Orlando Troisi

Green supply chain management

Purpose – Globalization has led worldwide organizations to balance their economic and environmental performances in order to achieve a concrete sustainable development. In an environmental centered world, logistics is called to put into action advanced programs based on technological and organizational improvement, in order to gain or maintain a concrete competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how logistics organizations try to face the recent ecological challenges and the role that the emergent green technologies play in making them finally “green” and competitive. Design/methodology/approach – Green supply chain management (GSCM) practices have been investigated to better understand their influence on economic performance and corporate competitiveness. After providing a background discussion on Green Logistics and GSCM, the authors have also identified specific research questions that are worthy of investigation, also thorough the DHL case study. The case study analysis has be...

Sustainable value creation in SMEs: a case study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study how a small to medium‐size enterprise (SME) in Campania (Italy) integrated sustainability into its corporate strategy, and how its sustainable corporate strategies reflect on intangible assets.Design/methodology/approach – The paper, an exploratory study based on grounded theory, analyzes are interviews with the entrepreneurial team and top and middle management. Findings are integrated with documentary analysis, internal process data and archival material.Findings – Ethics and value systems play a significant role in devising sustainable corporate strategy. Competitive strategies, innovation, quality and responsibility are reflected in management procedures and the supply network system involving partners in sustainable innovation processes.Research limitations/implications – A single case study obviously limits the generalizing of the findings.Practical implications – Entrepreneurs and managers can benefit from the study to build a relational network for s...

Iot-based smart cities: A survey

Due to the growing developments in advanced metering and digital technologies, smart cities have been equipped with different electronic devices on the basis of Internet of Things (IoT), therefore becoming smarter than before. The aim of this article is that of providing a comprehensive review on the concepts of smart cities and on their motivations and applications. Moreover, this survey describes the IoT technologies for smart cities and the main components and features of a smart city. Furthermore, practical experiences over the world and the main challenges are explained.

A new DSS based on situation awareness for smart commerce environments

Real time adaptation of marketing strategies and actions in smart commerce environments, such as shops and malls, is an open challenge with a tremendous impact for the survival of traditional retailers. A main issue of traditional retailers, in comparison with e-commerce shops, is that they usually rely on analysis of point-of-sales data after purchase and/or focus groups and self-reports where customers are asked about what they like or want. This techniques, even if solid grounded to marketing and consumer research, do not allow analysis of data and decision making in real time, i.e., when consumers are inside a shop. In this paper we present our results on the definition and validation of a decision support system for real time decision making on discount and promotion actions. The system makes decision on the basis of recognition and assessment of situations of interest for the consumers, modelled with heuristics related to behavioural economics results. We validated our solution in a virtual shop simulated with V-REP, demonstrating its capabilities to adapt with regards to the changes in the environments, in terms of sensors, people, products, and different situations.

Decision-Making in Smart Service Systems: A Viable Systems Approach Contribution to Service Science Advances

In contemporary dynamic markets, approaches to management based on systems theory have assumed increasing relevance, leading firms to valorise a holistic optic to challenge environmental changes. In particular, Viable Systems Approach (v S a) symbolizes the aforementioned holistic view of enterprises, introducing some innovative concepts that renovate traditional managerial paradigms in terms of decision-making. Simultaneously, in the field of service research, Service Science can be interpreted as an all-encompassing framework investigating the efficiency of firms, which are in turn intended as service systems; there are numerous points of convergence between Service Science research stream and the v S a. Therefore, this paper aims to combine the two, highlighting the common features, in order to propose insights for an integrated and shared macro level conceptualization of service systems and smart service systems. The main goal is to demonstrate the opportunities for capturing emerging contributes to Service Science advances. This can be achieved by fostering different views and paradigms, such as the v S a, thus avoiding a possible “missed call” from the existing worldwide Service Science research community.

The Internet of Things and Value Co-creation in a Service-Dominant Logic Perspective

The new capacities of pervasive and ubiquitous computing are defining new horizons for human creativity and connectivity. This is also because pervasive and ubiquitous computing is very often linked with other emerging technologies, such as the semantic Web, cloud computing, and affective computing. At the same time, there has been a rapid development in 3G and 4G networks as well as in the use of feature-rich smartphones. This means that everyone can be connected at anytime and anywhere. In the near future, the development of specific hardware as well as software will enable everyone to be in touch with everything and everywhere, thus closing the “circle of pervasiveness.” The Internet of the future promises to connect our mobile devices with everything (from the fridge in our homes to special sensors in our cars or even in our bodies), whenever and whereverwe are.

