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Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are increasingly recognized among technologies potentially driving the digital innovation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Nevertheless, the implications of AR/VR adoption in innovation processes have yet to receive much attention to date, with the need to explore the issues facilitating a systematic implementation in the SME context. This study aims to investigate the possible innovation paths of SMEs as a result of AR/VR adoption.

The authors performed a multiple case study research involving six Italian SMEs in manufacturing and service sectors that are investing in AR and/or VR solutions and are digitally innovating thanks to these technologies.

AR/VR solutions lead to different types of innovation in SMEs, i.e. for innovating product or service offerings, business processes or even the business model, when AR/VR extends to the company business logic. SMEs demonstrate being able to leverage internal sources with the essential commitment of top management and low resistance of employees in all kinds of AR/VR-enabled innovations. Conversely, they involve different external innovation sources according to the type of innovation pursued. Organizational issues emerged as more relevant than technological issues.

Results contribute to the literature on digital transformation of SMEs and provide managerial guidance on innovation sources and organizational issues to be considered to effectively deploy AR/VR solutions into specific innovation paths.

This study explores the impact of emergent technologies in the innovation process along with multiple perspectives, degree of complexity, and strategic importance in the SME context.

This paper aims to study the extent of the transformation of European manufacturing companies towards the factory of the future (FoF) and related concepts, e.g. Industry 4.0 and digitalisation.

A qualitative survey design was used to investigate the areas, patterns and elements for implementing FoF. A total of 92 responses from manufacturing firms of Alpine regions were collected and analysed, followed by in-depth interviews with a subset of respondents to identify common challenges, drivers and opportunities for the transformation.

Manufacturing companies are gaining awareness on their needs and gaps in the FoF path, the implications on business strategy and the rates of innovation and technology adoption. Nevertheless, they still need to shape their organisational structures (e.g. from highly centralised to more collaborative ones) and nurture their managerial capabilities in operations and supply chain management, and customer relationships, only partially based on FoF technologies.

This study aims to contribute to recent literature and practice of FoF (and related concepts) by depicting a picture of the possible areas of intervention, main issues and gaps (especially in terms of skills, supply chain and customer relationships) of manufacturing companies in their digital transformation. The qualitative research design and its scope represent the main limitations.

This paper provides a systemic overview for FoF by encompassing the technological, strategic, managerial and organisational perspectives of digitalisation in manufacturing and integrating the insights from a multi-sectorial and multi-dimensional analysis.

This paper analyzes the impact of economic downturns on the revenue and expense sides of city financing for the period 2003 to 2009 using a convenience sample of the audited end of year financial reports for thirty midsized US cities. The analysis focuses on whether and how quickly and how extensively revenue and spending directions from past years are altered by recessions. A seven year series of Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) data serves to explore whether citiesʼ revenues and spending, especially the traditional property tax and core functions such as public safety and infrastructure withstood the brief 2001 and the persistent 2007 recessions? The findings point to consumption (spending) over stability (revenue minus expense) for the recession of 2007, particularly in 2008 and 2009.

This article contributes to a better theoretical and empiric understanding of mixed results in the literature investigating the relationship between institutional confidence and adherence to recommended measures during a pandemic.

The article relies on structural equation models (SEMs) based on data from ResPOnsE COVID-19, a rolling cross-section (RCS) survey carried out in Italy from April to June 2020.

The authors’ findings show the existence of multiple pathways of confidence at the national and local level. Confidence in the institutions is positively associated with support for the performance of the Prime Minister and that of the regional institutions in the North West, which in turn, raises the likelihood of following the restrictive measures. However, in the same regions, a good appraisal of the regional system's performance also had a direct positive effect on the perception of being safe from the virus, decreasing adherence to the restrictive measures. Finally, the direct effect of confidence in the institutions on compliance is negative.

The result enlightens the crucial role both of national and local institutions in promoting or inhibiting adherence to restrictive measures during a pandemic and suggests that “one size fits all” measures for increasing overall institutional confidence might not be sufficient to reach the desired goal of achieving compliance in pandemic times.

The authors theorize and test three cognitive mechanisms – (1) the “cascade of confidence”; (2) the “paradox of support” and (3) the “paradox of confidence” – to account for both the positive and negative links between measures of political support and public acceptability of COVID-19 containment measures.

