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This study aims to test the role that organizational sociopsychological variables may play in influencing job stress and work engagement in an organizational identity change scenario.

On a sample of 118 employees of an Italian company in the personnel training services sector, multivariate statistical analysis tests a pattern where organizational variables such as work support (by supervisors and coworkers, independent variables) – moderated by corporate identification (moderating variable) – and mediated by organizational trust (mediating variable) – boosts employee work engagement and lowers psychosocial risks (dependent variables).

The mediating effect of “organizational trust” is significant in the relationships of “supervisor social support” and “coworker social support” with the “absence of psychosocial risks.” Moreover, an increase in supervisor social support can lead to a statistically significant increase in work engagement. This occurs only for employees with low or medium identification and not in highly identified individuals.

The findings from the analysis on moderation are of primary importance because they show us a new perspective that can play the role of a guiding and practical principle on how to act on an organization’s human resources, specifically targeting those with lower or medium corporate identification.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reaction of female workers to the earthquake event that shocked the city of L’Aquila in April 2009, with a specific focus on work as a recovery factor.

The selected sample consists of current or former resident women in the affected province of L’Aquila, who participated in a series of focus group discussions on the ability to reconstruct their own professional identity after the earthquake. The focus group seemed to be the perfect instrument for this research, because of its ability to generate a true discussion among a group of people on the research topic of this study. The collected data were analyzed both in terms of metaphors, as well as linguistic agentivity and by automatic content analysis.

From the analysis of the data, emerges the value that adds to the sense of identity continuity for the women in the sample, together with interesting differences between employed and self-employed workers that are characterized by distinct challenges and assurances. In regards to the effects of gender in response to disaster events, the results make a peculiar echo to the studies on public-private space dichotomy developed by Fordham, according to which, during a disaster, women are not allowed to develop work-related desires. For the group of women that the authors interviewed, the challenge to have family focused or work focused desires was clearly evident; they seem predetermined to the above-mentioned dichotomy, valid in both directions: the women who invested in work and have become entrepreneurs seem to have no chance of a private life and, on the contrary, the women who were focused on more traditional family roles seem to have no chance in terms of job opportunities.

Based on the authors’ knowledge this is the first time that focus groups are used to assess the value that work had in supporting individual recovery for women in the aftermath of the L’Aquila earthquake.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the representation that senior managers of Italian social enterprises have about their organization’s intellectual capital (IC), precisely about the human capital, relational capital and organizational capital.

This paper used a qualitative approach. A total of 81 senior managers were interviewed individually. Interview data were analyzed using different techniques of content analysis, particularly by using the T-Lab software (analysis of word occurrence and co-word mapping, analysis of Markovian sequences).

Findings confirm the divide between theory and practice of IC. The representation of the IC dimensions is rather different from the definition that is found in the academic literature. Limited awareness about IC components and their generative power of knowledge determines a limited exploitation of the social enterprises’ organizational knowledge.

The group reached is limited to Italy and is not statistically representative of all Italian social enterprises.

Social enterprises are crucial in the development and well-being of societies. However, the findings suggest that many social enterprises managers are not fully aware of the importance of IC and how it may create value for their organizations. This paper stresses that senior managers of social enterprises need to, through various methods, have a better understanding of IC management and knowledge creation if they are to fully utilise the potential of IC in their organizations for survival and growth.

This is the first attempt to explore the perception of IC’s components among social enterprises, which represent an important development of non-profit organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to deepen the knowledge on the role played by the intellectual capital (IC) of small and medium non-profit socio-cooperatives (SMSCs) in generating knowledge and organisational growth, as well as on the challenges and the difficulties of the management of IC among these organisations.

This exploratory study adopted a qualitative methodology. A total of 70 semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior managers of Italian non-profit SMSCs, asking them to talk about the management of their human capital, organisational capital and relational capital. The data gathered from the interviews were analysed through discourse analysis carried out by two independent judges.

IC management among Italian non-profit SMSCs is unplanned, unsystematic and short-termed. The SMSCs in question adopt an employee-centred approach; their IC management and knowledge creation are more focused on the direct contribution of the organisational members, than on the endorsement of formal or structured procedures and processes. Owing to their social aim, the well-being of both the workers and the beneficiaries of the SMSCs plays a central role in the IC management. Relationships with external stakeholders are regarded as important as those with the internal ones, re-affirming the organisations’ members as the core of the knowledge generation.

