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In the EU, over the past three decades, poultry production has been growing around the 5 percent per year. This increase determined a higher volume of livestock and poultry farming waste, which represents a potential renewable fuel suitable for waste to energy conversion. One way is through biological process such as the dry anaerobic digestion (AD). Tests normally applied for the measurement of the anaerobic biogas potential (ABP) are reliable, but not feasible as a routine analysis. This kind of test is expensive and time consuming (21-100 days). The purpose of this paper is to propose a rapid method for assessing the potential of biogas in anaerobic poultry manure, with the goal of helping the choices of operators of AD.

The Dynamic Respiration Index was calculated as “key parameter” in order to estimate the ABP, which provides important information about the biogas generation for the poultry manure. Furthermore, two dynamic respirometric approaches were considered developed in two Italian universities. The main difference between them is the control of temperature.

Calculate ABP through IRD is a useful method to determine the value of the potential production of biogas of different biomasses in a short time and assess which one is more productive.

The methodology presented in this study is fast (one-five days) and alternative method to determinate the ABP, above all for the operators of AD plant.

In this chapter, I use a critical sociological lens to look at ways sport organisations and scholars could think about and practice gender equity in institutional contexts in the United Kingdom. Sport clubs or organisations shape the participation of those involved in the sport and those working in and for these organisations as volunteer, coach, manager, referee, director, board member, etc. Differences in organisational forms and settings inform ways sport organisations think about sport, gender, race, abilities, sexuality and class relations. These ways of thinking may enhance and/or resist the use of sport equitable practices. Organisations are constructions, however, and not fixed objects but always in flux and becoming. In this chapter, I use a critical/queer perspective to make visible and question organisational processes that may contribute to the exclusion of women and minorities in sport governance. I specifically focus on the normative embodiment of leadership, dominant heteronormative practices and diversity as an organisational value. I suggest several ways in which attention to these processes could be part of a critical research agenda that focuses on initiatives that promote gender equity. I end with a few examples of what such an approach might look like.

This chapter addresses the topic of ‘localisation policies’ (measures and incentives for attracting and developing companies) in relation to the actual subjects of such policies, their aims and targets. The existence of business relationships and networks, and the ubiquity of interaction processes make contemporary policy measures problematic in all these three aspects. Conceiving the business landscape as interactive and heterogeneous business networks leads the authors to argue that policy measures become ineffective when these neglect the networked nature of the business landscape. It is argued that localisation policies consist of multiple initiatives and involve ‘a network of policy actors’, rather than only one institution. Acknowledging the plurality of policy actors and means leads to focus on the need to orchestrate multifaceted localisation policies. Incentives, regulatory frameworks and public investments are some of the elements of the toolbox of localisation policy. The authors also argue that the business network perspective translates into the need to tailor policy measures differentiated for specific companies.

The authors aim to contribute to current knowledge on women's networks in organizations by exploring the strategies employed by members of women's networks, Human Resources (HR) management and senior line management to negotiate the role of these networks in their organizations.

The authors employ the theoretical perspective of micro-politics to analyze qualitative data they collected in an action research project using open-ended interviews and participant observation. The interviews were conducted with network board and active members, and members of their organizations' HR departments and senior management. Participant observation of the interviewees' interactions took place during facilitated workshops.

Adding to the literature, the authors find that members of the different parties employ different micro-political strategies. Many senior HR and management members demand that the networks' activities contribute to the organizations' diversity aims and bottom line. They largely avoid strategic cooperation with the networks. Most network members, in turn, resist the restricted role of the networks as an instrument to realize their organizations' business case. They claim some freedom to independently decide on the networks' strategies and activities. They resist being attributed tasks and responsibilities that they consider to reside with their organizations. Moreover, they try to sustain cooperative relationships with senior HR and management in an advisory role.

The action research approach enabled the authors to contribute to existing knowledge and extend the micro-politics theoretical perspective to include the collective agency of members of organizational groups and cooperation between these groups.

The study investigates the profitability of manufacturing firms backshoring (BS) to Europe. In particular, the article analyses the relation between BS drivers and post-relocation profitability and tests whether this relation is moderated by innovation policies that firms adopt in conjunction with BS.

The empirical model links the post-relocation profitability to BS drivers, firms’ involvement in product innovation and/or adoption of new manufacturing technologies. Data concerning BS initiatives to Europe between 2012 and 2018 extracted from secondary sources have been matched to firms’ balance sheet data.

Results show that responsiveness-driven BS is associated with higher profitability when the relocation is coupled with product innovation. A second key finding is that the adoption of new manufacturing technologies has a positive impact on post-BS profitability.

The restriction of the dataset to firms for which information on post- and pre-BS financial performance was available has led to a small sample size. Availability of longer time series of profitability data will allow estimating long-term impact, especially for innovation.

The study provides first evidence on the impact of BS on financial performance and throws light on the relevance of innovation as a lever supporting manufacturing relocation to high-cost countries.

The study advances empirical research on BS by offering evidence of its impact on profitability and by linking it to previous research on BS drivers. Further, the study throws light on the role of different drivers as “success factors” of BS and on how they interact with innovation efforts. The study also offers insights to business leaders who are evaluating the potential benefits on company profitability of a return to a high cost-environment and provides useful indications on the conditions under which BS pays off.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the success of the 50 EURO STOXX companies as measured by the earnings before taxes (EBT) and the percentage of female members on their supervisory boards.

The paper relies on data extracted from the annual reports of the 50 EURO STOXX companies in 2015 and from financial websites.

The paper provides the existence of a weak correlation between companies’ performance as measured by EBT and the percentage of women on supervisory boards.

This study has two main limitations: first, a single key performance indicator was used to measure firms’ success; and second, the study offers insights related only to the year 2015. The analysis could be extended over a larger time span while some other variables could be considered in a more holistic approach.

The paper raises awareness that there is much to be done with regard to the presence of women on boards, and readers, investors and business owners gain an insight on the business environment and women active on European corporate boards.

By concentrating on the companies of the EURO STOXX 50 Index, the study offers a good image of the European business environment.

This chapter looks at the increasing interest in the cohousing phenomenon in Italy within civil society, public institutions, and academia. The most significant element to emerge from all this interest is the ‘ambiguity’ concerning the use of the concept. It is thus necessary to identify what the ‘Cohousing’ nomenclature is applied to, present it in its historical and geographic context, trace its origins and development on the basis of the related literature, and highlight the recent issues that have arisen from the debates held in international research networks. This chapter will advance the hypothesis that ‘ambiguity’ is playing, to a certain extent, a positive role, creating a common ground where different traditions, institutions, and social practices can meet and approach one another. I also propose considering the remarkable territorial activation expressed by emerging bottom-up initiatives as the most relevant specificity of the actual Italian situation from a public policies point of view. I identify the main issues at the national level and compare them with those issues found during field research carried out through participant observation. The introductory analysis of the reported case study, which focuses mainly on context conditions, shows the Ferrara bottom-up initiatives to be the (unintended) result of previous active citizenship public policies, thus revealing the importance of and the frames provided by urban policies to social innovation processes. As a future research issue, a shift is recommended from a blanket approach to a critical analysis of specific experiences.