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The aim of this paper is to analyze how “mini-bonds,” an innovative financial tool for Italian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), can contribute to the development and sustainability of the agri-food sector and its local products, such as Pecorino Cheese.

The study was conducted as a qualitative case study applying the CAOS (“characteristics, ambience, organization, start-up”) model. This model makes it possible to describe all variables that affect a company in a given economic context.

In Sardinia, a small island to the southwest of Italy, there are more than 60,000 agricultural enterprises, 60 percent of which are shepherding operations. Obtaining financial resources is a constant challenge, often related to the uncertainties inherent in seasonal activities. This paper explores how a mini-bond was implemented to promote the development and sustainability of Pecorino Cheese.

Limitations are chiefly related to the short observation period—the bond was first issued in 2018—and to the narrow geographical base of observation.

This research contributes to the expanding body of literature on innovative financial tools for the promotion and development of the local agri-food heritage. It may be useful to practitioners currently researching and developing growth strategies for companies. Existing barriers to credit access are among the most important causes of the lack of development of SMEs, especially in Italy where SMEs represent the principal type of new businesses in the agri-food sector, and their economic success is so dependent on seasonality. In February 2019, the Pecorino case played a role in the Italian government stepping in to avoid the collapse of the price of milk. Future research will focus on the analysis of specific economic results of the financial operations described herein, and will further focus on possibly similar cases of local products making use of innovative financial tools.

Women-led enterprises can count on intellectual capital (IC) to implement a knowledge exchange process, improve managerial skills and provide themselves with more certain and reasonable financial resources. Recently, the literature has recognized a new paradigm of innovation, known as open innovation (OI) that emphasizes the strategic importance of relationships for knowledge development. The paper, first, aims to investigate if IC can support female agri-start-ups’ innovation process. Second, the aim is to analyse the ways in which IC supports female agri-start-ups.

The work uses a qualitative methodology and a multiple case study supports the paper. Data were acquired using direct semi-structured interviews. To read and interpret them, the authors resorted to the C.A.O.S. model that permits examining the direct relationships in terms of relational capital (RC) and also, observing the effect produced by the relational circuit in terms of human capital (HC) and structural capital (SC) in small and medium enterprises.

Findings reveal that RC plays a fundamental role in innovative start-up's development. The S-C and S-O links support business management and help fill the gender financial gap. This leads to improving entrepreneurial skills (HC) and promoting internal innovative solutions (SC). The S-A links can help the entrepreneur acquire more awareness of the market and compete better.

The research contributes to IC and gender studies, with a specific focus on RC and the innovation process. Although the literature has already investigated the role of RC in female entrepreneurship, only few previous research have conducted a qualitative analysis about the relationships established in the peculiar context of innovative agri-start-ups.

The transition from industrial to social economy and from knowledge produces a paradigm shift, which is the space in which new professions, new values and even new forms of financing are shaped. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the phenomenon of crowdfunding, and the specific focus is the small- and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs’) dimension, typical in startups firms. This work discusses the main thematic areas in the scientific literature on the phenomenon of crowdfunding (RQ1) and how is crowdfunding treated in SMEs’ dimension (RQ2).

To analyze the literature, this study uses structure literature review methodology. To answer RQ1, the articles in the SCOPUS database on the theme of crowdfunding were surveyed. To RQ2, the analysis focused on the combined theme between the crowdfunding phenomenon and the SMEs’ dimension.

The study shows that from the scientific point of view, the treatment of the crowdfunding phenomenon is strongly developing in many research areas. The most recurrent are those that deal with studies linked to socio-geographical and institutional contexts and those that analyze individual behavior of investors and crowd funders. Residual area remains the one dedicated to SMEs, where this research has led to poor results.

This paper implements the studies on crowdfunding, a phenomenon that is rapidly expanding worldwide. Particular attention is paid to startup firms, and the business dimension was studied for SMEs, for which it was initially conceived and investigated. Future work will try to apply the results of this research into a case study about an Italian startup firm.

