Nicola Bellantuono

Mapping the Knowledge Supply Chain to Foster Innovation

Knowledge Supply Chains (KSCs) are the networks that provide knowledge supplies so nourishing one or more business processes carried out by a firm. KSCs are particularly crucial for innovation development processes. The need to recur to open KSCs during the accomplishment of such processes is indeed emphasized by the recent literature on open innovation (Kirschbaum, 2005; Chesbrought, 2006; Gassman, 2006; Van de Vrande et al., 2009). However, as scholars adopt different definitions of openness and stress different practices, it is not clear what open really means (Dahlander and Gann, 2010). Research is called for to further classify the different practices and, above all, to measure the impact of open vs. closed innovation so as to support companies in the identification of the right balance (Enkel et al., 2009). In the paper a methodology to map and analyze KSCs arising during an innovation development process is proposed. The methodology is described with specific reference to New Product Development (NPD) which is widely common as well as strategic in many firms. The methodology supports the characterization of the knowledge supplies (also in terms of the adopted collaboration approach) and the assessment of their criticality within the NPD process. Hence, it (1) contributes to make the concept of openness clearer and (2) provide companies with a clear picture of the process and its criticalities.

Assessing Resources and Dynamic Capabilities to Implement the “Green Campus” Project

“Green Campus” is a project developed by Politecnico di Bari, an Italian technical university, interested to start a “journey” towards sustainability. This paper illustrates the Green Campus project through the lens of two organizational theories, i.e. the resource-based view (RBV) and the dynamic capabilities theory (DCT). RBV is adopted to present the specific resources owned by Politecnico di Bari and analyze their usefulness for developing the project. DCT is used to describe the capabilities which Politecnico di Bari should leverage on to integrate, build, and reconfigure resources in order to meet the challenges of sustainability and actually implement the project. To the authors’ knowledge, neither RBV nor DCT have been still used to study organizations different from firms. The novel field of application of these theories is an interesting insight of the paper. Moreover, this study contributes to give a theoretical foundation to the topic of sustainable university, so covering a lack of the extant literature. Finally, it suggests specific directions in terms of resources and capabilities that universities need to commit to a sustainable future through the creation of a green campus.

Markets of Logistics Services: The Role of Actors’ Behavior to Enhance Performance

In real markets of logistics services, actors make independent decisions to pursue their own objectives, neglecting the need for maximizing performance of the market as a whole. The aim of this chapter is to assess the inefficiency of such logistics markets and define policies to improve system-wide performance, taking into account each actor’s behavior. A simulation model of a logistics marketplace is thus defined, wherein the transportation needs of a number of shippers have to be matched with the capacities of several carriers. The model is used to assess the players’ behavior and system performance in a decentralized logistics market. The analysis shows the extent to which certain features of the market affect inefficiency, stressing the room for improvement. Based on simulation results, several recommendations are given, aimed at influencing the actors’ autonomous decision making. We discuss how the recommendations’ efficacy is impacted by behavioral issues.

Coordination of the Supplier–Retailer Relationship in a Multi-period Setting: The Additional Ordering Cost Contract

Coordinating supply chains by adopting a centralized decision making approach, which is theoretically desirable, is often practically infeasible, if not ineffective: the high number of involved companies in a supply chain, the lack of adequate contractual power concentrated in the hand of only a few of them, the difficulty to gather all the relevant information by the unique/few decision maker/s, are some of the many reasons preventing supply chains from implementing such a centralized coordination approach.