Andrea Lanza

Technology Change and Dynamic Entrepreneurial Capabilities

The paper examines how a small entrepreneurial firm can achieve successful product innovation and technology change by substituting the traditional drivers for innovation with higher order organizational capabilities. In particular, we introduce the concept of dynamic entrepreneurial capabilities defined as higher order capabilities peculiar to small and medium‐sized enterprises. We used a longitudinal case study to investigate a complex and discontinuous technology innovation undertaken by Vetromed. Our findings clarify the role of dynamic entrepreneurial capabilities in enacting, developing, refining, and deploying three substantive entrepreneurial capabilities: distributed entrepreneurial insight, entrepreneurial heuristics, and entrepreneurial flexibility.

Heterogeneous effects of heterogeneity

Purpose – The aim of the paper is to test the Heterogeneity Construct as a second‐order construct determined by dimensions expressing the resource utilization process carried out by firms, and to test the different impacts of Heterogeneity sub‐dimensions on firms performance.Design/methodology/approach – After collecting data on the machine tools industry, two models are tested by Lisrel. The first model is a second order confirmatory model. The second one is a structural model testing the causal relations between Heterogeneity components and Performance.Findings – It is found that Heterogeneity is a second order construct, whose dimensions differently contribute to firm performance: two of them positively and a third dimension negatively.Research limitations/implications – Limitations of the study refer to single industry used, limited sample size, and single respondents. Even if the sample size is low, it allows to run the model and to estimates results. The single respondent bias is mitigated by inter...

Institutional Dynamism across time and levels:The evidence from the Italian wine industry.

In this study, we explore time- and level-dynamism in the context of Institutional Entrepreneurship (IE). To date, theory has focused mostly on the conditions that enables IE and on the social position in the field of those social actors who are candidates to become institutional entrepreneurs; instead, it has not paid adequate attention to the evolving outcomes associated to institutional entrepreneurship, assuming such outcomes as a predetermined black-or-white pattern, i,e, either a success (the acceptance of a change effort) or a failure (the rejection of the said change). By means of a longitudinal study in the Italian wine industry, we observed how Piero Antinori became an institutional entrepreneur and envisioned how to change, first, the local Chianti DOC regulation, and, subsequently, the general legislation on Italian wines. Our study makes several contributions to the IE literature, in particular, as regards the causal relationship between IE and context uncertainty and with respect to IE acros...

Unpacking knowledge resources contribution to performance,and the role of middle managers.

In this study, by unpacking the collective shared experience among team members, we investigate the contribution of knowledge and human capital resources to performance, and then explore whether an...

La resource-based theory: un programma di ricerca per gli studi di strategia

Gli ultimi due decenni hanno registrato l’emergere di un nuovo approccio nell’analisi delle differenze di performance tra le imprese, comunemente noto come resource-based view. L’orientamento cumulativo degli studi condotti negli ultimi venti anni nella prospettiva resource-based consente di identificare in essa un programma di ricerca per la disciplina dello strategic management (Lakatos, 1976). La definizione di un programma di ricerca parte dal riconoscimento del nucleo centrale, cioe dell’insieme di teorie successive che condividono alcune ipotesi fondamentali e della cintura protettiva, cioe insieme di ipotesi ausiliarie su cui gli studiosi si concentrano per l’avanzamento del programma di ricerca stesso. Per tale ragione, questo articolo ha quale obiettivo seguire un percorso metodologico scandito: l’identificazione dei filoni di studio che hanno contribuito allo sviluppo della teoria delle risorse (paragrafo 1); la definizione del core concettuale di tale teoria (paragrafo 2); l’analisi degli aspetti su cui vi e sostanziale accordo tra studiosi, unitamente all’esame dei temi su cui, invece, il dibattito e ancora aperto (paragrafo 3); l’identificazione degli elementi su cui occorre proseguire in uno sforzo di avanzamento del programma di ricerca (paragrafo 4). Parole chiave: RBV, programmi di ricerca, risorse.

Le determinanti della sopravvivenza dell’impresa in contesti sfavorevoli: verso una tipologia di comportamenti imprenditoriali

Questo saggio offre un modello predittivo dell’efficacia imprenditoriale nei contesti sfavorevoli. Esplorando la letteratura sul tema, attraverso un procedimento di analisi fattoriale, prima esplorativa e poi confermativa, e stata identificata una tipologia di comportamenti imprenditoriali idonei a favorire la sopravvivenza dell’impresa in ambienti ostili, tipologia composta da quattro comportamenti: relazionale, imitativo, arbitraggista, auto-referenziale. Key words: imprenditorialita, ambienti ostili, istituzioni

L’approccio sistemico di Gaetano M. Golinelli al governo dell’impresa. Riflessioni di sintesi

L’Approccio Sistemico al Governo dell’Impresa - nell’ampia prospettiva su cui si delineano i primi due volumi dell’opera - abbraccia una visione dei processi d’impresa articolata e sistematica, nell’ambito della quale vengono presi in esame non solo molti tra i differenti approcci concettuali all’analisi degli accadimenti aziendali, ma anche le fondamentali interrelazioni che legano tali accadimenti alle dinamiche delle istituzioni e dei sistemi, latu sensu, esterni alle imprese. (to be continued ...)

Il cambiamento tecnologico e le capacità imprenditoriali: il caso del vetro acidato

Technology change and entrepreneurial capabilities: evidence from etched glass industry - The aim of the paper is to investigate how a given entrepreneurial firm can substitute the traditional innovation resources (RD entrepreneurial heuristics; entrepreneurial flexibility. Keywords: dynamic entrepreneurial capabilities, substantive capabilities, technology change Parole chiave: capacita dinamiche imprenditoriali, capacita imprenditoriali parziali, cambiamento tecnologico Jel Classification: O30 - O32 - O55

La definizione del costrutto di eterogeneità e il legame eterogeneità-performance

Defining the heterogeneity construct and linking it to performance Although heterogeneity has gained broad acknowledgement as a crucial phenomenon in the resource-based perspective, its relevance, whether as a source of inter-firm differences or of differences in firms’ performance, has often been taken for granted rather been empirically assessed. Further, heterogeneity has been accepted as a self-explanatory concept instead of being studied and clarified as a construct for empirical research. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to define the heterogeneity construct and to eventually link the latter to firms’ performances. A research on a 132 firms sample drawn from the Italian tool machine industry has been carried out to pursue this task. By means of a Structural Equation Model (LISREL) a 3-dimension construct has emerged; the heterogeneity construct dimensions are: contextuality, complexity and intertwinedness. The impact of heterogeneity on firms’ performance has also been confirmed by means of LISREL. . Keywords: resource-heterogeneity, construct development, competitive advantage, Structural Equations Models Parole chiave: eterogeneita delle risorse, sviluppo del costrutto, legame eterogeneitavantaggio competitivo, modelli di equazioni strutturali . Jel Classification: M100

PREVENTIVE CAPACITY AND THE MEDIATING ROLE OF METACOGNITION IN HYPERCOMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENTS.

The article presents management science research on organizational change and learning in hypercompetition, the situation facing business enterprises dealing with where technological innovations and other factors lead to almost constantly changing circumstances. Means of effective decision making in hypercompetition are examined. Strategies based on metacognition, a process in which a problem is discussed without reference to a companys past experience, are found to be effective.