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The purpose of this paper is to examine the possible coexistence of single and multiple organizational identities (OIs) after mergers and acquisitions (M&A). In particular, it describes how the sensemaking process leads the acquired and acquiring companies to maintain multiple identities, even after the formal conclusion of the integration process.

The paper presents a grounded study based on a single case study (M&A between a German chemical multinational and an Italian/Swiss pharmaceutical firm).

While many previous studies suggest that the evolution of OI reduces ambiguity by providing multiple identities under a shared commonality, this paper shows that multiple identities might survive within the same “new entity.”

Despite being based on a single case, the paper argues that the choice of maintaining multiple identities may be even more appropriate than the tendency to converge toward one of the old ones or toward a new one. The “sense” that employees and managers give to the same “words,” as well as the “sense” that they make for them, mirrors the perception they have of the OI.

The conclusions presented could help managers to facilitate sensemaking as a means of dealing with multiple OIs.

Differently from the extant literature, the paper concludes by stating that striking a balance between single and multiple identities might provide the ideal platform for building a new identity based on plurality. When the two (or more) organizational contexts present some complementarities, the existence of multiple identities, and its inner ambiguity, is not a problem per se.

The purpose of this study is to illustrate how the adoption of new enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems affects sensemaking in the process of Organizational Identity (OI) integration after a Merger and Acquisition (M&A).

Within a wider case study about an acquisition in chemical/pharmaceutical industry, the paper describes the effects of SAP adoption and implementation on the organizational identity. This methodology, based on semi‐structured interviews to project leaders and to team members, has allowed a deep comprehension of the context, even if results cannot provide statistical evidence of relationships.

Using the Swanson and Ramiller's approach to innovation, the paper argues that ERP adoption and implementation support sensemaking process if innovation takes place with mindfulness and because, in that case, people interact on symbolic meanings sharing retrospective knowledge and cognitive causal maps. After an M&A there are conditions for a mindful innovation with IT and therefore innovating with IT can be an effective way to enforce sensemaking process and, as a consequence, to influence the Organizational Identity evolution. In a constructionist approach, the evolution of organizational identity requires a social negotiation among members where sensemaking has a primary role. So, the integration process following acquisitions can be facilitated by adopting, implementing and assimilating common IT solutions with mindfulness.

The first limitation of this study is referred to timing. The author entered into the company within a year after the acquisition and went out at the beginning of SAP assimilation phase. Therefore, some perceptions could still evolve in different ways. The second limitation depends on the fact that the author analyzed a single case. By focusing on one case of acquisition – an acquisition that gives value to acquired company – the author might be limiting the transferability of the findings.

These results can be useful for both scholars and practitioners. Managers who face organizational change can consider the adoption and implementation of ERP as an opportunity to influence the evolution of Organizational Identity according to strategic priorities.

The value of this study is in its approach that links a strategic level (the new organizational identity expected by managers) with a social level (the new organizational identity that comes from interaction among people). This link is realized not using the ERP as an artefact but using the process of its adoption and implementation.

The purpose of the editorial is to remember Professor Alessandro D'Atri, a pioneering Information Systems Scholar with whom the author collaborated for about 15 years. The main outcome of such collaboration is the conference Ethicomp 1999 in Rome. Following that conference the author has started elaborating a paper “Metaethics and the future of computer ethics” (Marturano) which was widely cited and quoted in the field. Thence the author has discussed its impact in the field and discussed some following papers dealing with similar topics. It emerged that such a paper is still a valid one for its perspectives but still not understood as for most of its ethical suggestions.

The paper is mainly philosophical and critical. It uses mostly critical analysis of papers dealing with the same topics.

The perspectives and the seminal ideas of the author's paper “Metaethics and the future of computer ethics” (Marturano) are still valid and, in some extent, are more fruitful than some following papers covering the same topics.

The value of this guest editorial is in remembering a very valuable and pioneering scholar – Alessandro D'Atri and comparing the author's paper's findings with other similar papers, which results in a better understanding of theoretical problems in the discipline.

The paper provides a new definition of healthy and functional food considering the case of sorghum, which is dealing with environmental challenges, calling for exploration of eco-conscious consumers' behavior in the free-from food innovative market.

Through a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis, this article offers a deep and broad outlook on a sustainable open innovations approach for agri-food systems. The bibliometric analysis includes a total of 198 scientific papers, deeply analyzed through Bibliometrix package.

Results show increasing academic interest in sustainable innovations for the agri-food system, where the relevance of the food-grade sorghum is noticed. An open innovation approach is called for to deal with environmental challenges.

Theoretically, the research offers a new definition of healthy and functional food in line with current environmental challenges. It also provides a deep literature review on eco-conscious consumers and food-grade sorghum as functional food in the context of the free-from food market.

The present paper is aimed at 1) performing a systematic literature review (SLR) on applications in the perspective of sustainable agri-food supply chain (SC) of blockchain technology (BCT); 2) analyzing the selected literature, focusing on the advantages of the sustainable uses of the blockchain of the aforementioned SC and 3) presenting an outlook and research directions capable of addressing unresolved problems.

The SLR was conducted using detailed criteria to identify academic articles. Moreover, specific keywords and databases were used. The time frame considered included the years 2010–2020.

