Anna Comacchio

The adoption process of corporate e‐learning in Italy

The diffusion process of e‐learning has been, in recent years, at the centre of several studies. These researches focused mainly on the USA case, where there has been an exponential adoption both in the public and private sectors. From this perspective the paper would give a contribution to understand the diffusion process of e‐learning in a specific country and it deals with the following questions: are there relevant consistencies in the rate and the model of adoption of e‐learning solutions in Italian companies? What are the causes of this process? Building on bandwagon theories and institutional literature, the paper analyses the antecedents of the adoption process in Italy, asking whether it is determined by the rational search for economic benefits, or is it driven by the fear of lost legitimacy or strategic advantage under institutional or competitive bandwagon pressures. The paper also looks into the solutions adopted by the Italian firms, studying their e‐learning strategies. To answer the research questions and to test the related propositions, an empirical study has been developed based on a survey, on interviews and document analysis. Since the e‐learning diffusion process in Italy is at an early stage, the research has been undertaken in two sectors, pharmaceutical and banking, where e‐learning has been adopted to a greater extent than in other sectors.

Innovation, complementarities and performance in micro/small enterprises

This paper gives an empirical contribution to the debate on new organisational forms, complementarities and their relation to a firms competitiveness by means of a study on the organisational evolution of Micro/Small Enterprises (MSEs), which represent more than 90% of European firms but are not yet well analysed from the organisational point of view. This paper, based on a survey on a sample of 147 Italian MSEs, investigates firstly the diffusion of a set of organisational and technological innovations. Secondly, the question is asked whether entrepreneurs invest in only one type of innovation or if there is a simultaneous adoption of coherent set of innovations. Finally, the relationship between the adoption of a system of innovations and the dynamic of firms performance measured by sales and product innovation is investigated.

Performance Evaluation for Knowledge Transfer Organizations: Best European Practices and a Conceptual Framework

The importance of Knowledge Transfer Organizations (KTOs) for boosting innovative performance both at regional and firm level has been highlighted by literature and empirical research (Kodama, 2008; Laranja, 2009; Muller & Zenker, 2001; Muscio, 2010; Tether T Reisman, 2005). Their mission is to be providers of knowledge intensive services to firms-receivers in the different phases of their innovation process (Howells, 2006) as well as to be part of a Knowledge Transfer (KT) infrastructure which promotes and facilitates networking activities between companies and public or private research institutions. Due to the increasing diffusion of KTOs operating in a regional innovation system and the variety of services provided, performance evaluation of these organizations is becoming paramount from different viewpoints. First, a measurement system by which different actors may gather performance information could help to overcome one of the main difficulties of creating a market for technological knowledge (Arora et al., 2001; Arora & Gambardella, 2010; Decter et al., 2007; Dosi et al., 2006; Lichtenthaler & Ernst, 2007), which is information asymmetry. Second, from the demand side, firms-receivers require a univocal method to compare and evaluate the offer of the different KTOs. Third, even KTOs need a performance measurement system on which they can rely to define their product/service portfolio and craft their competitive strategy at regional, national and international level. Finally, also local and regional institutions need to assess KTOs in order to define innovation policies and to allocate resources effectively. Despite the increasing need for measuring the effectiveness of KTOs, a still limited effort has been made by research to develop a performance measurement system based on a robust methodological framework. Approaches implemented by institutions and KTO associations like the IASP (International Association of Science Parks) or the European BIC Network, are based on multiple measures encompassing financial and economic metrics (for example the amount of investment made, the turnover generated, return on asset and return on equity), output indicators of the technology transfer process (for example the number of collaborative research agreements stipulated, the number of licenses executed or the number of spin-offs established) and input measures (such as physical space available, amount of

Diffusion patterns of lean practices: lessons from the European auto industry

Building on the original work of the authors and other international researches (MacDuffie and Pil, 1996; Kochan and Lansbury, 1996, Shimokaua, Jurgens and Fujimoto 1997), this paper examines some relevant aspects of automation and HRM in the auto industry after the “lean” revolution (Womack, Jones and Roos, 1989).

