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This study aims to identify the price determinants of fine wines in a small and competitive market. These characteristics are found in many lesser-known wine-producing countries and are often difficult to analyse because of lack of data.

This study hand-collects and transcribes wine-related data for 149 Swiss wineries and 2,454 individual wines over the period 2014–2018 directly from wine lists provided by wineries. This study uses multivariate ordinary least squares regressions to analyse the relation between wine attributes and prices and to assess the effect of a currency shock caused by the sudden appreciation of the Swiss franc in 2015 as well as a reduction in information asymmetries induced by the novel coverage of Swiss wines by The Wine Advocate.

Prices mainly depend on collective reputation, production techniques and product positioning. Surprisingly, following a sharp appreciation of the Swiss franc, producers did not reduce prices. The arrival of a highly influential wine expert on the market also had a positive price effect on rated wines and producers. Both hint at wineries attempting to position themselves relative to competitors.

Few studies examine the price drivers in lesser-known wine markets, where competition is fierce. This study’s results show that wine pricing differs from other more famous and larger wine regions. In addition, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is also the first to analyse the impact of a currency shock and a reduction in information asymmetries on wine prices.

The purpose of this paper is to perform an analysis of the current literature providing a deep contribution to understanding the paradigm shift from output to outcome measures in the public sector. Thus, the main aim is to provide relevant insights of both theoretical and empirical studies, offering a critique of the schemes and the research methods used and underlining future research opportunities for the compelling (or underestimated) contents and new emerging trends.

Articles published in main public management and administration journals, as internationally recognized, are analyzed using a structured literature review methodology. The paper investigates selected contributions published in Association of Business Schools (ABS) (Chartered Association of Business Schools – UK] Grade 4, 3 and 2 journals specializing in the field of “Public Sector Management,” dealing with the topic of performance measurement, from output to outcome.

Findings are described defying a framework that deepens emerging elements of current literature such as main countries analyzed, main research topics highlighted, research methods applied (qualitative versus quantitative; case studies, interviews, comparative studies etc.), different definitions of “output” and “outcome,” top keywords and their connections.

The paper’s findings aim to offer insights and a current “shared vision” into the state of the art and possible future research avenues on the topic of output and outcome measures in the public sector fostering the development of further studies especially in the direction of sustainability.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a methodology to deal with conformance checking through the implementation of computer-interpretable-clinical guidelines (CIGs), and present an application of the methodology to real-world data and a clinical pathway for radiotherapy-related oncological treatment.

This methodology is implemented by a software able to use the hospital electronic health record data to assess the adherence of the actual executed clinical processes to a clinical pathway, monitoring at the same time management-related efficiency and performance parameters, and ideally, suggesting ways to improve them.

Three use cases are presented, in which the results of conformance checking are used to compare different branches of the executed guidelines with respect to the adherence to ideal process, temporal distribution of state-to-state transitions, and overall treatment efficacy, in order to extract data-driven evidence that could be of interest for the hospital management.

This approach has the result of applying management-oriented data mining technique on sequential data, typical of process mining, to the result of a conformity check between the preliminary knowledge defined by clinicians and the real-world data, typical of CIGs.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether there are different configurations of lean bundles leading to successful (bad) financial performance and to explore how the complementarities and substitutions between lean bundles shape these configurations.

A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was performed on 19 manufacturing firms. Data on financial performance (return-on-asset and growth rate) were retrieved from the AIDA database and data on the lean bundles of just-in-time, total quality management, total preventive maintenance and human resource management were collected via surveys conducted in all the plants belonging to the sampled firms.

None of the lean bundles is able to explain alone the firm’s successful financial performance. Lean bundles always have to be complemented by other lean bundles. There are different, equifinal configurations of lean bundles leading to successful (bad) financial performance. Configurations characterized by low implementation of lean bundles are related to bad financial performance.

By finding different configurations of lean bundles associated with successful and bad financial performance, this study informs operations managers on the most effective investments concerning the implementation of lean manufacturing.

This study extends literature on complementarities in lean manufacturing literature. It also bridges together apparently contradictory research on the relationship between lean manufacturing and financial performance. Finally, the study demonstrates that lean bundles have different roles in reaching successful and bad financial performance.

This paper contributes to the literature on supply chain process management by discussing how Industry 4.0 technologies can support process re-engineering in the context of the construction industry.

The paper discusses the impact of Industry 4.0 technologies through an exploratory case study focused on the materials management process, using a coproduction of research approach where the main findings are obtained through the involvement of internal and external process actors.

The results show that the introduction of Industry 4.0 technologies could radically improve process performance, better supporting the execution of activities, increasing the effectiveness of communication between actors and favoring data collection and sharing. These technologies, characterized by the level of risk connected to their implementation, need to be introduced in combination with new organizational mechanisms, which may be beneficial for several supply chain actors.

Through the adoption of a research coproduction methodology, which is not common in the literature, this paper contributes to the ongoing discussion about how Industry 4.0 technologies contribute to process-centric supply chains, by discussing the benefits of these tools from the perspective of process actors.

The purpose of this paper is to study the empirical relationship between specialization, diversification and rate of survival in the digital publishing industry. The sample includes all publishing companies in Italy that produce electronic content and distribute it through internet platforms.

The first part of the paper discusses the pros and cons of specialization against diversification, and applies the related economic theories to the digital publishing industry. The empirical work regarding the factors that affect firm survival is reviewed. The second part is empirical and analyzes the diversification strategies of 2,838 Italian digital editors between 1995 and 2014, and the impact of diversification on the probability of survival.

