Andrea Cardoni

Evaluating How Potential Pool of Partners Can Join Together in Different Types of Long Term Collaborative Networked Organizations

The considerable benefits brought up by strategic alliances and diverse types of long term Collaborative Networked Organizations (CNOs) are nowadays widely recognized. There is an increasing demand in the industrial world for concretely implement new forms of collaborations. For example, demand often comes from pre-existent form of clusters or local productive arrangements, that want to evolve to more efficient forms of collaboration, or from small and medium enterprises that are facing a crisis, and look at collaboration with other enterprises as almost the last chance to survive. In general, variety of motivations in collaborating implies variety of missions of potential collaborations, that in turn requires the choice of an appropriate form of Collaborative Network aligned to the mission statement. This paper addresses the problem to define a methodology for analyzing potential pool of partners and for identifing the mission, the form, the governance structure and the value drivers of long term strategic alliance that would bring highest benefits to the partners. Three different forms of CNOs are considered: the Virtual organizations Breeding Environment (VBE), the Virtual Development Office (VDO) and the T-Holding.

How to Move from Traditional to Innovative Models of Networked Organizations: A Methodology and a Case Study in the Metal-Mechanic Industry

Innovative forms of collaborations between companies have been proposed and modelled in literature in recent years. There is an increasing demand in the industrial world for concretely implement this new forms of collaborations. For example, demand often comes from pre-existent form of clusters or consortiums, which want to evolve to more efficient forms of collaboration. On the basis of a methodology whose guidelines have been proposed in a previous work by authors [1], the paper illustrates the steps and the tools utilized to analyze potential pool of partners in order to identify the type of long term Collaborative Networked Organizations (CNOs) alliance that would bring highest benefits to the partners. Three different forms of innovative CNOs are considered: the Virtual organizations Breeding Environment (VBE), the Virtual Development Office (VDO) and the T-Holding. The application of the proposed methodology is described in the case of a traditional industrial cluster of the metal-mechanic industry in Italy.

The “Enterprises’ Network Agreement”: The Italian Way to Stimulate Reindustrialization for Entrepreneurial and Economic Development of SMEs

Moving from the key features of knowledge economy and taking into consideration the new paradigms emerged in economic and managerial studies, in many countries several institutions have promoted the formation of strategic alliances to stimulate the reindustrialization and promote the national and regional development. The Italian government has recently defined a new legal framework (law n. 122/2010) to implement collaborative strategic networks through the “enterprises’ network agreement”. The latest data about the implementation of the new form of collaborative networks show a rapid spread of the agreement and represent an important result to read in the light of economic, managerial and industrial literature. In the paper the main characteristics of the agreement are described and discussed, and an analysis based on historical data, since two years from its introduction, is presented. The aim is to evaluate how this kind of tool can have an impact on the reindustrialization of the Country and the emergence of second generation VBE on this process.

A Genetic Algorithm Approach for Collaborative Networked Organizations Partners Selection

In the paper a genetic algorithm approach to form potential Collaborative Networked Organizations (CNOs) is presented. When analyzing a set of companies that are potential partners of a CNO, it is possible to collect specific data from each company through which evaluate, once aggregated, for which Strategic Objective (SO) the potential aggregation is most suited. At this purpose a metric, consisting in a set of performance parameters related to different SO types, has been created. Given a large number of companies, through a genetic algorithm approach is then possible to set a specific objective function related to a particular SO (eg. maximize potential creation of new Business Opportunities), and to find the cluster (or clusters) of companies that maximizes the objective function.

Strategic Context, Organizational Features and Network Performances: A Survey on Collaborative Networked Organizations of Italian SMEs

In the growing body of business network literature the need of phenomenological perspective is increasingly perceived. In this paper the results of an empiric research on the Enterprise Network Agreement (ENA) is reported. ENA is an important form of collaboration among companies, born in Italy, whose diffusion is rapidly growing, because it is considered by policy-makers a promising mean for the entrepreneurial development and the re-industrialization of the Country. Based on a survey addressed to a significant sample of ENAs formalized in central Italy regions, the paper draws a phenomenological framework on the strategic context of network formation and its organizational features on one side, and the performances obtained on the other side. This empiric evidences may represent a first attempt to build a solid base for the development of a credible scientific literature on business networking. From a theoretical point of view, this study firstly provides interesting insights to the living discussion in the managerial literature about “engineered” and “emergent” networks. Secondly, a specific focus is devoted to analyze those types of network in which ICT sector is involved and that are distributed in at least at two provinces, that is the kind of networks which is candidate to became what in the literature can be included in ‘second generation Virtual Breeding Environment’. In particular, the study aims to understand the characteristics of these different collaboration forms, and of how these characteristics influence their performances. At the same time, the research can serve as a useful indication for policy-makers to address supporting actions towards the most promising network collaborations.

