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The purpose of this paper is to analyze a set of smart meters implementation projects and provide insights and recommendations to facilitate smart metering deployment strategies.

Several significant projects are analyzed on different fronts: scale, technology, economics and regulation, using a common methodology to unfold patterns that constitute key components of successful smart meters diffusion.

Key elements and controllable enabling patterns from Europe-wide SM implementation projects are identified together with drivers and barriers for patterns replication.

The authors provide a framework considering different stakeholders that will help distribution system operators to accelerate and extend smart meters’ penetration.

Based on the Meter-ON project (supported by the 7th Framework Program of the European Commission), we provide valuable information aimed at facilitating the large-scale deployment of smart meters.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the supplier selection issue as a way to mitigate the overall supply risk, through the proposition of a new approach which is as practical as a total cost of ownership approach and, at the same time, a real support for the supplier selection as a decision making issue, rather than an additional constraint for the decision maker.

A risk efficiency‐based supplier selection (REBaSS) approach is developed for critical supplies, that allows a decision maker to consider the procurement‐related “risk” and “investment” for mitigation/exploitation interventions.

A present total cost profile (PTCP) related to every supplier to be assessed is portrayed, as a function of the possible investments that can be made to exploit the upside and to mitigate the downside supply risks. A criterion to prioritize interventions is provided, in order to unambiguously portray the PTCP. Guidelines for the PTCP comparison by a decision maker are also proposed.

The wide set of data needed can be a limitation when the available time to perform supplier selection is very short.

The proposed REBaSS approach allows a decision maker to deal with a quantitative and economic evaluation of the potential suppliers. The decisions are not univocal because they depend on the risk proneness of the decision maker.

The paper's view is that REBaSS is the only approach that explicitly takes into account the variability of the output of the supplier evaluation due to the different attitude of every supplier to make a planned mitigation intervention successful.

The purpose of this paper is to understand whether a link between the use of supplier selection (SS) and supply risk management (SRM) exists and whether further contextual factors which lead to the use of SRM and of SS exist in the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) sector.

A multiple case study has been undertaken as an empirical analysis to answer a series of research questions. The data have been collected through structured interviews to corporate procurement directors of companies belonging to the Italian EPC sector and operating in an engineer‐to‐order fashion.

The results of the research point out that supply risk can be managed through both SS and SRM. These two different approaches are used alternatively by the companies investigated under resource constraints. A further set of contextual factors leading to the use of SRM (project orientation in supply management, use of partnerships with suppliers, corporate standardisation), and a contextual factor leading to the use of SS (need of co‐design) are highlighted in the EPC sector.

Although the sample of the in‐depth research is representative of the Italian EPC sector, its size implies care in drawing a fully generalizable conclusion. Moreover, the research focuses on companies belonging only to the EPC sector, but the behaviours could significantly vary in other sectors.

The paper is of value in identifying product‐ and supplier‐related factors for SRM including cultural (project orientation in supply management), strategic (use of partnerships with suppliers), and organizational (corporate standardisation).

The pressure on logistics companies to embrace green processes has increased significantly in the last few years. Within the broad concept of green supply chain management, a review of the existing literature has highlighted a need to understand how green supply chain practices (GSCP) can contribute to improving company performance from an environmental point of view, as well as economic and operational. This paper aims to investigate the GSCP adopted by third party logistics (3PLs) in Italy in terms of specific practices implemented and level of adoption of each practice, and to explore how this adoption can affect the company performance.

Multi‐case study research involving 15 3PLs operating in Italy, with data collected through face‐to‐face semi‐structured interviews with senior representatives from each company.

Even if findings reveal an overall increasing interest towards environmental issues, the current level of adoption of GSCP is still limited amongst the 3PLs investigated as well as their benefits in terms of company performance. Some players have shown a more proactive attitude and started benefiting substantially from the adoption of GSCP, mainly in terms of environmental and economic performance.

The research focuses on 3PLs operating in Italy – findings may differ in other countries and sectors.

Findings can be used to support company decisions to either modify the GSCP already in place to achieve a set target or identify the most suitable GSCP to implement.

