Marco De Maggio

Toward an open network business approach

The aim of this paper is to propose a dynamic integrated approach, based on modularity concept and on the business ecosystem approach, that exploit different eBusiness services for SMEs under an open business network platform. The adoption of this approach enables firms to collaborate locally for delivering the best product/service to the customers as well as globally by accessing international markets, interrelate directly with the customers, create relationships and collaborate with worldwide actors. The paper will be structured as following: We will start by offering an overview of the state of the art of eBusiness platforms among SME of food and tourism firms and then we discuss the main drawbacks that characterize them. The digital business ecosystem approach and the modularity concept will be described as the theoretical ground in which our proposed integrated model is rooted. Finally, the proposed model along with a discussion of the main value creation potentialities it might create for SMEs will be presented.

The Emergence of a New Managerial Mindset

The last two centuries have been marked by many significant paradigm shifts, related to changes in concepts and their interpretations.

Allowing citizens to self-compose personalized services: a cloud computing model

This paper presents a Cloud Computing (CC) model designed for the service-to-citizens provided by the Public Administration and investigates the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) as the suitable architectural approach, scalable and interoperable, to allow anyone to design a desirable service. Together with the extensive use of mashup it shows its ability to allow users to personalize their services. Citizens, thanks to this flexible model, could self-compose their services in a variety of ways, specifically designed to include people spanning from the so-called digital natives to people minimally experienced with technologies.

Quantum Modeling of Social Networks

This research aims at the application of the models extracted from the many-body quantum mechanics to describe social dynamics. It is intended to draw macroscopic characteristics of communities starting from the analysis of microscopic interactions with respect to the node model. In the aim to experiment the validity of the proposed mathematical model, the Q.NET project is intended to define an open-source platform able to model nodes and interactions of a network, to simulate its behaviour starting from specific defined models. Q.NET project will allow to visualize the macroscopic results emerging during the analysis and simulation phases through a digital representation of the social network.

Technology-Driven Entrepreneurship Within the Framework of Regional Development Policies

Technology-driven entrepreneurship is largely recognised as a knowledge-intensive process and strategic asset for the competitiveness of individuals, organisations and regions. In this perspective, governments and supranational institutions have recently launched programmes for promoting the nurturing and development of technology-driven entrepreneurship, aware that regions and countries present different performances in promoting and sustaining innovative entrepreneurial processes. There is an urgent need to understand how and through which instruments governments can sustain the creation of technology-driven entrepreneurship. In this chapter, we focus on the European context, by starting with an understanding of the pillars and objectives of the Smart Specialisation Strategy as the political framework supporting the intelligent growth of the European regions up to 2020. The achievement of the ambitious objectives of Smart Specialisation is based on the entrepreneurial discovery process, starting from the valorisation of the key enabling technologies to create new entrepreneurial ventures as well as to renew and make the existing ones more competitive. The dynamics enabling this process of intelligent growth are coherent with the current debate on innovation ecosystems and the systemic approach to regional development. Aimed at providing an explanation of those trends and scenarios, the chapter will present some implications for the political agendas of institutions and researchers. After the identification and analysis of some best practices at the European level, the chapter explores a set of actions useful for defining a set of priorities for a political agenda able to support the development of entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviours, mainly in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in universities and in public institutions.

e-business case as a tool for facilitating ICT adoption in local government agencies

A major challenge for Local Governments today is represented by the introduction of new networked service delivery models able to coordinate a number of different local actors for responding effectively to increasing communitys expectations. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are instrumental here. Though, the implementation of ICTs in Local Government Agencies (LGA) is a challenge too. Thats why effective new services delivery models and successful adoption of enabling ICTs within the LGA goes hand-in-hand. Following these considerations, this paper aims at illustrating a case of ICT-based solutions adoption into a Local Government Agency in charge of tourism promotion. More specifically the e-business case methodology crafted and used for this purpose will be shown. In doing so, the role of the e-business case will be advocated both as a tool to accompany Local Government Agencies into the process of introducing and using ICTs, both as a starting point for a wider strategy aimed at modernizing local communities though ICTs.

A Learning Dashboard to Monitor an Open Networked Learning Community

This chapter proposes an operational model to monitor and assess an Open Networked Learning Community. Specifically, the model is based on the Intellectual Capital framework, along the Human, Structural and Social dimensions. It relies on the social network analysis to map several and complementary perspectives of a learning network. Its application allows to observe and monitor the cognitive behaviour of a learning community, in the final perspective of tracking and obtaining precious insights for value generation.

SuperJet International case study: a business network start-up in the aeronautics industry

This chapter presents the SuperJet International case study, a start-up in the aeronautics industry characterized by a process-oriented approach and a complex and as yet evolving network of partnerships and collaborations. The chapter aims to describe the key points of the start-up process, highlighting common factors and differences compared to the TEKNE Methodology of Change, with particular reference to the second and third phase, namely, the design and deployment of new techno-organizational systems. The SuperJet International startup is presented as a case study where strategic and organizational aspects have been jointly conceived from a network-driven perspective. The chapter compares some of the guidelines of the TEKNE Methodology of Change with experiences and actual practices deriving from interviews with key players in SJI’s start-up process.

A methodology aimed at fostering and sustaining the development processes of an IE-based industry

In the current competitive scenario, where business relationships are fundamental in building successful business models and inter/intra organizational business processes are progressively digitalized, an end-to-end methodology is required that is capable of guiding business networks through the Internetworked Enterprise (IE) paradigm: a new and innovative organizational model able to leverage Internet technologies to perform real-time coordination of intra and inter-firm activities, to create value by offering innovative and personalized products/services and reduce transaction costs. This chapter presents the TEKNE project Methodology of change that guides business networks, by means of a modular and flexible approach, towards the IE techno-organizational paradigm, taking into account the competitive environment of the network and how this environment influences its strategic, organizational and technological levels. Contingency, the business model, enterprise architecture and performance metrics are the key concepts that form the cornerstone of this methodological framework.

Design of a web 2.0 learning laboratory for developing Managerial Competencies

This article describes the Applied Learning Laboratory (ALL), a model-based on a learner-centered approach for developing Managerial Competencies that takes advantage of the benefits of web 2.0 technologies. Within the ALL, a collaborative platform including blogs, wikis, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds and folksonomy, supports cooperative learning, project-based learning and problem-based learning within the more general framework of the case-based method. Our interest is in understanding how to combine the effectiveness of the case-based method – a powerful way to learn the skills and attitudes required to manage and to lead – with the benefits deriving from web 2.0 technologies. The ALL enables a community of mentors and learners to learn new perspectives on the analysis of real business cases aided by web 2.0 technologies that serve as facilitators of communication, virtual collaboration and problem solving development.