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Article
Publication date: 15 May 2017

Governing social media: the emergence of hybridised boundary objects

Michela Arnaboldi, Giovanni Azzone and Yulia Sidorova

The purpose of this paper is to explore the processes whereby organisational actors can seize the opportunities opened up through social media, and the way in which the…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the processes whereby organisational actors can seize the opportunities opened up through social media, and the way in which the relative information is managed. This allows these actors to move their occupational boundaries, exploiting the information for performance measurement purposes. The investigation was carried out within an organisational setting, where most occupational dynamics take place. The focus was on the role of artefacts within these occupational dynamics and the analysis drew upon the notion of boundary objects.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was based on case studies involving two organisations that make use of social media within and across several departments. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with social media managers, department managers, analysts and financial controllers and senior executives. The results of the qualitative analysis of the interviews were completed with secondary sources of information, company reports, communications, public policies, codes of conduct and social media platform analyses.

Findings

This paper has implications for accounting studies, showing how marketing and communications managers entering the field of performance management can take the lead in social media management by collecting information from social media, constructing indicators and gaining ground in several decision-making centres. The findings highlight the role of new artefacts and organisational roles, whose purpose is to build a digital community. This process involves crossing the boundaries between internal functions and the inside and outside environment, with a driving phenomenon becoming visible: hybridisation. Faced with this change, reluctant accountants with a traditional mindset are more likely to observe the process at a distance, focusing more on their routine operations based on conventional data.

Originality/value

This paper shows that information derived from social media is already a reality that has gained significance through the construction of boundary objects. The paper highlights a driving phenomenon that is emerging in the surge to occupy the organisational terrain for controlling social media: that of hybridisation. The concept of hybridisation is not new in management accounting studies, but in this study can be applied to carrying out a joint analysis on both the boundary objects and their organisational trajectory. In the context of social media accounting, hybridisation is of central importance if both actors and objects are to be effectively positioned at its boundary.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 30 no. 4
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-07-2015-2132
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

  • Occupation
  • Social media
  • Performance management
  • Management accounting
  • Boundary objects
  • Hybridization

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Article
Publication date: 1 June 2001

The design of the investment post‐audit process in large organisations: evidence from a survey

Giovanni Azzone and Paolo Maccarrone

Focuses on the possible benefits and problems generated by the implementation of a post‐auditing (PA) system. This research work was structured as follows: first, an…

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Abstract

Focuses on the possible benefits and problems generated by the implementation of a post‐auditing (PA) system. This research work was structured as follows: first, an integrated model for the design of a firm PA system has been elaborated, based on the critical re‐elaboration of specialised literature; an empirical investigation (a survey) has been conducted in a sample of large companies operating in Italy, to analyse the most common configurations of PA systems. The aims were: to understand the behaviour of firms, with respect to the design variables identified in the previous section; to identify common patterns and possible correlationships between the solutions adopted in the different parts of the PA system. The results of the empirical analysis show a substantial alignment between the model and the configuration of PA systems implemented by firms (with some important exceptions), which seem to be influenced to a great extent by the objective with which the PA system has been implemented (project performance control vs learning).

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/14601060110390567
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

  • Capital budgeting
  • Investment
  • Performance
  • Learning
  • Design
  • Organizational development

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 1998

Identifying effective PMSs for the deployment of “green” manufacturing strategies

Giovanni Azzone and Giuliano Noci

Environmental issues are rapidly emerging as one of the most important topics in strategic manufacturing decisions. Growing public awareness and increasing government…

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Abstract

Environmental issues are rapidly emerging as one of the most important topics in strategic manufacturing decisions. Growing public awareness and increasing government interest in the environment have induced many companies to adopt programmes aimed at improving the environmental performance of their operations. State of the art literature has proposed many models to support executives in the assessment of a company’s environmental performance. Unfortunately, none of these identifies operating guidelines on how the systems should be adapted to support the deployment of different types of “green” manufacturing strategies. The present paper seeks to illustrate techniques and architecture for performance measurement systems (PMSs) to support the implementation of feasible “green” manufacturing strategies.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/01443579810199711
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

  • Environment
  • Green issues
  • Methods
  • Performance
  • Performance measurement

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Article
Publication date: 1 May 1993

Strategic Investment in New Product Development

Giovanni Azzone, Umberto Bertele and Cristina Masella

Evaluating investments in new product development has been a muchdebated question over the last few years. Traditional methods arerecognized as inadequate but there is no…

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Abstract

Evaluating investments in new product development has been a much debated question over the last few years. Traditional methods are recognized as inadequate but there is no dominant methodology. Presents a case study, developed at Olivetti, in which new and old methodologies have been used together to analyse and evaluate an investment project in new product development. The suggested approach supports decision making better than scoring methods, and data obtained are more reliable than those provided by traditional financial methods.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 31 no. 5
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/00251749310041814
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

  • Investment analysis
  • Methods of valuation
  • New product development
  • Olivetti
  • Strategic planning

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 1998

Seeing ecology and “green” innovations as a source of change

Giovanni Azzone and Giuliano Noci

States that over the last few years, the growing importance of the ecological question has led many executives to modify their business policies. The integration of…

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Abstract

States that over the last few years, the growing importance of the ecological question has led many executives to modify their business policies. The integration of “green” issues in the process of strategy formation has significant financial, managerial and organizational implications for the corporate system, thus requiring firms to re‐design their value chain activities and processes. This paper aims at: analysing current patterns of environmental behaviour adopted by firms; discussing whether and how the ecological challenge must be seen as a major source of change, thus identifying specific implications on the corporate system of environmental entrepreneurship; presenting the basic triggers which may foster the introduction of innovative environmental programmes.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/09534819810212106
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

