Alessandra Lardo

Risk of an epidemic impact when adopting the Internet of Things: The role of sector-based resistance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the main types of sector-based resistance that affect the success of the innovation, and specifically the Internet of Things (IoT), with particular reference to professional football, as a prime example of how institutions can prevent the IoT from being used. The starting point for the research is the assumption that innovation has to address institutional obstacles in the form of economic and cultural resistance. The main purpose of the paper, however, is to highlight resistance at individual level and resistance that is company specific and sector specific, in connection with the introduction of the IoT in professional sport, and the risk of an epidemic effect in relation to the general acceptance of (or opposition to) the IoT. Design/methodology/approach – Research is based on the qualitative analysis of a specific football industry case, with reference to the introduction of innovation within the sports sector. Findings – Sector-based resistance in th...

Emerging trends in entrepreneurial universities within Mediterranean regions: An international comparison

Purpose The aim of this paper is to investigate the new role that universities are assuming as entrepreneurial entities supporting the development of regional innovation systems through an international comparison, in order to address the demand for global competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to compare how some universities of the Mediterranean area and of South-East Asia conceive and implement an entrepreneurial culture through their curricula, conducting a two-way comparison between Italy and Singapore. Design/methodology/approach The methodology consists of a multi-method approach, based on a comparative analysis which involves the use of a narrative style and a content analysis carried out on the Italian and Singaporean entrepreneurship programmes. The method consists of comparing different systems with similar characteristics, with an analysis focused on particularly relevant environmental factors, to find an explanation about how an innovative way of teaching entrepreneurship to students can affect the development of regional innovative systems. Findings The study analyses the Italian and Singaporean environmental factors that are helpful in understanding the basis for the promotion of an entrepreneurial attitude, and the end result of the paper is to set out the differences in the evolvement of entrepreneurial universities and innovative teaching programmes between the two countries being analysed. The research uses an international comparison to investigate the relationships between a set of variables that influence government authorities, leading them to invest in programmes on entrepreneurship. Originality/value Studying the Singaporean experience, one of the leading Nation investor in entrepreneurial education, is useful in highlighting limits of less advanced higher education systems and in helping them to encourage an entrepreneurial culture.

Social Media as a New Opportunity for Female Entrepreneurs: An Analysis of the Fashion Industry

This paper aims at analysing new entrepreneurial organization models resulting from the integration of female and male elements and at finding a valid facilitator instrument for the sharing of values and objectives in the use of new technologies and communication, such as social media. On the basis of the theoretical framework of the androgynous organization, the study concentrates on the field of fashion that, in the last few years, has experimented new forms of female business connected with the creation of new markets deriving from development of the Web 2.0. The main objective of the paper is to provide greater comprehension of the role of new technologies and in particular of the social media in the development of female entrepreneurial activities, thanks to greater visibility of these new businesses, with the phenomenon of the fashion influencer at the base. The methodology of the study is based on a qualitative analysis related to the elaboration and application of the theoretical framework of the androgynous organization (Granelli and Robotti in Il valore premiante delle diversita, Harvard Business Review Italia, StrategiQs, Milano, 2016), in the case study by the fashion influencer Chiara Ferragni, at the first place in the Forbes’ Top Influencers list 2017. Through an analysis of a case study in the field of the fashion industry, an attempt has been made to illustrate the characteristics of organizations that are handling technological change in the best possible way, from the point of view of gender questions. The study carried out identifies a model that allows organisations to be much more generative and, in particular, to identify the specific characteristics of women that companies must introduce in order to become more generative. The archetypes identified are essentially hospitality, fertility and generativity, consistency, intimacy and practicality.

Knowledge transfer and managers turnover: impact on team performance

The paper aims to investigate the emerging issue of knowledge transfer and organisational performance. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance of knowledge transfer in obtaining high and positive results in organisations, in particular, studying the role of managers’ skills transfer and which conditions help to achieve positive performance.,The research analyses 41 cases of coaches that managed clubs competing in the major international leagues in the 2014–2015 season and that moved to a new club over the past five seasons. The authors employ a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) methodology. According to the research question, the outcome variable used is the team sport performance improvement. As explanatory variables, the authors focus on five main variables: the history of coach transfers; the staff transferred; the players transferred; investments in new players and the competitiveness.,The overall results show that when specific conditions are realised simultaneously, they allow team performance improvement, even if the literature states that the coach transfers show a negative impact on outcomes. Interestingly, this work reaches contrasting results because it shows the need for the coexistence of combinations of variables to achieve the transferability of managers’ capabilities and performance.,The paper is novel because it presents a QCA that tries to understand which conditions, factors and contexts help knowledge to be transferred and to contribute to the successful run of organisations.

Intellectual Capital as driver for controlling managers’ performance. An innovative approach

The purpose of the paper is to analyse how Intellectual Capital (IC) of contemporary companies can be used as management control tool, by proposing it as a driver for sport and financial performance from a value creation perspective. Through a quantitative method with an empirical application, the research investigates the football industry. The IC of professional football clubs has been identified in three components: the first team players, the brand and the right of qualification for the competition on sporting merit. The outcomes of the new model based on IC enhancement allow defining a new use of it as management control tool and a driver for clubs’ managers, overcoming the traditional models of traditional objective functions, which do not consider the managers’ role. Furthermore, the new objective function, defined by the research, allows managers to make strategic decisions finalized to achieve clubs success in compliance with ownership aims. Therefore, this study provides a control tool and a driver for managers’ performance that can be used by company ownership.

Bookkeeping methods and accounting controls: Developments within the Abbey of Montecassino from the 15th to the 17th century

The purpose of this paper is to discover the connection between the introduction of the double entry bookkeeping method and accounting controls within the Abbey of Montecassino. In particular, the analysis aims to explore the accounting history at the time of the entrance into the Santa Giustina Congregation from the 15th to 17th century. Adopting a diachronic approach, the paper is developed with the aim to understanding if there is a link between entrance into the Santa Giustina congregation and introduction of the double bookkeeping method in 1504. It proves that accounting behaviours are strongly connected with the need for controls between accountants and external users of accounting books, confirming the hypothesis of the new accounting history theory that considers bookkeeping as social construction. The methodology is based on a comparison between two different methods of recording in the Abbey of Montecassino: the first refers to the period from 1450 to 1504 (Commendatory era) while the second considers the period after entrance into the Santa Giustina Congregation in 1504.