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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 30 September 2022

Valentina Cucino, Nicola Del Sarto, Giulio Ferrigno, Andrea Mario Cuore Piccaluga and Alberto Di Minin

This study investigates the role of “soft” factors of total quality management – in terms of empowerment and engagement of employees – in facilitating or hindering organizational…

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates the role of “soft” factors of total quality management – in terms of empowerment and engagement of employees – in facilitating or hindering organizational performance of the university technology transfer offices.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors developed an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), multiple regression model to test if empowerment and engagement affect organizational performance of the university technology transfer offices.

Findings

The authors found that “soft” factors of total quality management – in terms of empowerment and engagement – facilitate the improvement of organizational performance in university technology transfer offices.

Practical implications

The authors’ analysis shows that soft total quality management practices create the conditions for improving organizational performance. This study provides practical implications by showing that, in the evaluation of the technology transfer office, not only the “hard” variables (e.g. number of employees and employee experience) but also the “soft” one (e.g. empowerment and engagement) matter. Therefore, university technology transfer managers or university technology transfer delegates should take actions to promote not only empowering employees but also create a climate conducive to employees' engagement in the university technology transfer offices.

Originality/value

With regards to the differences in organizational performances of university technology transfer offices, several studies have focused their attention on technology transfer professionals in technology transfer offices, but only a few of them have examined the “soft side” of total quality management. Thus, this study examines the organizational goals of technology transfer offices through “soft” factors of total quality management in terms of empowerment and engagement employees.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 36 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 2 October 2024

Giovanni Tolin and Andrea Piccaluga

This paper aims to explore how the implementation of gap funding instruments such as Proof-of-Concept (PoC) programs can contribute to developing dynamic capabilities in Public…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore how the implementation of gap funding instruments such as Proof-of-Concept (PoC) programs can contribute to developing dynamic capabilities in Public Research Organizations (PROs). The research investigates the processes and practices underlying PoC programs that may provide potential foundations for dynamic capabilities (i.e. organizational microfoundations) in PROs operating within a technology transfer setting.

Design/methodology/approach

We conducted an exploratory qualitative study through 37 interviews with the employees of PROs involved in the valorization of 155 technologies within 24 PoC programs. We iteratively triangulated those data with secondary sources.

Findings

We identified four key processes (i.e. management, selection, monitoring and valorization) and their associated practices that act as organizational microfoundations, enhancing the emergence of dynamic capabilities in PROs. We articulated six propositions to advance theoretical understandings about gap funding instruments and dynamic capabilities in technology transfer settings.

Originality/value

This study extends prior research on gap funding instruments by examining the less explored processes and practices underpinning PoC programs, demonstrating their role in enhancing PROs to foster external engagement and adaptation to fast-changing environments. Furthermore, it contributes to dynamic capabilities literature by unpacking those microfoundations that enable PROs to build sensing, seizing and reconfiguring capabilities when interacting with the external environment.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 27 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 January 2024

Valentina Cucino, Giulio Ferrigno, James Crick and Andrea Piccaluga

Recognizing novel entrepreneurial opportunities arising from a crisis is of paramount importance for firms. Hence, understanding the pivotal factors that facilitate firms in this…

1579

Abstract

Purpose

Recognizing novel entrepreneurial opportunities arising from a crisis is of paramount importance for firms. Hence, understanding the pivotal factors that facilitate firms in this endeavor holds significant value. This study delves into such factors within a representative empirical context impacted by a crisis, drawing insights from existing literature on opportunity recognition during such tumultuous periods.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a qualitative inspection of 14 Italian firms during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The authors collected a rich body of multi-source qualitative data, including 34 interviews (with senior managers and entrepreneurs) and secondary data (press releases, videos, web interviews, newspapers, reports and academic articles) in two phases (March–August 2020 and September–December 2020).

Findings

The results suggest the existence of a process model of opportunity recognition during crises based on five entrepreneurial influencing factors (entrepreneurial knowledge, entrepreneurial alertness, entrepreneurial proclivity, entrepreneurial personality and entrepreneurial purpose).

Originality/value

Various scholars have highlighted that, in times of crises, it is not easy and indeed very challenging for entrepreneurs to identify novel entrepreneurial opportunities. However, recent research has shown that crises can also positively impact entrepreneurs and their capacity to identify new entrepreneurial opportunities. Given these findings, not much research has analyzed the process by which entrepreneurs identify novel entrepreneurial opportunities during crises. This study shows that some entrepreneurial influencing factors are very important to identify new entrepreneurial opportunities during crises.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 31 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 23 August 2023

Giulio Ferrigno, Nicola Del Sarto, Andrea Piccaluga and Alessandro Baroncelli

The objective of this study is to examine current business and management research on “Industry 4.0 base technologies” and “business models” to shed light on this vast literature…

2632

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this study is to examine current business and management research on “Industry 4.0 base technologies” and “business models” to shed light on this vast literature and to point out future research agenda.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a bibliometric analysis of scientific publications based on 482 documents collected from the Scopus database and a co-citation analysis to provide an overview of business model studies related to Industry 4.0 base technologies. After that a qualitative analysis of the articles was also conducted to identify research trends and trajectories.