Open Innovation at Project Level: Key Issues and Future Research Agenda

This chapter addresses some key open issues of a project-based approach to open innovation, drawing on the empirical findings and theoretical discussion of the previous chapters. After a brief discussion of the theoretical gaps in the previous literature, we provide arguments in support of the adoption of a project-level of analysis when studying how firms organize open and distributed innovation processes. The chapter tackles two main themes of a project-based approach, identifying fertile avenues for future research. First, it analyzes factors explaining why firms decide to open their boundaries and to organize in-house tasks and outside source activities on a project basis. Antecedents related to the knowledge features of a project are discussed. Second, the chapter draws the attention to the still under-investigated relationship between the project level and the firm level of analysis. It discusses the challenge firms face in managing effectively and efficiently product development projects across boundaries in the short term as well as in building organizational capabilities and knowledge at firm level in the long run.

Cognition in Design Management. At the Intersection of Conceptual Innovation and Design Thinking

Design thinking has been a growing topic over the past years in management literature. The novelty brought by this approach to managing innovation processes is not simply due to an enriched set of phases and principles, but it rests on the way innovation opportunities are framed through design. We suggest that the design thinking approach helps to deal with an inner and deeper level of each innovation process, that is the conceptual one. Counterintuitively, we argue, that this process of conceptual innovation starts much earlier than the “concept generation phase�? already enucleated within the design thinking process. Drawing on most recent contributions on the cognitive nature of innovation processes, the paper aims at investigating the conceptual innovation mechanisms that are at play in design thinking dynamics. Through a multiple case study of three iconic design innovations in Italy, that revolutionized the way a scooter, a moka or a shop was conceived, and gave rise to a new generation of products and concept shops, we have identified the three phases of the design thinking in each innovation process and detected the mechanisms of conceptual innovation operating in each of them.

Developing Leadership Identity and Emotional Competencies in Higher Education: Methodological Insights and Empirical Evidence from the Italian Context

Abstract Research has extensively underlined the positive impact of emotional, social and cognitive competencies on leadership effectiveness. Despite the fact that literature acknowledges that these competencies can be learned from different experiences over a person’s lifetime, research has mainly focused on leadership development in adulthood. Through the case study of the Ca’ Foscari Competency Centre, this chapter advances the understanding on how higher education can favour leadership development at the early stage, in terms of identity formation and self-regulation, through the implementation of the intentional change theory, considering that this learning process varies according to different developmental trajectories.

Inside the conceptual innovation. The Huffington Post case study.

Novelty of meanings carried out by a new concept lay at the heart of different types of radical innovation, such as product, process or business model. The paper investigates the generation of nove...

Leveraging on projects to strategically organize open innovation

This chapter proposes a project-based view of open innovation in contexts where knowledge is dispersed and the locus of innovation does not reside inside a single organization. After a review of studies on the organization of innovative labor and the role of new product development projects, the chapter discusses how innovative projects could be conceived as a strategic site where the organization of the external network of knowledge sources takes place. It analyzes the main factors explaining firms’ propensity to design open innovation project-by-project. Adopting a contingency approach, it reviews recent research on the project features affecting inbound choices in innovative organizations and on the relation between project choices and the knowledge base of the firm. Finally, the chapter provides an overview of the chapters of the book and how they address some key theoretical and empirical open issues.

Exploring the Knowledge Space Through Project-Based Sourcing

Only recently has open innovation research emphasized the relevance of adopting a project-level contingency approach for explaining inbound sourcing choices. Our research aims to add to this issue by providing new insights on the knowledge-based determinants of sourcing decisions at the project level of analysis. We maintain that a new product development (NPD) project can be conceived as a strategic means not only to explore the knowledge space for the identification of high-valuesolutions,butalsotosearchthesourcesthatenablethefirmtodevelop the specific knowledge features. We suggest that the knowledge space explored by an NPDprojectisgroundedonthemainelementsofanindustrialinnovationsystemand thatitischaracterizedbytwokeydimensions,namelyknowledgenovelty,theknowl- edge space of the performance features of a product that meet new customer needs, and knowledge breadth, the knowledge space of technological domains to draw on for solving product-related problems. Our research is implemented on a sample of NPDprojectscarriedoutbyagroupofleadingItalianfirms,operatinginthemachine tool industry. Findings show that in companies which define sourcing on a project- by-project basis, projects that explore at the frontier of either novel product features or heterogeneous technological domains, spur firms to rely on external sources and tochooseR&Ddevelopmentagreementsasthegovernanceformtoinvolvepartners. Moreover, a high degree of knowledge novelty induces firms to search cognitive dis- tant partners instead of similar ones. Proposing a project-based approach to strategi-