The group reached is not a statistically representative sample; furthermore, it is limited to Italy.

Deepening the knowledge on IC among these organisations can help to promote the strengths and address the weaknesses of its management, whilst also helping these micro-enterprises to develop into SMEs.

This paper contributes to the IC literature by shedding light on the role played by IC among small and medium enterprise (SMEs), and more specifically in the specific context of Italian SMSCs. To the authors’ knowledge, no previous research has thus far dealt with this issue. Deepening the knowledge on IC among these organisations can help to promote the strengths and address the weaknesses of its management, while also helping these micro-enterprises to develop into SMEs.

The purpose of this paper was to explore if and to what extent workplace identity can mediate the relationship between learning climate dimensions and job satisfaction in a group of apprentices.

Data were gathered thanks to a non-profit organization devoted to vocational training. Participants (N = 87) were apprentices working in different job contexts in central Italy.

Results showed that the relationship between learning climate and job satisfaction was mediated by workplace identity.

To the author’s knowledge, this is the first attempt to evaluate the effect of learning climate and workplace identity on job satisfaction during apprenticeship.

This explorative research aims at examining the social representation of psychosocial training in NPOs managers.

An adopted multiple research approach was adopted to analyse a corpus of qualitative data. A detailed semi‐structured interview was administered to 122 senior managers of as many Italian NPOs. Interviews were analyzed using different techniques of content analysis and, run through the software T‐Lab (analysis of word occurrence and co‐word mapping, analysis of Markovian sequences).

Italian NPOs' organizational culture seem to be action‐oriented and self‐referral, rather than knowledge‐oriented. Training is not considered as a tool for strategic management of HR. Senior managers are mainly self‐taught, trained on‐the‐job and, lack of a proper competence on HR management.

The group reached is a convenience sample and not a statistical representative sample.

The paper suggests that intellectual capital can be an effective tool to address Italian NPOs self‐referential knowledge and overcome their gaps in strategic management of human resources.

NPOs' senior manager training has rarely been addressed; in addition, the adopted methodology mixes different techniques of analysis.

The aim of this paper is to present the Italian version of the Aston Team Performance Inventory (the ATPI), to assess its psychometric properties and whether its factor structure reflects the input-process-output (I-P-O) model.

The ATPI was administered to 702 Italian employees working in teams, recruited from the National Health Service (50.3 percent) and from public and private organizations (49.7 percent). To assess the psychometric properties of the ATPI's items, evaluation of discriminating power was performed. In addition to the reliability analyses, a confirmatory factor analysis of the full I-P-O model was also conducted.

Significant results of the Italian version of the ATPI arise from the psychometric properties, dimensions and factor structure. Results align with the English version of the inventory.

The sample was limited and was not selected randomly. Future research should, therefore, expand the sample size and involve several types of Italian organizations. Considering these significant results, future research should validate the Italian version of the ATPI.

To the authors' knowledge, the Italian literature is missing instruments for the assessment of team performance in organizations. Consequently, the present study provides evidence of the value of the Italian version of the ATPI.

This explorative research aims at examining the relationship between human capital and structural capital in Italian NPOs, focusing on senior managers.

Administration of a semi‐structured interview to 122 senior managers of the same number of Italian NPOs. Interviews have been analyzed using different techniques: content analysis, run through the software T‐Lab (analysis of word occurrence and co‐word mapping, analysis of Markovian sequences), as well as discourse analysis carried out by two independent judges.

Italian NPOs' organizational culture is action‐oriented and self‐referral, not knowledge‐oriented. Training is not considered as a tool for strategic management of HR. Senior managers are mainly self‐taught and lack adequate competence on HR management. Organizational culture does not help the development of human capital as it neither uses structured procedures to select the best candidates, nor develops a training programme based on the organizational specific needs.

The group approached is a convenience sample, not a statistical representative sample.

The paper suggests that intellectual capital can be an effective tool to address Italian NPOs' self‐referential knowledge and overcome their gaps in strategic management of human resources.

NPOs' senior manager training has rarely been addressed; in addition, the adopted methodology triangulates different qualitative techniques of analysis.