Findings

The results reveal the existence of five research themes: smart products (cluster 1); business model innovation (cluster 2); technological platforms (cluster 3); value creation and appropriation (cluster 4); and digital business models (cluster 5). A qualitative analysis of the articles was also conducted to identify research trends and trajectories.

Research limitations/implications

First, the dataset was collected through Scopus. The authors are aware that other databases, such as Web of Science, can be used to deepen the focus of quantitative bibliometric analysis. Second, the authors based this analysis on the Industry 4.0 base technologies identified by Frank et al. (2019). The authors recognize that Industry 4.0 comprises other technologies beyond IoT, cloud computing, big data and analytics.

Practical implications

Drawing on these analyses, the authors submit a useful baseline for developing Industry 4.0 base technologies and considering their implications for business models.

Originality/value

In this paper, the authors focus their attention on the relationship between technologies underlying the fourth industrial revolution, identified by Frank et al. (2019), and the business model, with a particular focus on the developments that have occurred over the last decade and the authors performed a bibliometric analysis to consider all the burgeoning literature on the topic.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 26 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 November 2020

Valentina Cucino, Nicola Del Sarto, Alberto Di Minin and Andrea Piccaluga

This paper combines the literature on knowledge transfer and that on organizational behavior to analyze how perceived empowerment and perceived engagement affect knowledge…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper combines the literature on knowledge transfer and that on organizational behavior to analyze how perceived empowerment and perceived engagement affect knowledge transfer offices’ (KTOs’) performance, measured in terms of the number of license agreements.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors measured the cognitions which constitute perceived empowerment and perceived engagement through a survey sent to Italian KTOs’ professionals. The authors performed “fuzzy set qualitative analysis” to investigate if this cognition, together or in isolation, may influence KTOs’ management performance, measured by the number of license agreements.

Findings

The results highlight the role of individual cognitions in influencing KTOs’ performance. Furthermore, an important finding from the analysis of the main configurations is that the co-presence of perceived engagement and perceived empowerment leads to more license agreements only in the presence of specific individual cognitions. More precisely, the level of organizational citizenship behavior, the degree to which an individual influences results at work (degree of impact) and the value of a work goal (degree of meaning) are the cognitions which lead to a higher number of license agreements.

Originality/value

Despite the growing interest in the investigation of the determinants of KTOs’ performance, a relevant research gap still concerns the explanation of KTOs’ performance considering individual cognitions such as attitudes, norms, perceived behavioral control and intentions. This study looks at the combined effect of the individual cognition of perceived engagement and perceived empowerment on KTOs’ performances.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 25 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 July 2022

Giulio Ferrigno, Nicola Del Sarto, Valentina Cucino and Andrea Piccaluga

This study aims to combine open innovation (OI) and organizational learning (OL) literature in the context of strategic alliances.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to combine open innovation (OI) and organizational learning (OL) literature in the context of strategic alliances.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors develop a conceptual framework that links OI to OL literatures. The authors empirically validate this framework through four representative cases of dyadic strategic alliances in which the allied partners have (mainly) adopted an inbound or outbound OI strategy and (mainly) used an experiential or experimental learning approach to access knowledge in the alliance.

Findings

The authors propose and validate a framework that links two well-known OI strategies (inbound and outbound) and two types of OL, namely, experiential and experimental learning. This, in turn, allows us to propose four different typologies of learning opportunities that could be pursued by alliance partners.

Research limitations/implications

The research offers a framework that links experiential and experimental learning to inbound and outbound OI strategies. However, the authors focused on inbound and outbound OI. The authors are aware that sometimes coupled innovation could take place in alliances.

Practical implications

This study proposes best practices for companies willing to open their innovation processes with alliance partners by bearing in mind the learning outcomes that may be exploited through the alliance.

Originality/value

This study highlights four alliance archetypes emerging from the nexus between OI strategies to OL methods.

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. 29 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 November 2020

Maral Mahdad, Thai Thi Minh, Marcel L.A.M. Bogers and Andrea Piccaluga

There is little known about investigating the importance of all proximity dimensions simultaneously as a result of geographical proximity on university-industry collaborative…

Abstract

Purpose

There is little known about investigating the importance of all proximity dimensions simultaneously as a result of geographical proximity on university-industry collaborative innovation. This paper aims to answer the question of how geographically proximate university and industry influence cognitive, social, organizational, institutional and cultural proximity within university-industry joint laboratories and finally, what is the outcome of these interplays on collaborative innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses an exploratory multiple-case study approach. The results are derived from 53 in-depth, semistructured interviews with laboratory directors and representatives from both the company and the university within 8 joint laboratories of Telecom Italia (TIM). The data collection was carried out in 2014 and 2015. The analysis follows a multi-grounded theory approach and relies on a mix of deductive and inductive reasoning with the final goal of theoretical elaboration.