  • Co‐operation
  • Environment
  • Integration
  • Organizational change
  • Value chain

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1991

Design of Performance Measures for Time‐based Companies

Giovanni Azzone, Cristina Masella and Umberto Bertelè

An increasing number of firms are planning to become“time‐based companies”, that is to consider time as the mainissue of their manufacturing strategy. However, such change…

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Abstract

An increasing number of firms are planning to become “time‐based companies”, that is to consider time as the main issue of their manufacturing strategy. However, such change in attitude, in order to be effective, must be supported by a performance measurement system focused on time. This article suggests a framework useful for designing a performance measurement system which is consistent with time‐based principles and can support managers both in strategic and in operating decisions. The framework takes into account the different ways through which a company can use time to create a competitive advantage and considers the main activities that are critical for achieving such results. Hence, a “minimum set of measures”, consistent with the information requirements of each company, is determined.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 11 no. 3
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/01443579110143412
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

  • Competitiveness
  • Performance measurement
  • Manufacturing strategy
  • Time management

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Article
Publication date: 26 October 2012

A process‐based operational framework for sustainability reporting in SMEs

Marika Arena and Giovanni Azzone

The paper aims to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in overcoming the difficulties they encounter in initiating sustainability reporting, proposing a “general”…

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Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in overcoming the difficulties they encounter in initiating sustainability reporting, proposing a “general” process for identifying a standard set of key sustainability indicators, that is specifically tailored on SMEs characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper moves from the analysis of the existing international frameworks for sustainability reporting, and it discusses the main motivations whereby they are hardly applicable for SMEs. Then, it proposes a theoretical approach, which derives the set of key sustainability indicators starting from GRI, but explicitly considering SMEs specificities.

Findings

The paper presents and discusses the application of the proposed approach to a network of Italian steel SMEs.

Practical implications

The approach proposed can support SMEs to face the problems they face in implementing sustainability reporting (resource and capability constraints and lack of operative instruments to support them), helping them to derive financial benefits arising from more sustainable choices.

Originality/value

Contrary to most existing international reporting guidance, this work does not seek to identify a set of general purpose key sustainability indicators (KSIs). Instead, the paper sets out a “general” process for obtaining a standard set of KSIs for use by any promoting organisation, whether a public administration seeking to reinforce sustainability strategies, or a trade association looking to support proactive SMEs.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 19 no. 4
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/14626001211277460
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

  • Sustainability
  • Proactive strategies
  • Process‐based approach
  • Small to medium‐sized enterprises
  • Sustainable development
  • Italy

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1997

Defining operating environmental strategies: programmes and plans within Italian industries

Giovanni Azzone, Raffaella Bianchi, Renato Mauri and Giuliano Noci

Over the last decades, public opinion, governments and regulators have forced executives of both large and small corporations to improve their environmental performance…

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Abstract

Over the last decades, public opinion, governments and regulators have forced executives of both large and small corporations to improve their environmental performance and, for this reason, to consider the environment as a significant competitive priority. The objective of the paper is twofold, to: design an effective taxonomy of operating environmental strategies; and develop an empirical investigation aimed at testing whether the identified environmental strategies correspond to real strategic behaviours of companies.

Details

Environmental Management and Health, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/09566169710159159
ISSN: 0956-6163

Keywords

  • Environmental management strategy
  • Green issues

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Article
Publication date: 1 December 2005

Incrementalism and strategic change: a university's experience

Michela Arnaboldi and Giovanni Azzone

The processual interpretation of strategic change has been often applied to private companies searching for a logic behind their apparent chaotic transformation. The…

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Abstract

Purpose

The processual interpretation of strategic change has been often applied to private companies searching for a logic behind their apparent chaotic transformation. The purpose of this paper is to report on an experience in a public organisation, an Italian university, where this perspective is exceptionally reflected, entailing a refining process towards a new strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

The longitudinal case study was carried out analyzing different subunits within this institution, investigating the way in which top managers have tried to re‐position the organisation, taking advantage of the increased autonomy given by a series of reforms of the academic system.

Findings

The results show an incremental process towards autonomy and accountability, through which top managers have transformed the organisational structure, identified responsibilities, and introduced a new set of managerial techniques.

Originality/value

This study shows how the combination of three elements – logic, incrementalism and accounting – has guided the institution in the trajectory of its transformation.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 19 no. 7
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/09513540510625590
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

  • Strategic change
  • Universities
  • Organizational change
  • Italy

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Article
Publication date: 1 November 1995

Measuring resources for supporting resource‐based competition

Giovanni Azzone, Umberto Bertelè and Andrea Rangone

Draws attention to the recent emergence of a new model of how firmscompete – known as the resource‐based approach – which viewsthe firm as a set of critical resources…

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Abstract

Draws attention to the recent emergence of a new model of how firms compete – known as the resource‐based approach – which views the firm as a set of critical resources, defined as resources which are scarce, defendable, difficult to market and initiate and hence usable as the basis for long‐term competitive advantage. Offers a reference framework for creating a resource measurement system and links the resource measures to the overall performance of the company in terms of shareholder value.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 33 no. 9
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/00251749510099008
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

  • Competitive advantage
  • Measurement
  • Modelling
  • Resources

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