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The objective of this paper is to study the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in supporting the supplier scouting process, considering the information and the capabilities required to do so.

Twelve cases of IT and information providers offering AI-based scouting solutions were studied. The unit of analysis was the AI-based scouting solution, specifically the relationship between the provider and the buyer. Information processing theory (IPT) was adopted to address information processing needs (IPNs) and capabilities (IPCs).

Among buyers, IPNs in supplier scouting are high. IT and information providers can meet the needs of buyers through IPCs enabled by AI-based solutions. In this way, the fit between needs and capabilities can be reached.

The investigation of the role of AI in supplier scouting is original. The application of IPT to study the impact of AI in business processes is also novel. This paper contributes by investigating a phenomenon that is still unexplored and unconsolidated in a business context.

A clinical pathway for patients with acute ischemic stroke was implemented in 2014 by one Italian teaching hospital multidisciplinary team. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether this clinical pathway had a positive effect on patient management by comparing performance data.

Volume, process and outcome indicators were analyzed in a pre-post retrospective observational study. Patients’ (admitted in 2013 and 2015) medical records with International Classification of Diseases, ICD-9 code 433.x (precerebral artery occlusion and stenosis), 434.x (cerebral artery occlusion) and 435.x (transient cerebral ischemia) and registered correctly according to hospital guidelines were included.

An increase context-sensitive in-patient numbers with more severe cerebrovascular events and an increase in patient transfers from the Stroke to Neurology Unit within three days (70 percent, p=0.25) were noted. Clinical pathway implementation led to an increase in patient flow from the Emergency Department to dedicated specialized wards such as the Stroke and Neurology Unit (23.7 percent, p<0.001). Results revealed no statistically significant decrease in readmission rates within 30 days (5.7 percent, p=0.85) and no statistically significant differences in 30-day mortality.

The pre-post retrospective observational study design was considered suitable to evaluate likely changes in patient flow after clinical pathway implementation, even though this design comes with limitations, describing only associations between exposure and outcome.

Clinical pathway implementation showed an overall positive effect on patient management and service efficiency owing to the standardized application in time-dependent protocols and multidisciplinary/integrated care implementation, which improved all phases in acute ischemic stroke care.

The mandatory conversion to IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) has represented much more than a change in accounting rules. Firms’ main concerns have been to understand the extent to which accounting differences between national GAAP and IFRS could affect their reported performance. The purpose of this paper is to address this concern by providing empirical evidence of the nature and the size of the differences between Italian accounting principles and IFRS.

The total and individual differences between Italian GAAP and IFRS are identified and quantified in the reconciliations of net income and equity of companies listed on Borsa Italiana. The focus is to show the major consequences of the conversion to IFRS on accounting outcomes.

The empirical results indicate a more relevant total impact of such a transition on net income than equity. The analysis of individual adjustments shows a greater discrepancy between Italian GAAP and IFRS in the accounting treatment of intangible assets, income taxes, and business combinations with reference to both net income and equity.

The main contribution of the paper is to investigate the impact of mandatory IFRS adoption for Italian listed companies’ financial results. Previous literature does not focus on such a specific country, but it offers a comparative approach to different effects of IFRS on European countries.