Business information systems in a networked, smart and open environment

Network, Smart, and Open are three keywords that nowadays guide information systems (ISs) research. We discuss the relevance that these three topics, concerning technological and organizational innovations (i.e. cloud, smart technologies and networking), play for the development of accounting and management information systems. The aim is to investigate how these innovations could influence ISs, with a particular focus on accounting and management information systems, enhancing their information potentialities and their ability to support decision making processes, and improving accounting methodologies; performance measurement systems; data management; information systems architecture, external and internal reporting.

Strategic planning for value creation in business networks. Conceptual framework and theoretical proposals

This paper aims at providing some conceptual references to academics and practi-tioners useful for guiding the strategic planning process in alliance formation. Research on strategic networking is a multidisciplinary field drawing from different theoretical perspectives. It emphasizes the strategic value of alliances in its various forms but rarely attempts to model the strategic planning process and to test its validity empirically. Most of the contributions are focused on specific aspects of strategy, rarely providing a holistic view able to address the strategic process and contents by explicitly recognizing the existence of different kinds of alliances. Drawing from three different but interconnected theoretical roots (strategic net-work, strategic analysis, and value chain management) and adopting a deductive approach, this conceptual paper proposes a comprehensive framework for strategic planning in alliance formation and four theoretical propositions. These propositions shed light on the relationships between strategic planning process and three different kinds of business collaboration, and focus on the implications of the integrating process for network value creation. The different goals and complexity of such typologies, although not mutually exclusive, specifically influence the strategic analysis contents, the process of negotiation, and the construction of strategic consensus between partners.

Le sfide evolutive del Management Control tra relazioni strategiche, innovazione e discontinuità: a knowledge transfer matter?

Management control studies provide a relevant body of knowledge able to support any organization in the strategy formulation, information processing and performance measurement. The suggested frameworks and tools are now proposed and implemented in a wide range of organizational contexts to face the increasing environmental discontinuity, characterized by the growing importance of strategic relationships and institutional innovations. In this scenario, the selected papers discuss some theoretical proposals and cases of implementation that could be interpreted in the knowledge transfer perspective, stimulating an analytical approach able to foster the role of management control in supporting economic and social development.

Knowledge transfer in a start-up craft brewery

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of the entrepreneur in the knowledge transfer (KT) process of a start-up enterprise and the ways that role should change during the development phase to ensure mid-term business survival and growth. Design/methodology/approach An in-depth, qualitative case study of Birra Flea, an Italian Craft Brewery, is presented and analysed using Liyanage et al.’s (2009) framework to identify the key components of the KT process, including relevant knowledge, key actors, transfer steps and the criteria for assessing its effectiveness and success. Findings The entrepreneur played a fundamental and crucial role in the start-up process, acting as a selective and passionate broker for the KT process. As Birra Flea matures and moves into the development phase, the role of the entrepreneur as KT’s champion needs to be integrated and distributed throughout the organisation, with the entrepreneur serving as a performance controller. Research limitations/implications This study enriches the knowledge management literature by applying a framework designed to provide a general description of KT, with some modifications, to a single case study to demonstrate its effectiveness in differentiating types of knowledge and outlining how KT can be configured to support essential business functions in an SME. Practical implications The analysis systematises the KT mechanisms that govern the start-up phase of an award-winning SME, with suggestions for how to manage KT during the development phase. Seldom are practitioners given insight into the mechanics of a successful SME start-up; this analysis serves as a practical guide for those wishing to implement effective KT strategies to emulate Birra Flea’s success. Originality/value The world’s economy thrives on SMEs, yet many fail as start-ups before they even have a chance to reach the development phase, presenting a motivation to study the early stages of SMEs. This study addresses that gap with an in-depth theoretical analysis of successful, effective KT processes in an SME, along with practical implications to enhance the knowledge, experience and skills of the actors that sustain these vital economic enterprises.

Organizational Design and Collaborative Networked Organizations in a Data-Rich World: A Cybernetics Perspective

This paper will examine the importance of big data tools and digital technology for organizational design. Drawing on principles of cybernetics, particularly Ashby’s law of requisite variety and Beer’s Viable System Model (VSM), it will examine the potential implications of big data and digital developments for whether organizations need to be more centralized, decentralized or adopt networked arrangements with different level of stability and flexibility. The premise of the paper is that, for systems (such as organizations or collaborative networks) to remain viable, their internal complexity needs to reflect that of the environments in which they are based. Examples are provided from the case of the network agreement framework in Italy, which are analyzed using VSM as a theoretical framework.