Recent socioeconomic events, not least the Covid-19 pandemic, have led farms to rethink their traditional production methods. Innovation, new technologies and the establishment of relationships could be crucial for farms to remain competitive and sustainable over time. These factors can be assumed as structural and relational capital, two of intellectual capital's components. In this stream, the aim of this paper is to analyze how structural and relational capital could contribute to farm's sustainability in terms of competitiveness during its normal life cycle and in terms of resilience during an uncertain period, such as the coronavirus emergency.

The paper is supported by the qualitative methodology of a single case study. To reach the declared goal, the paper applies the C.A.O.S. (Characteristics, Ambience, Organizations, Start-up) model, an interpretative model for analyzing the small and medium enterprise dimension. In this way, the main aspects that allowed the farm to be competitive and to react at the emergency period were described.

The findings show that innovation technology involved the farm's internal processes, improving execution, control and feedback phases. Thanks to the two main introduced innovations, the farm reduced staffing costs and minimized cultivation risk related to climatic factors. These innovations are the main factors allowing the farm to increase its efficiency. Moreover, the proactive and reactive roles of the structural and relational capital to face the emergency period are confirmed.

The paper contributes to the literature in several ways. Regarding innovation literature, the paper shows how technology helps farms to improve their performance and their global competitiveness. Insight into structural and relational capital enhances the knowledge of intangible assets, such as intellectual capital. In the light of the Covid-19 emergency, the work demonstrates how the main resilience factors (proactive, i.e. structural capital, and reactive, i.e. relational capital) ensure the farm's survival.

This paper aims to analyse the roles of relational capital (RC) and knowledge management (KM) during the COVID-19 in Italian public and private hospitals, considering that intangible elements are essential during periods of uncertainty.

Authors used a qualitative design in a case study on two Italian hospitals that have different ownership structures, which are located in the epicentre of the pandemic in Lombardy. The study was carried out using the CAOS (“caratteristiche personali”, “ambiente”, “organizzazione” and “start-up”) model (Paoloni, 2021), which allows for comprehending and commenting on RC because of the connections between typical factors that influence an organisation. The model also allows for discussion of the use of a network and how it supports organisations.

Findings of the analysis showed that during the management of the COVID-19 health emergency, ownership structure was not a discriminating factor, the created relationships were similar and they were considered in the same way. The relationships were mainly formal (except for contributions by associations or individuals) and temporary. The RC's reactive role in overcoming crises was confirmed, and the findings indicated that this result was possible also, thanks to the KM's role played within the organisation.

Theoretical implications of the work are that it contributes to the sparse healthcare literature on intellectual capital (IC) and on RC and its relationships with KM. The practical implications are related to the creation of new relationships during the healthcare emergency between hospitals and the central government, which can be considered a useful lesson for the future. The theoretical implications derived from the analysis are generalisable to all organisations regardless of their type and location, as well as the practical implications are applicable to the entire national territory.

This work aims to investigate the current financial structure of Italian agri-food micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to understand how MSMEs face innovation challenges, which are also required to support sustainable development.

To reach the goal, an empirical longitudinal analysis is performed on a sample of Italian agri-food firms. In detail, to highlight the changes in the use of financial sources between 2013 and 2019, a descriptive ratio analysis is carried out on the data extracted by the AIDA database. In addition, statistical analyses were performed, including t-tests and U Mann–Whitney. Finally, a fixed-effects model is created to analyse the panel data. To ensure homogeneity, the sub-sectors of production and transformation are separately considered.

The financial structure analysis shows an increase in the equity percentage in the funding sources, attributable to an attempt to compensate for the reduction of banks' funding. However, even though this change has not compromised firms' profitability, the undercapitalisation of companies is still present. Therefore, more equity investments are required to support the innovation process.