On the whole, digital publishing companies that are also active in traditional print activities have been constantly declining. However, those who combine print and digital activities or operate other mass media businesses have a higher probability of surviving in the market. These findings hold controlling for firm size and market structure, before and after the economic crisis exploded in 2009, in different geographical areas and by different legal forms of publishing companies.

As the industry often presents country-specific characteristics, the econometric analysis should also be integrated with case studies that highlight particular survival conditions.

The study provides mass media scholars as well as practitioners with detailed information on the digital publishing trends in the medium term.

This research is significant because, in the period under review, many digital native entrepreneurs with scarce experience entered the industry, targeted digital native consumers/readers and challenged traditional and established media conglomerates.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how R&D originality functions in an open innovation process after the introduction of knowledge spillovers (KSs).

To examine the research framework, the authors use hierarchical regression based on questionnaire data from 211 emerging enterprises in China.

Consistent with the proposed framework, the authors find that the KS effect mediates the positive relationship between openness and innovation performance. In addition, R&D originality weakens the impact of the KS effect on innovation performance.

One limitation is that the questionnaire survey the authors choose for data collection has some natural defects; furthermore, the testing method and research framework need to be improved.

Several implications of the findings for managerial practices are discussed.

First, the research expands the existing theoretical construct by introducing the KS effect into the open innovation process; second, the authors reveal the negative impact of R&D originality on the open innovation process.

This paper aims to contribute to the debate concerning total quality management (TQM)–Lean strategy in public healthcare by analyzing the deployment path for implementation, the possible benefits that can be achieved and the encountered pitfalls.

Three case studies are drawn from three large Italian hospitals with more than 500 beds each and structured with many departments. The hospitals are located in Tuscany, Italy. These three hospitals have embraced TQM and Lean, starting from strategic objectives and their deployment. At the same time, they have also implemented many TQM–Lean tools. The case studies are based on interviews held with four managers in each of these three public hospitals.

Results from the interviews show that there is a specific deployment path for TQM–Lean implementation. The hospitals have also achieved benefits linked to patient satisfaction and improved organizational performances. Problems related to organizational and cultural issues, such as senior managers’ commitment, staff management, manufacturing culture and tools adaptation, could affect the benefits.

The research has been carried out in just three Italian public hospitals. Hence, similar investigations could be managed in other countries. Researchers could also use a larger sample and investigate these issues by means of quantitative inquiry.

Practitioners could try to apply the deployment path revealed by these case studies in other public and private hospitals.

The results of this research show that there is a specific, new deployment path for implementing TQM–Lean strategy in some public hospitals.

Motivated by upper echelon theory, this paper aims to examine the association between gender and the cannabis industry in the USA from both policy and an organizational perspective.

This paper examines two novel data sets in two legal adult-use cannabis states. First, it examines how city council gender diversity relates to city opt-out measure decisions, barring cannabis operations and forgoing related tax revenues. Second, it examines how management gender diversity relates to organizational performance.

Results suggest that, from a policy perspective, cities with higher council gender diversity are less likely to propose an opt-out measure to city taxpayers. From an organizational perspective, results suggest that female representation at the highest level is associated with higher sales in the retail sector of the cannabis industry.

Findings are somewhat limited by data availability and may not be generalizable to all adult-use legal states. While the study recognizes the possibility of self-selection bias in the results, robust analyses is performed to limit this possibility. Finally, while the study wholly recognizes that gender is not binary, it is limited to a binary gender variable based on the gender recognition software used in this study. It is also understood that this may not accurately capture the richness of a more inclusive examination of gender.

Results from this study inform communities on the impact of city council gender diversity on policy outcomes and related tax revenue levels. Further, results inform the adult-use cannabis industry on benefits derived from executive-level gender diversity.

Evidence suggests that gender diversity has a significant impact on the adoption of legalized adult-use cannabis policy. Social benefits from legalization potentially include increased revenues from taxes, decreased spending on cannabis enforcement, decreased health costs and decreased drug-related violence. Many of these benefits substantially impact communities disproportionally burdened by former prohibition. Additionally, the results indicate that gender is associated with the level of sales within cannabis organizations, generating debate about the possibility of economic performance in the absence of historical executive gender barriers.

This paper provides an initial empirical examination of gender diversity within and around the rapidly evolving adult-use cannabis industry in the USA.

This study aims to examine the (overt) arguments and (covert) myths the Business Accounting Council (BAC) members have used to lobby over controversial accounting issues, such as the application of fair value accounting (FVA) and the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Japan.

The authors used a content analysis to examine 85 statements included in multiperiod BAC meeting minutes and 68 articles prepared by International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) representatives from Japan.

The results reveal that together with the arguments, myths were created and amplified by opponents of FVA and the Financial Services Agency to hide the latter’s strong regulatory power. They created these myths, using covert stories of the importance of manufacturing activities and tax accounting (for small- and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs]), to oppose mandatory IFRS adoption in Japan and, thus, to maintain vested rights in preparing the Japanese generally accepted accounting principles and Japanese accounting standards for SMEs.

First, this study contributes to the lobbying literature by focusing on the coalition (network) effect of influential stakeholder groups. Second, although lobbying activities have been investigated mostly using comment letters, this study reviews multiperiod BAC meeting minutes and articles prepared by IASB representatives from Japan. Third, the study examines both overt arguments and covert myths, both of which are important in unmasking the fundamental structures of power within influential organizations, such as government agencies and standard-setters.