How Service Innovation Contributes to Co-Create Value in Service Networks

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how service innovations (in a living lab context) contribute to co-create value in a service network. Exploratory research is developed using a qualitative approach and case study on mobility services in Bologna. Our findings reveal that the involved entities are able to recombine their existing resources and design a new value proposition based on the ICT solution. Theoretical and empirical research suggests that collaboration and participation in decision making are critical to service system reconfiguration. The study shows the importance of including insights from Service Science Management and Engineering and Design (SSMED) in the management of network theory. Moreover, the research paves the way for new perspectives on analysis of local governance issues based on value co-creation processes in the ICT service solution context. Using this perspective, service innovations in the overall management of public services view a city as a Smart Local Service System (SLSS), whose competitiveness depends on its ability to access and share common resources to create mutual value.

La comunicazione negli enti locali: tra comunicazione istituzionale e comunicazione politica

Obiettivo del paper : Scopo del lavoro e comprendere il ruolo della comunicazione negli enti locali (E.L.) attraverso la valutazione del comportamento dell’organo politico (Giunta, Sindaco, Assessori) nell’indirizzare l’attivita di comunicazione alternativamente verso obiettivi propagandistici, istituzionali e/o sociali. Metodologia : La questione e stata affrontata sul piano teorico, normativo ed empirico attraverso un’analisi quali - quantitativa dei documenti chiave delle amministrazioni comunali nonche interviste condotte a funzionari pubblici, staff politici al governo e all’opposizione. Risultati : Le chiavi della ricerca sono state orientate a far emergere dati sulle attivita e modalita di comunicazione degli enti locali con un’approfondita analisi del rapporto tra comunicazione istituzionale e comunicazione politica. Limiti della ricerca : La ricerca e stata condotta sui comuni italiani superiori a 50.000 abitanti (149), pertanto non puo essere generalizzata ad altre amministrazioni pubbliche. Nuovi approfondimenti sarebbero utili. Originalita del lavoro : Il lavoro analizza e approfondisce la relazione tra comunicazione dell’istituzione pubblica e comunicazione politica, argomento che raramente e stato oggetto di uno specifico studio. Le ricerche in letteratura hanno investigato i diversi aspetti dei due poli, presi singolarmente nella loro diffusione, ma il loro rapporto e rimasto un’area di analisi poco indagata. Parole chiave: comunicazione; partiti politici; enti locali

Contextual Fuzzy-Based Decision Support System Through Opinion Analysis: A Case Study at University of the Salerno

According to the literature about customer satisfaction and loyalty, it is possible to define knowledge-based system to support management decision-making in the organizations. Nevertheless, the problem as to how much the context impacts on correlation has not been investigated in the literature. This paper focuses on developing of Decision Support System (DSS) taking into account correlations among statistical factors, i.e., expert knowledge, and customers’ opinions depending on several contextual features, e.g., culture, location, in order to build context-sensitive simulation environment. The proposed work defines a general system design workflow to tailor knowledge-based DSS by using a fuzzy model to quantify correlations among variables in a given context. We explore ontologies to represent correlations among statistical factors, e.g., Calculative Commitment, Quality of Service. We apply fuzzy data analysis techniques to train fuzzy classifier on the customer’s opinions collected by survey. Finally, synergistic usage of Description Logic and Fuzzy Theory allows the implementation of a simulation environment that supports the management team to tune business strategies. The framework has been instantiated for a case study to support public administration at the University of the Salerno.

The role of technology and institutions in tourism service ecosystems: Findings from a case study

Purpose n n n n nGiven the growing attention on service ecosystem and the role played by technology and institutions in shaping of actors’ relations and interactions, the purpose of this paper is to examine a tourism environment with the lens of service ecosystem in order to derive a deeper understanding on the underlying mechanisms. n n n n nDesign/methodology/approach n n n n nA mixed methodology was used. First, literature review based on service ecosystems framework was conducted to critically analyze the roles of technology and institutions to shape a tourism service ecosystem. Then a case study was conducted. n n n n nFindings n n n n nTwo main findings are described: the role and the characteristics of physical and virtual engagement touchpoints in the emergence of a tourism service ecosystems; and the relationship between technology and institutions in the resource integration. In particular, the authors conclude that institutions can shape the usage of technology which, in turn, can enable and imply the emergence of new institutions, continually adjusting the system of the tourism service ecosystem. n n n n nPractical implications n n n n nThe analysis contributes to deepening the knowledge about value co-creation processes and engagement expedients in tourism destination, explaining the role of institutions and technology in helping actors to integrate resources and exchange services. The study can also be useful for practitioners in search for powerful tool to increase the competitiveness of a tourism destination. n n n n nOriginality/value n n n n nThe study is one of the first attempts to conceptualize and operationalize a tourism destination in a service ecosystem framework. In this way it contribute to enhance scientific knowledge in a tourism management literature.