The surging stock market in the late nineties lifted the funding level of most pension plans and led to plan management decisions that left them vulnerable to the stock market decline of 2000-2002. In this study, an analysis was conducted on the descriptive data of 51 state pension plans for the period 1998-2003 and it was found that overfunded plans were more likely to substantially increase benefits while simultaneously reduce contributions. This led to widespread underfunding and a need for sudden increase in contributions as market conditions grew worse and funding levels dropped sharply. This investment cycle emphasizes the need for more prudent surplus management strategies to protect pension plans from the consequences of stock market volatility.

The purpose of this paper is to examine earnings management practices in local governments (LGs). The implementation of accrual accounting in LGs opens the way for empirical research on the topic, as reporting high surpluses or high deficits can be negatively interpreted by the central government, monitoring authorities, citizens and political opponents. According to public choice theory, the conflicting interests between politicians, who pursue re-election, and voters, who observe politicians’ actions to assess their alignment with social welfare, create fertile ground for earnings management practices.

The study calculates discretionary accruals, by using the Jones (1991) model, and relates them to several political variables. It employs a large sample of Greek and Italian LGs. The Greek database covers the period from 2002 to 2015 with about 4,300 observations, and the Italian database includes the period from 2008 to 2015 with about 1,130 observations.

The findings from the analysis give evidence that LGs engage in earnings management. The principal factor is the electoral cycle, as earnings management seems to be greater when the mayor is re-elected than when the mayor is elected for the first time. Furthermore, the period before elections create conditions that cultivate earnings management attitudes.

Previous studies have principally investigated earnings management in the private sector. Considering that many public-sector entities have implemented accrual accounting systems, this study intends to examine earnings management behaviour at the LG level, providing interesting findings for researchers and policy makers.

A better understanding of the political factors and the financial conditions, which act as obstacles or facilitators, should work hand in hand with the accounting reforms. The usefulness of financial statements for decision making and control presupposes that they are of high quality, an attribute that can be impaired by earnings management.

This study investigates the influence of political factors on earnings management behaviour in public-sector contexts where self-interest and accountability pressures coexist.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to share empirical research with educators and researchers to show how the gradual release of responsibility (GRR) model can support bilingual teachers’ implementation of dialogic reading comprehension instruction in student-led small groups and linguistically responsive literacy instruction with emergent bilingual students (Spanish–English) in grades one through four.

Design/Methodology/Approach – The authors provide brief literature reviews on the literacy instruction that bilingual students in low-resourced schools typically receive, on dialogic reading comprehension instruction, and on linguistically responsive literacy instruction. Then, the authors show how teacher educators utilized the GRR framework and process to support bilingual teachers’ movement from whole-class, teacher-directed instruction to dialogic reading comprehension instruction in student-led small groups. Next, the authors illustrate how a third-grade dual-language teacher employed the GRR to teach her students how to use Spanish–English cognates. Lastly, the authors share three vignettes from a first-grade bilingual teacher’s use of the GRR to facilitate her students’ comprehension of teacher read-alouds of narrative and informational texts and English writing.

Findings – When the teacher educators employed the GRR model in combination with socio-constructivist professional staff development, the teachers revealed their concerns about small-group instruction. The teacher educators adjusted their instruction and support to address the teachers’ concerns, helping them to implement small-group instruction. The third-grade bilingual teacher employed the GRR to teach her students how to use a translanguaging strategy, cognates, when writing, spelling, and reading. The first-grade bilingual teacher’s use of the GRR during teacher read-alouds in Spanish and English provided space for her and her students’ translanguaging, and facilitated the students’ comprehension of narrative and informational texts and completion of an English writing assignment.

Research Limitations/Implications – The findings were brief vignettes of effective instruction in bilingual settings that employed the GRR model. Although the authors discussed the limitations of scripted instruction, they did not test it. Additional research needs to investigate how other teacher educators and teachers use the GRR model to develop and implement instructional innovations that tap into the unique language practices of bilingual students.

Practical Implications – The empirical examples should help other teacher educators and bilingual teachers to implement the GRR model to support the improved literacy instruction of bilingual students in grades one through four. The chapter defines linguistically responsive instruction, and shows how translanguaging can be used by bilingual teachers and students to improve the students’ literacy performance.

Originality/Value of Chapter – This chapter provides significant research-based examples of the use of the GRR model with bilingual teachers and students at the elementary level. It shows how employment of the model can provide bilingual teachers and students with the support needed to implement instructional literacy innovations and linguistically responsive instruction.