This study contributes to a better understanding of the links between GSCP and company performance. It also provides insights into the GSCP currently in place amongst 3PLs operating in Italy, identifying the type of supply chain to which companies belong (or intend to belong in the future) as a relevant factor.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the inverted U-shaped relationship that exists between exploitative leadership styles and innovation implementation. In addition, drawing on the social cognitive theory, the paper explores the effect of the three-way interaction between exploitative leadership style (ELS), work–family balance (WFB) and family-friendly workplace practices (FFWPs) on innovation implementation.

A quantitative study of 440 employees from 38 medium and large companies based in Italy and Croatia was conducted, using an online survey. The proposed hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression analysis.

The results show that there is an inverted U-shaped curvilinear relationship between ELS and innovation implementation. Furthermore, the findings support the existence of the three-way interaction suggesting that the combination of high-level WFB and high-level FFWPs strengthens the relationship between ELS² and innovation implementation.

This is the first contribution that examines a curvilinear relationship between ELS and innovation implementation. Additionally, it contributes to the work–family literature by providing the first empirical examination of the joint impact of WFB and FFWPs in enhancing innovation implementation. Our results suggest that individuals who perceive a high level of WFB and who work in an organization with family-friendly practices are more accepting of an exploitative leader, and that the positive feelings from the family domain encourage the implementation of innovation. These results may change the attitudes of managers, encouraging them to consider WFB and FFWPs as important for the implementation of innovation.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is increasing the use of digital technologies for delivering products and services. A performance measurement and management system (PMMS) is recognised as a useful system to guide era 4.0; however, the literature has not adequately addressed this challenge in public government and not-for-profit organisations (NPOs). This research aims to investigate the evolution of the PMMS adopted by a local government for the control of investee NPOs in era 4.0.

Through action research, the authors investigate an Italian municipality and its main investee NPOs. The project involved 4 researchers and 25 managers of the local government and NPOs.

This paper describes the design of a PMMS developed for a local government to control its investee NPOs. Considering the regulations and managerial needs, the designed system evolved from a fragmented set of indicators based on legitimacy and economic perspectives to a holistic set of indicators based on a comprehensive set of perspectives to consider the changing business environment.

This study sheds light on the design of a PMMS adopted by local governments for controlling investee NPOs in era 4.0. The paper contributes (1) to identify the main control needs for the design of a PMMS in a public network and (2) to capture the evolution of a PMMS in light of era 4.0 by developing two conceptual propositions.

Based on the interactionist perspective proposed by Woodman et al. (1993), this paper conceives organizational creativity as a complex concept whose investigation requires the understanding of the process, the product, the person, and the situation. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to enrich the understanding of how organizational creativity can be fostered by offering a framework which combines (inter-)individual-level learning (collecting knowledge from others), information sharing (through information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructures), and contextual factors (perceived top management support).

The empirical analysis draws on a sample of 362 employees from five subsidiaries of multinational corporations. The analysis is based on multivariate regression models considering organizational creativity as dependent variable.

The paper shows that individuals’ orientation toward learning from others significantly enhances organizational creativity. However, heavy ICT use negatively moderates the relationship between knowledge collecting and organizational creativity, while top management support does not show a significant moderating effect on the association between knowledge collecting and organizational creativity.

Although based on a geographically bounded perimeter, the analysis allows some generalizations.

Based on these results, the paper contributes to the literature on organizational creativity by confirming the importance of providing a holistic view of the phenomenon, consistent with its inherent complexity. In so doing, it suggests organizations and their managers should simultaneously pay attention to individual and contextual factors when planning how to foster their firms’ creativity, as both of them are found to play a critical role in firms’ success and competitiveness.

This paper aims to provide a review of four-dimensional (4D) printing of shape memory polymers using inkjet printing technology. 4D printing refers to the three-dimensional (3D) printing of smart materials capable of shape change or function modification with respect to time when activated by external stimuli. Inkjet printing has gained popularity because of the technical advantages such as non-contact deposition, multi-material printing, high resolution, high speed of printing and minimal post processing. This review will serve as a platform for understanding the inkjet 4D printing process and the shape memory capability of the polymer structures printed using inkjet printing.

