio-healthcare sector, critical issues for each
organizational model emerged. In particular, six factors best describe the sustainability of a
hybrid organizational modes: internal and external legitimacy, monetary exchanges, loss of
identity risk, organizational structure, and constraints to growth. Comparisons between models
are provided, highlighting main advantages and disadvantages in relation to organizational
sustainability critical issues
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
Gli effetti della Stampa 3D sulla competitività aziendale. Il caso delle imprese orafe del distretto di Arezzo
Full text linkObiettivi. Studiare il fenomeno della Stampa 3D come innovazione di processo nelle imprese manifatturiere al fine di comprenderne gli effetti sulla competitività e sulle performance. A partire dallo studio di alcune imprese orafe del distretto di Arezzo identificare gli effetti tipici dell’introduzione della Stampa 3D sulla competitività con l’obiettivo di individuare evidenze valide anche per altri contesti.
Metodologia. Analisi qualitativa attraverso la comparazione di case studies relativi a imprese appartenenti al distretto orafo aretino. Sono state condotte interviste semi-strutturate per implementare la coding analysis e studiare gli effetti della Stampa 3D sulla competitività aziendale.
Risultati. Dalla coding analysis delle interviste sono emerse le seguenti sei categorie concettuali - innovazione di processo, valore offerto al cliente, costi, ricavi, profitti, sostenibilità vantaggio competitivo - che costituiscono i principali aspetti che gli intervistati hanno utilizzato per spiegare l’impatto della Stampa 3D. I casi aziendali hanno evidenziato che la Stampa 3D ha permesso di realizzare nuovi prodotti, con qualità ed estetica migliori, nei confronti dei quali è aumentata sia la domanda che la disponibilità a pagare dei clienti, con evidenti vantaggi sulle performance. L’introduzione della Stampa 3D ha migliorato la competitività aziendale aumentando il valore offerto ai clienti e di conseguenza il flusso di ricavi.
Limiti della ricerca. Numero ristretto di casi aziendali e unico settore merceologico analizzato.
Implicazioni pratiche. Aumentare la consapevolezza dei decisori aziendali riguardo agli effetti dell’introduzione della Stampa 3D sulle performance.
Originalità del lavoro. Studio in ottica economico-aziendale e imprenditoriale degli effetti della Stampa 3D sulla competitività delle imprese manifatturiere
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
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