Matteo Pedrini

In search of socio‐economic syntheses

Purpose – Starting from the premise that responsible managers utilize their competences and creativity to carry out projects which improve stakeholder satisfaction and economic performance simultaneously, the paper aims to present a classification of these solutions, called socio‐economic syntheses, and the way to reach them.Design/methodology/approach – The paper refers to literature on corporate social responsibility and sustainability, with special attention to contributions on the relationship between social performance and economic performance. In particular, the model presented highlights several successful case studies that have been studied or directly observed in large and medium‐sized firms.Findings – The paper provides a classification of seven categories of socio‐economic syntheses, from solutions concerning operational management, often applicable in different industries, to projects with greater strategic value, which are typically firm‐specific. Moreover, two ways to achieve a win‐win solut...

The Effect of Brand Management and Product Quality on Firm Performance: The Italian Craft Brewing Sector

ABSTRACT The article contributes to the limited literature on marketing strategies of microfirms operating in new niches within mature industries. The study explores the effect of brand management processes and product quality on performance of microfirms in the Italian brewing industry. Preliminary qualitative interviews with eight entrepreneurs were realized. Then 92 questionnaires were collected from the entire population of 335 microbreweries operating in Italy for quantitative analysis. Findings suggest intrinsic product quality being the most relevant determinants of firms’ performance, while the adoption of brand management processes exerts a significant, negative impact. The article takes into account the relationship between brand management, quality, and performance by focusing on a single industry. Future research may enhance the significance of our findings by including multiple sectors. Entrepreneurs and microbusiness leaders should carefully assess both external (industry life-cycle stage) and internal (resource availability) factors before engaging in any brand management activity. In mature firms, it may be more beneficial and effective focusing on enhancing product quality. The article addresses an important gap regarding the adoption of brand management practices in microfirms, adding to the emerging strategic marketing literature in the small business field.

Do entrepreneurial education programs impact the antecedents of entrepreneurial intention? An analysis of an entrepreneurship MBA in Ghana

Purpose Since the number of Entrepreneur Education Programs (EEPs) is constantly increasing, there is an ongoing debate on their effectiveness on entrepreneurial intention, but mixed results were found. This paper aims to analyse the impact of an EEP on the antecedents of the entrepreneurial intention in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach Following the theory of planned behaviour, we analysed the impact of the EEP on 30 participants of the “E4impact MBA” managed in Accra (Ghana), using an explanatory approach with a mixed-method quasi-experimental design featuring pre and post-testing as well as methods for measuring students’ self-perceived change. Findings Results show that EEPs strongly and positively affect some physiological characteristics, skills, and knowledge of participants, which are antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions. Originality/value The study offers a perspective of EEPs programs in a fast-expanding market, covering the lack of studies on entrepreneurship in these areas, and it is focus on a post-graduate program covering the lacks of studies on these level of education.

Transfer to transform. Leveraging firm’s knowledge to mold corporate foundation’s effectiveness

Abstract Purpose This article aims at investigating knowledge transfer and exchange (KTE) between founder firms and corporate foundations (CFs), looking at mechanisms able to enhance CFs’ orientation of effectiveness. Methodology/approach We analyze 50 questionnaires collected through a survey of CFs based in Italy (redemption of 42.7% of the total). We use a number of regressions to verify the change of explained variance moving from a basic model with control variables (enter method) and a model including KTE mechanisms with an impact on orientation to effectiveness (stepwise method). Findings The analysis produced a model which underlines the influence of knowledge transfer mechanisms in stimulating orientation to effectiveness. The adoption of specific knowledge transfer mechanisms by founder firms can have a significant influence on how CFs manage their effectiveness. Three mechanisms emerge from the study as elements with a positive impact. Practical implication The results apply to nonprofit or public bodies, especially if we consider partnerships or organizational networks. The individuated criteria for selecting a positive KTE could drive similar choices of other nonprofit bodies. Social implication The study individuates a set of practices that are potentially able to influence positively the orientation to effectiveness of CFs, and the capacity to perform their activities and respond to social needs more successfully. Originality/value This research considers CFs as founder firms’ subsidiaries, with a growing strategic importance. This research reveals how KTE mechanisms can foster the development of orientation to effectiveness if implying interaction, firms’ commitment, autonomy, and alignment with the firms’ strategy and CFs’ purposes.