The approach used in this review was to search for and review research works related to inkjet 4D printing of shape memory polymers. The search period was limited for the duration 2013 to 2021 as the 4D printing technology came into light later in 2013. With the review of inkjet 4D printing of shape memory polymers, the shape memory capability of the inkjet-printed structures were also studied.

With the available research documents, it was found that the inkjet 4D printing technology gained momentum from 2016, three years after the introduction of the 4D printing technology. The key findings of this review show that inkjet 4D printing of shape memory polymers were primarily performed using commercial inkjet printers and polymer inks linked to the printers. Even though the inkjet printing technology is matured enough to print multiple materials, development of shape memory polymer inks for inkjet printability remains complex. To realize the full potential of inkjet 4D printing, novel polymer inks specific for inkjet printing needs development.

The major limitation to this review was the availability of research papers for review. Even though inkjet printing technology has grown to popularity in the graphics printing and publishing industry since its inception in the 19th century, the technology still needs to evolve in the printing of 3D structures due to the limitations in synthesizing inks that are inkjet printable. However, this research will serve as a platform for understating the current status of inkjet 4D printing and the limitations of the technology.

This review focuses only on the inkjet 4D printing of shape memory polymers among the generally summarized 4D printing review papers available. Currently, 4D printing of shape memory polymers is carried out using only the commercially available polymer printers. Also, researchers do not have the flexibility of modifying the polymer inks linked to the printers. This review can spur more research into the development of novel polymer inks specific for inkjet printing.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the way in which system dynamics (SD) can enhance some key success factors of the balanced scorecard (BSC) model and support decision-makers, specifically in analyzing and evaluating the results of hypothetical scenarios. Moreover, the paper aims to emphasize the role played by statistics not only in validating the SD-based BSC, but also in increasing managers’ confidence in the model reliability.

The paper presents a case study, developed according to an action research perspective, in which a three-step approach to the BSC implementation was followed. Specifically, the first step requires the development and implementation of a “traditional” BSC, which is refined and transformed into a simulation SD model in the second step. Last, the SD-based BSC is combined with statistics to develop policy making and scenario analysis.

The integration of BSC and SD modeling enables the development of a comprehensive approach to strategy formulation and implementation and, more importantly, provides a more reliable basis upon which to build and test sound cause-and-effect relationships, within a specific BSC. This paper exemplifies how an SD-based BSC can be used – and perceived reliable – to evaluate different scenarios and mutually exclusive policy effects in a multidimensional approach. In particular, this study illustrates how to forecast and depict trends for financial and non-financial indicators over the simulation period, with reference to three different scenarios.

This paper contributes to the ongoing debate on the BSC by exploring whether a combination of SD and statistics may enhance the BSC system’s advantages and facilitate its implementation process and use for decision-making and scenario analysis.

Taking an emerging country perspective, this paper aims to investigate consumers’ preferences for over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, regarding three attributes: country-of-origin (COO), brand status (branded versus generic) and price. The second purpose is to test the effect of COO and brand status on consumers’ perceptions of quality, trust and purchasing intentions.

After a preliminary qualitative study, consumers answered a follow-up questionnaire to evaluate eight product combinations (COO/brand status/price) for three categories of OTC drugs. Conjoint analysis allowed assessing the importance of COO compared to brand status and price, while ANOVA was used to test the effect of COO and branding status on consumers’ responses.

Findings show that, in an emerging countries context, COO is less important than brand status in consumers’ preferences. COO and brand status have a greater effect on consumers’ perceptions of drug quality and trust than on purchasing intentions.

The limited number of factors (brand status/COO/price) could have amplified their relative importance.

Pharmaceutical companies from industrialized countries, exporting generic drugs to emerging markets, can benefit from the favorably perceived COO of their drugs and thus help the acceptance of generic drugs in these markets.

The study has two major contributions. It aims to contribute to a better understanding of consumer behavior in the pharmaceutical field. It also transposes the framework on COO to the context of an emerging country: Tunisia.