Findings

This study finds the role of social and cultural proximity at the individual level as a result of geographical proximity as an enabler of collaborative innovation by triggering mutual learning, trust formation and frequent interactions. Cognitive proximity at the interface level could systematically influence collaborative innovation, while organizational and institutional proximity has marginal roles in facilitating collaborative innovation. The qualitative analysis offers a conceptual framework for proximity dimensions and collaborative innovation within university-industry joint laboratories.

Practical implications

The framework not only advances state-of-the-art university-industry collaboration and proximity dimension but also offers guidance for managers in designing collaborative innovation settings between university and industry.

Originality/value

With this study, the paper advances the understanding beyond solely the relationship between proximity and collaboration and shed light on the interplay between geographical proximity and other proximity dimensions in this context, which has received limited scholarly attention.

Article
Publication date: 9 October 2017

Elena Casprini, Alfredo De Massis, Alberto Di Minin, Federico Frattini and Andrea Piccaluga

This paper aims to shed light on how family firms execute open innovation strategies by managing internal and external knowledge flows.

3113

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to shed light on how family firms execute open innovation strategies by managing internal and external knowledge flows.

Design/methodology/approach

First, through a comprehensive literature review, the paper identifies the barriers to the acquisition and transfer of knowledge in open innovation processes. Second, it presents and discusses the results of an exploratory case study on Loccioni, an Italian family firm providing high-tech measurement solutions, highlighting how this family firm managed to overcome the barriers in executing an open innovation strategy.

Findings

The case study shows that Loccioni faced specific challenges in acquiring and transferring knowledge in its open innovation processes and developed two idiosyncratic capabilities – labelled imprinting and fraternization – that helped the firm overcome the barriers to knowledge acquisition and transfer. The analysis shows that these two capabilities are enabled by the distinctive goals and social capital characterizing family firms.

Originality/value

The paper creates a link between open innovation and family business research with an empirically grounded model illustrating how the idiosyncratic capabilities of a family firm help overcome the critical barriers to the acquisition and transfer of knowledge in executing an open innovation strategy.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 21 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 October 2020

Antonio Crupi, Nicola Del Sarto, Alberto Di Minin, Rob Phaal and Andrea Piccaluga

This study aims to understand how open innovation (OI) environments can help organizations in implementing knowledge sharing (KS) practices defusing KS barriers.

1343

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to understand how open innovation (OI) environments can help organizations in implementing knowledge sharing (KS) practices defusing KS barriers.

Design/methodology/approach

An in-depth case study analysis on the strategic technology and innovation management (STIM) consortium at the Institute of Manufacturing of the University of Cambridge was performed during the 2019 and 2020 STIM program editions. To analyze data, this paper used the interpretive structural model on a sample of 20 managers participating in the STIM consortium, and this paper carried out an exploratory in-depth case study analysis to validate the results.

Findings

The findings shed light on the role of OI environments in defusing KS barriers in the process of inter-organizational KS.

Originality/value

Notwithstanding the importance of KS practices among organizations, only a few studies have recognized and investigated the role played by OI arrangements in enhancing KS practices.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 25 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 September 2023

Valentina Cucino, Cristina Marullo, Eleonora Annunziata and Andrea Piccaluga

Humane Entrepreneurship (HumEnt) is strongly purpose-oriented and characterized by a focus on inclusiveness and social and environmental sustainability, with attention to both…

1539

Abstract

Purpose

Humane Entrepreneurship (HumEnt) is strongly purpose-oriented and characterized by a focus on inclusiveness and social and environmental sustainability, with attention to both internal and external stakeholders and their needs. In the attempt to provide new research in this field, this study aims to conduct an empirical investigation within the theory of HumEnt and, in particular, of the Human Resource Orientation (HRO) model among Italian Small and Medium-size Enterprises.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on quantitative data, this study used a deductive approach to investigate the relationship between the HumEnt model and firms’ relational embeddedness with different types of stakeholders (value chain stakeholders and societal stakeholders, respectively). More concretely, to investigate the relationships between the dimensions of the HumEnt model and firms’ relational embeddedness, partial least squares structural equation modeling was applied.

Findings

Findings of this study suggest that Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) directly contributes only to value chain embeddedness. However, the results also show that if EO is mediated by an HRO (i.e. companies with a high HRO), a high level of societal embeddedness is also present.

Originality/value

This study represents a first attempt to provide comprehensive empirical evidence about the different dimensions characterizing the HumEnt theoretical model, and to highlight their relevance in supporting companies’ relational embeddedness capacity with different categories of stakeholders.

1 – 10 of 28