Antonio Botti

Public-Private Partnerships and Network Governance

This article examines public-private partnership in light of the New Public Management and New Public Governance, showing the effect of the overlap and mix of elements generated by these paradigms. For purposes of the article, PPP is defined as a unit of analysis of a network, with particular reference to processes of coproduction and cocreation. The study explores these ideal types in the strategic planning of several Italian cities, differentiating PPPs on the basis of degree of participant involvement, a distinction based on such explanatory variables as the structure of the decision-making process, legitimacy, transparency, and accountability. Broadly speaking, the article seeks to understand how relationships among public and private partners affect partnership sustainability. The analysis highlights the prevalence of PPPs oriented toward coproduction.

The Re-Conceptualization of the Port Supply Chain as a Smart Port Service System: The Case of the Port of Salerno

This paper proposes a re-conceptualization of the port supply chain as a smart service system, in accordance with the theory of service science. Starting from a short literature review about the port supply chain approach and service science, a new comprehensive framework is provided to better understand seaport dynamics and the creation of competitive port supply chains. The methodology used is the case study approach. The Authors examined the Port of Salerno (Italy) and re-conceptualized it as a smart port service system. The originality of the work lies in the application of service science as a lens to re-conceptualize the port supply chain, that allows the implementation of a logistic framework. Both theoretical and practical implications are provided to enrich the literature about port supply chains and to support port operators.

Toward Smart Value Co-education

The current environmental context, highly competitive and turbulent, has shifted the focus of scholars and managers on forms of cooperation and participation able to ensure a timely and effective response to needs of who participate in value creation processes. The paper aims to open the way to new perspectives of analysis of educational context, enabling to understand how Value Co-creation is moving emergence of a new phenomenon, Smart Value Co-education, which integrates the main and distinctive towards a markedly smart education. This suggests the elements of three different but related approaches: Value Co-creation, Co-education and Smart Education. The work also offers some insights for future researches on Smart Value Co-education, suggesting to investigate, on one hand, users’ role and their active involvement for a better use of educational experience and, on the other, the factors unpredictably and rapidly influencing the emergence and development of new technologies for the dissemination of education.

What-if analysis combining Fuzzy Cognitive Map and Structural Equation Modeling

Nowadays, public funded universities have to increase their traction in acquiring students and in gaining and retaining their commitment, satisfaction and loyalty. In the area of information management, the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique has been widely applied to perform inter-construct causal analysis (i.e. Commitment, Quality of Services, Loyalty, etc.) on specific observed indicators in order to model and analyze student loyalty in educational institutions. Nevertheless, SEM does not support what-if analysis contrived to consider decision-making scenarios, such as: what happens to student loyalty if managers adopt a quality-based strategy, and so on. This work proposes to combine SEM results with a Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM) to support what-if analysis and to determine the best strategy to adopt for the case study of the Relationship Quality-Based Student Loyalty Model (RQSL). Specifically, the causal models retrieved from SEM will be exploited as the input map of concepts enabling FCM. Subsequently, FCM is performed considering different input configurations corresponding to specific managing strategies (e.g. investing in quality of service, or quality of teaching, etc.) activating/deactivating various input concepts in order to simulate implications on the output constructs (e.g., Loyalty, Commitment, etc.). The results of the experiments provide reasonably good estimates of the impact on student loyalty deriving from investing in each specific factor and provides a helpful analysis that will support decision making. Furthermore, this study highlights the opportunities deriving from the cross-fertilization between the management and computer science domains.

The Epistemology of Humane Entrepreneurship: Theory and Proposal for Future Research Agenda: JOURNAL OF SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

This paper proposes a new theory called Humane Entrepreneurship (HumEnt) and identifies areas for future development of knowledge. The new theory integrates in the Entrepreneurial Strategic Posture (ESP) three different concepts: Entrepreneurial Orientation, Sustainable Orientation, and Humane Resource Orientation. From this perspective, HumEnt theory can be considered an extension of previous research but with a new model for consideration. The components of the HumEnt theory and their relationships are outlined in an initial panel of propositions. HumEnt theory can help address the challenges present in creating a more sustainable world. Finally, a research agenda and questions are presented for future consideration.

Customer Value Co-creation in a Service-Dominant Logic Perspective: Some Steps Toward the Development of a Measurement Scale

The work aims at proposing a methodological procedure for value co-creation measurement. Despite the increasing popularity of the concept, in fact, extant research on value co-creation lacks the elaboration of an accepted framework for its measurement strictly complying with Service-Dominant logic’s assumptions.

Myth #3: Healthcare Institutions as Well as the Overall System Can Be Fixed by Bringing in the Great Leader

The recent global crisis has turned the spotlight on national health systems, and Italy in particular, which is undergoing serious difficulties, has once again seen the reigniting of the debate on the sustainability of its national health system.

Chapter 10 Organizing Festivals, Events and Activities for Destination Marketing

Abstract Community-run festivals are an emerging giant in the tourism industry. Nowadays many local festivals have emerged with the specific objectives of celebrating local culinary traditions, establishing business and trade of local products and developing sustainable destinations. Local events can influence the destination image, enabling the growth of tourist flows and stimulate destination marketing organizations to differentiate their own destination products from those of competitors. Two main aspects are analyzed: the main characteristics of local events and the influence of local festival on destination image. Moreover, the economic impact of festivals on the community and the main tourism management strategies adopted by managers are investigated. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications deriving from the chapter are discussed.

The Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intention of Young Researchers: Combining the Theory of Planned Behavior with the Triple Helix Model

Although the theme of academic spin‐off has received increasing consideration in entrepreneurship literature, little attention has been devoted to identifying the factors that drive young researchers to set up ventures based on the results of their research. To identify the determinants of academic entrepreneurial intention (AEI), we tested a model on a sample of Italian researchers using structural equation modeling and integrating the Triple Helix Model with the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The findings highlight that all psychological variables of TPB are relevant in predicting AEI, whereas only some contextual and exogenous variables (namely, government and industrial/financial support) directly influence AEI.