The value of the present research is to highlight the choice of using new alternative financing sources instead of traditional banks' credit to implement sustainable and innovative development Italian agri-food sector (AFS). This choice is forced by reducing finance from banks and other financial institutions because of the credit crunch. This issue is even more relevant, considering that MSMEs have structural financial problems but have to fulfil the mission of pursuing innovation in the same way as large companies. Therefore, this paper expands the literature on agri-food, delving into an issue typical of MSMEs and combining agri-food with the need for innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to enrich the scientific and managerial debate on intangibles by placing the concept of key money within the broader concept of Intellectual Capital, and by proposing an evaluation approach for a portion of the latter, focusing the analysis on fashion retailers.

This research focuses on the fashion industry, given that key money gains particular significance and accounted for in fashion retailers' financial statements. A comparative case study is presented with regard to the application of two evaluation methods proposed to some fashion retailers operating in Italy.

This paper defines a suitable placement for key money within the vast structure of intellectual capital. The research shows that the two methods give “very close” key money values, thus laying the foundations for a theoretical articulation of interest to be further explored in future researches.

The document represents a first in-depth examination regarding the evaluation and inclusion of key money in the intellectual capital. A further element of originality lies in having interpreted the key money in a perspective closer to the world of intangibles and competitive strategies, to the detriment of the previous (meagre) settings that placed it within the real estate branches of study.

With the increasing pressures towards global sustainability and the transition to Industry 4.0 (I4.0), the collaboration between firms and other key stakeholders is essential. Value is no longer created by firms acting autonomously, but rather by firms acting together with external parties. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the potential contribution of capability providers to a Sustainable I4.0 Environment as an additional perspective regarding the management decisions of a smart and sustainable business model (SSBM) transformation of big corporations.

An in-depth qualitative case study of Futuryng INC., which is a company based in Silicon Valley, New York and Italy, is presented and analysed through interviews, secondary sources and using a triangulation approach. The company is a Connected Technologies Ecosystem, which acts as a provider of technology building blocks (capability) able to design and release end-to-end Information Technologies–Internet of Things–Operational Technologies (IT-IoT-OT) Solutions.

From the case study, the authors determine that the success of big corporations' SSBM transformation requires a Sustainable I4.0 Environment approach where capability providers play a relevant role and act as enablers. Then, the authors develop a framework by adopting an actor perspective, called the Sustainable I4.0 Environment, highlighting the contribution of the capability provider in the sustainable I4.0 business model transformation of a big corporation.

The authors’ analysis clarifies that the successful execution of a sustainable I4.0 business model transformation requires integrated thinking for management decisions and a co-creation approach with capability providers, along with an open innovation process.

In the analysis of I4.0 and sustainability issues, previous studies only focus on implementing firms and view the environment merely as a background in which act forces of sustainability and I4.0. A comprehensive overview of the Sustainable I4.0 Environment, which considers actors and their contribution, is lacking. By integrating the literature review with the case study, the authors’ research proposes a comprehensive framework to guide the decision process of transformation from a traditional business model (TBM) to an SSBM and considers one of the key actors involved, the capability providers.

This systematic literature review analyzes and identifies research areas where researchers have already studied the role of intellectual capital (IC) in the healthcare sector. This review also analyzes how they carried out their work to understand future research directions.

The analysis is conducted through a systematic literature review. Therefore, following systematic literature review protocol, it was possible to select 225 papers. An analysis of the content was done to identify the main topics debated and understand what components of IC are the most studied by scholars.

The authors highlight how the components of IC (human capital, structural capital and relational capital) in the healthcare sector have not been discussed with the same frequency and intensity by researchers. The research shows that there are already widely discussed areas, such as structural capital, while other components of IC have remained on the shadow, such as relational capital. Human capital is the most undiscussed component.

The manual analysis of the articles can be considered a limitation of this work.

This systematic literature review makes several useful contributions. First, it enables others to replicate scientific research, thanks to its clear and transparent process. Second, it identifies the main areas of research and the main research methods. It enables researchers to identify which issues their work should address and suggests possible areas for future research.