The review analysis indicates that the use of BCT or BCT supported by ICT/IoT contributes to sustainability of agri-food production. However, this technology can lead to several challenges such as scalability, privacy leakage, high cost and connectivity problems.

The paper demonstrates that BCT can widely use agri-food supply chain due to its intrinsic characteristics. However, it is not excluded that the criteria chosen may not have identified important articles regarding BCT, the agri-food sector and sustainability.

Although the body of academic literature published on this topic is expansive, the effect of BCT on the agri-food SC's sustainability aspects has not yet been adequately analyzed. Thus, the article is aimed at investigating how BCT is used in the SC. In particular, the article is intended to update information about BCT and its impact on sustainability.

Starting from Gino Arias’s dictum on the uselessness of international trade theory for fascism, this contribution aims to demonstrate two main points. First, the free trade attitude displayed by fascism immediately before and after the “March on Rome” clashed with its nationalist origins. The nationalist movement had supported a strong protectionist policy starting from a rejection of the main principles of marginalist theory. This explains why some issues raised by Pareto and Barone which could have been used as arguments in favor of protectionism were neglected. In turn, this impasse played a major role in the rejection of Mihail Manoilescu’s theory in the thirties. The second point concerns the possibility of some – at least relatively – free theoretical debate on international trade theory and policy. When the regime set itself a clear objective, like the reduction of trade to begin with, and then autarky, the scope for free discussion narrowed to the point of eventually closing. In this context, refusing to support the regime’s choices in economic policy meant resigning oneself to becoming an outcast. A situation offering one more tessera in the complex mosaic of relations between science and politics in authoritarian regimes.

The purpose of this paper is to achieve a greater understanding of the transitions young adults experience into and out of the labour market and the influence that gender and married/cohabiting status have on employment careers.

The paper focuses on young adults (25-34 years old) in four European countries – Italy, the Netherlands, the UK and Norway – that are representative of different youth transition regimes. Using longitudinal data from EU-SILC survey (for the years 2006-2012) and event history analysis, the authors investigate the effect of the particular set of institutional features of each country, the effect of the cohort of entry and the effect of gender differences in determining transitions across labour market status.

Findings show that the filter exercised by the national institutions has a selective impact on the careers of young adults, with some institutional contexts more protective than others. In this respect, the condition of inactivity emerges as an interesting finding: on one side, it mainly involves women in a partnership, on the other side it is more common in protective youth regimes, suggesting that it may be a chosen rather than suffered condition.

The paper contributes to existing literature by: focusing on a specific category, young adults from 25 to 34 years old, which is increasingly recognised as a critical stage in the life course though it receives less attention than its younger counterpart (15-24); integrating the importance of family dynamics on work careers by analysing the different effects played by married/cohabiting status for men and women.

Notwithstanding the relevance of managerial control systems (MCS) in any organization, as well the distinctive role they can play in family business, due to its specific features, the literature rarely dealt with the role and characteristics of MCS in family business. Taking into account previous contributions from different disciplines (organization, management accounting, and family business), the current work aims to better understand the state of the art about research in the field of MCS in family business in order to identify main research gaps and propose future research directions.

Forty-five articles have been analyzed, which were issued in 29 sources. Research findings show that the literature on MCS in family business is limited and not very conclusive. Some authors focused on the type of controls, other authors outlined the role of MCS in managerialization and the relation with professionalization. A few studies focused on some specific mechanisms, especially strategic planning and compensation. Some contributes dealt with MCS’ determinants and impacts. Differences between family and non-family firms were proposed. However, a clear and organized picture of the features of MCS in family firms, their determinants, and impacts has not yet been developed. Particularly, the impact of the distinctive features of family business on MCS represents an underdeveloped research field along with how MCS can be differently developed and used in different kinds of family firms. In the light of findings of the literature review, we propose a reference research framework on MCS in family business.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the practice of integrated reporting (IR) assurance from the auditors’ point of view, including the main challenges to be addressed and insights on evolution and potential new assurance approaches.

Based on an exploratory research design, the paper conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 expert auditors, accounting assurance providers and non-accounting assurance providers, in the Italian context, combining an open coding approach with an axial coding approach, and using a three-stage process to organize data.

Respondents confirmed that current IR practices do not represent a real paradigm shift and that the need for in-depth changes in the assurance approach will depend on how these practices evolve. The main challenges highlighted are the absence of suitable criteria, the difficulty of assuring narratives and future-oriented information, and the low level of maturity of internal systems and processes of companies and stakeholders. Proposals for overcoming these challenges are framed mainly within current assurance models, although some respondents pointed out the need for a shift towards new assurance approaches.

The paper relies on a small sample of well-informed subjects active in Italy; thus, the results may not represent the views of all auditors.

The findings identify areas that practitioners and assurance provider firms should focus on, looking to IR assurance and its growing importance and application as a future business area. They may be useful to standard setters and regulators to better understand limits and opportunities of requiring IR assurance on specific information not strictly related to financial information, and for the development of guidance or standards for IR assurance.

This research contributes to the currently underexplored area of IR assurance. Relatively few studies have investigated this topic from an empirical point of view, and no study involving auditors has been carried out in the Italian context.