Search results

This study examines the propensity to innovate in automation of family firms (FFs) based on the socio-emotional wealth (SEW) perspective.

This study’s analysis is based on three aspects. First, the authors consider three main non-economic goals and priorities of FFs: the family’s relationship with employees (read as to care for their satisfaction and well-being); the inner pride of building and maintaining the family and firm image and reputation; and the inner feeling to be socially responsible. Second, the authors consider how these goals and priorities vary among FFs according to four dimensions: family ownership, the presence of family members on the board of directors, the involvement of young successors, and the presence of founding and later generations. Finally, the consequences of automation are considered: lower firm employment, lower employees’ satisfaction and well-being, and higher firm productivity. The analysis is based on a sample of 4,150 Italian firms.

The analysis revealed that FFs are less prone to innovate in automation than non-FFs. Specifically, family ownership, the presence of family members on the board of directors, and the presence of founding generation are negatively associated with innovation in automation. Instead, the involvement of young successors and the presence of later generation are positively associated with innovation in automation.

To the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first investigation that, based on SEW, examines how FFs act on the decision to innovate in automation, thereby providing empirical evidence.

This study aims to analyze how the interplay between hard and soft elements of total quality management (TQM) produces the conditions for sustaining success in the quest for quality.

A qualitative analysis (Gioia method) was carried out on an original dataset collected through both direct and indirect methods (i.e. archival sources, interviews and observations) to generate a new interpretive framework.

The interpretative framework identifies four categories of elements: trigger elements create the starting conditions for a quality virtuous cycle; benchmarking tools set the standards of performance; improvement tools enable exploration of the space of possible alternative practices and finally, catalytic forces allow the institutionalization of effective techniques discovered in this search process into new standards.

The findings the authors present in this paper are derived by a single case study, limiting the generalizability of our results in other settings.

This study has three implications: first, the design of trigger elements is critical for the success of any TQM initiative; second, the interplay of improvement and benchmarking tools at several levels should be coherent and third, to exploit the potential of TQM, efforts should be devoted to the dissemination of new effective practices by means of catalyzing elements.

The model provides a more specific understanding of the nature and purpose of the hard and soft elements of TQM and the dynamic interaction between the two classes of elements over time.

This paper aims to contribute to research in the field of social innovation and participatory policies through the analysis of the experimental “Quartiere bene comune” project implemented by Reggio Emilia municipality. The paper focuses on the planning strategies, the operational co-design methodologies and the programming of the used processes.

Firstly, the paper reviews the regulatory instruments and previous participatory policies implemented in Italy. Secondly, it describes the approaches and methodologies used in the context of participatory policies, through strategic planning and according to bottom-up governance models.

The study assesses the quality of the non-standardized solutions which were adopted, both in terms of community daily needs and of management of public space. Such assessment relies on a system of measurable numerical indicators, to the goals established within the pre-agreements between public administration and community and to the ensuing consistency with the indicators provided for in the planning and executive management plan of the public body.

This paper proposes a new model for the evaluation of public action, capable of highlighting the relation between assumptions, operative processes, results and impacts achieved. The study is limited to the case of seven sample neighbourhoods of a single city, in which the Citizen Agreement cycle has been completed.

The study contributes to defining the framework of participatory practices in terms of active citizenship and organizational/social innovation and proposes a new methodology of impact assessment.

E-Procurement (EP) can be defined as using the Internet in the purchasing process (de Boer, Harink & Heijboer, 2002). This paper focuses on the EP implementation process. Such process is defined as the way new technologies are absorbed by organizations and become part of their routines (Capaldo, Raffa & Zollo, 1994; Leonard-Barton, 1988; Leonard & Spring, 2002). This paper illustrates the preliminary results of an explorative study focused on the implementation process of an e-procurement system in the Italian-public-health-care system. Drawing on the ICT implementation process literature, this research aims at contributing to the identification of a set of conditions under which different EP forms appear appropriate in different purchasing and organizational settings (Min & Galle, 1999; Emiliani, 2000).

This paper investigates the income dynamics of Italian primary sector, during and after the international economic crisis. It focuses on three research questions: what has been the evolution of the main profitability ratios of agricultural enterprises in recent years? After the crisis, have the surviving farms increased their profitability? Has the profitability been different also in relation to the geographic location?

Income dynamics of a sample of companies have been analyzed, obtaining the 10-year evolution of the average value of three income indices (return on equity [ROE], return on assets [ROA] and return on sales [ROS]). Statistical elaborations and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) method have been used.

The years of the international economic crisis are often characterized by higher incomes than the following ones. The descending trend involves all three national macroareas of Italy, although characterized by considerable socioeconomic differences.

The study considers only the society that survived the crisis, so, presumably, the strongest. Moreover, other ratios should be considered in order to have a more complete view.

Public policymakers could use this study for a better intervention in support of agricultural and agro-industrial activities.

The careful economic and financial analysis of the sector favors the relaunching strategies of the Italian primary sector in which many employees work.

The research contributes to the literature by providing a quantitative analysis of the dynamics of the sector, through the comparative information that may be derived from financial statements.

Outsourcing is a crucial tool for an organization to focus on its core business operations. The purpose of this study is to find critical success factors (CSFs) of outsourcing and to prioritize the performance outcomes of outsourcing because of the adoption of its CSFs.

This research proposes the hybrid framework of fuzzy Delphi, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (F-AHP) and fuzzy additive ratio assessment (F-ARAS) to fulfill the research objectives. Fuzzy Delphi is used to finalize the CSFs of outsourcing and F-AHP provides the relative weights to it. F-ARAS is used to prioritize the outsourcing performance indicators with respect to CSFs. The empirical case investigation of three Indian large-scale public sector process industries is conducted to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed framework.

The result shows that increased dominance in core activity, ability to increase or decrease capacity, improved financial performance, optimized resource utilization and increased market share are the top five performance outcomes because of the adoption of outsourcing CSFs.

Factors such as cultural, political, environmental and size of the organization may have a significant implication on the research results.

This is a novel approach towards the prioritization of performance outcomes of outsourcing. Moreover, the present research is a helpful tool to manage outsourcing and choosing which performance outcome of outsourcing ought to be used to measure implementation. This will help to recognize potential opportunities and preparing strategic planning for both short-term and long-term goals.