Assessing the health research’s social impact: a systematic review

In recent year, a growing attention is dedicated to the assessment of research’s social impact. While prior research has often dealt with results of research, the last decade has begun to generate knowledge on the assessment of health research’s social impact. However, this knowledge is scattered across different disciplines, research communities, and journals. Therefore, this paper analyzes the heterogeneous picture research has drawn within the past years with a focus on the health research’s social impact on different stakeholders through an interdisciplinary, systematic review. By consulting major research databases, we have analyzed 53 key journal articles bibliographically and thematically. We argued that the adoption of a multi-stakeholder could be an evolution of the existing methods used to assess impact of research. After presenting a model to assess the health research’s social impact with a multi stakeholder perspective, we suggest the implementation in the research process of three practice: a multi-stakeholder workshop on research agenda; a multi stakeholder supervisory board; a multi-stakeholder review process.

The impact of different supports on work-family conflict

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how the actual use of supports available from the state, organisations and families helps workers reduce perceived work–family conflict (WFC), explored from both works interfering with family (WIF) and family interfering with work (FIW) perspectives.,The study is based on a survey of 2,029 employees at six large Italian firms. To test hypotheses, a hierarchical regression analysis was performed.,WFC should be explored considering its bi-directionality, as supports have different impacts on WIF and FIW. Workplace instrumental support elicits mixed effects on WFC, whereas workplace emotional support and familiar support reduce both FIW and WIF.,The study is limited to the Italian national context, and data were collected in a single moment of time, which did not allow for observing changes in employees’ lives.,Human resource managers, as well as policy makers, will find this study’s results useful in designing effective work–life balance policies and supports, in which attention is devoted mainly to promoting workplace emotional supports and facilitating familiar support.,The study highlights that by reducing pressures from work and family responsibilities that generate WFC conditions, organisational and familiar supports elicit different effects, which should be considered carefully when defining policies and interventions.,This study is one of the few that compare the role of supports provided by actors in different sectors on FIW and WIF, thereby allowing for an understanding of whether the bi-directionality of the conflicts is a relevant perspective.

Stakeholder management: a systematic literature review

The stakeholder theory is a prominent management approach that has primarily been adopted in the past few years. Despite the increase in the theory’s use, a limited number of studies have discussed ways to develop, execute and measure the results of using this strategic approach with stakeholders. This study aims to address this gap in the literature by conducting a systematic review of the stakeholder management process.,Five databases were selected to search articles published from 1985 to 2015. The keywords used were stakeholder management, stakeholder relationship and stakeholder engagement. Starting from 2,457 articles identified using a keyword search, 33 key journal articles were systematically reviewed using both bibliometric and qualitative methods for analysis.,The results highlight that stakeholder management is increasingly embedded in corporate activities, and that the coming of the internet, social networking and Big Data have put more pressure on companies to develop new tools and techniques to manage stakeholders online. In conclusion, synthesizing the findings and developed framework allows the understanding of different streams of research and identifies future steps for research.,While literature reviews are a widespread practice in business studies, only a few more recent reviews use the systematic review methodology that aggregates knowledge using clearly defined processes and criteria. This is the first review on stakeholder management in which the structure is existing knowledge on strategy development, execution and the measurement of performance.

Institutional pressures and internal motivations of work-life balance organizational arrangements in Italy

Drawing upon theories regarding both institutional and organisational culture, this paper explores how organisations respond to both coercive pressures and internal motivations when implementing work-family balance (WFB) arrangements, thus making an original contribution to the field. The study is developed using the Italian context, which represents a well-known welfare-state model, and includes a sample of 107 organisations divided nearly equally among the for-profit, non-profit and public sectors. The studys results suggest that there is sector-specific heterogeneity in terms of both motivations for implementing WFB and the types of arrangements provided. Indeed, the various institutional contexts that characterise sectors significantly influenced the WFB arrangements implemented at the organisational level. In addition, the various cultural settings and attitudes of the three sectors determined various behaviour patterns.

Exploring the effect of gender diversity in MFIs during turbulent periods

Abstract Gender diversity is generally recognized as relevant in microfinance, and the relationship between gender diversity and firms’ performance has received attention in academic literature. The above-mentioned relationship has not been addressed until now in the microfinance industry specifically. This study seeks to explain the role played by gender diversity in the workforce of microfinance institutions (MFIs) during turbulent periods in the firms’ performance. The study analyses data from 555 ratings of 185 MFIs from MicroFinanza Rating, a leading microfinance rating agency. The analysis shows that the number of women on the staff of MFIs is significantly and positively associated with both the Return on Equity and Operational Self-Sufficiency of MFIs, indicating a positive impact of gender diversity on firms’ performance.

measurement of social impact in financial institutions: the case of Banca Popolare Etica

In recent years a new type of banks is offering a business model that is different from traditional banks: the ethical banks. These banks are aimed at offering financial services as instruments to ...