Rosa Caiazza

M&A process: a literature review and research agenda

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present new insights on cross-border merger and acquisition (MA Gogan et al., 2013; Soni and Kodali, 2011) the authors conduct a structured literature review aimed to divide M&A process in three phases evidencing for each of them the specific aspects and future development of researches. Findings – The paper evidences new strategic motivations, implementation and post-merger integration challenges, especially focussing on cultural issues. Finally the authors emphasize the need for novel indicators of acquisition success such as new and distinct capability development post acquisition. Ori...

Benchmarking of business incubators

Purpose – Despite of the relevance of incubators, science and technology parks on technology diffusion, few studies have compared different systems of innovation to identify the main factors affecting their capability to support spin-offs. Although research on incubators has received increased attention in recent years, few studies have been focused on the main factors affecting their underdevelopment in some developed economies. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap in the literature by analysing the Italian system of innovation through a comparative analysis with other developed economies. Design/methodology/approach – The paper proposes a comparative analysis in order to evidence the main differences between systems of innovation. Based on these differences, it aims to analyse the main factors characterizing the Italian system of innovation. Findings – This paper identifies the main factors that explain diversity among systems of innovation. It then presents a deep analysis of the Italian syste...

Innovation in agro-food chain: Policies, actors and activities

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to offer a new perspective on innovation in agro-food industry. Innovations in the agro-food industry depend on multiple forces interacting with each other under specific rules to create new ways to deal with social or economic processes. The relevance of this topic for the whole economy leads the authors to investigate main drivers of innovation in agro-food system. Design/methodology/approach - – The authors provide a framework that considers the role of policies, actors and activities for innovation in the agro-food industry and tests its validity on the Campanian tomato sub-system. Findings - – The authors’ framework applied to Campanian tomato sub-system shows the role of institutions, actors and activities in promoting innovation in agro-food system. Originality/value - – The paper offers a new perspective on innovation in agro-food industry.

Explaining innovation in mature industries: evidences from Italian SMEs

In recent years management scholars and practitioners have been interested in innovation in high-technology industries. However, little attempt has been undertaken to examine factors affecting innovation in mature industries, such as agro-food. In this paper we tried to fill this literature gap. We hypothesise that weak-collaborations have a positive effect on firms’ innovations. We test our hypotheses on a sample of Italian agro-food firms. We discuss our results and present some theoretical and practical implications.

Interaction despite of diversity: is it possible?

Purpose – Italy is traditionally one of Egypt’s main trading partners, ranking first both as import and export partner. However, Italian firms face several cultural problems in Egypt. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of cross-cultural differences faced by Italian firms’ operating in Egypt. The investigation of cross-cultural differences is facilitated by the examination of interaction between Italian and Egyptian culture using Hofstede and GLOBE’s cultural attributes and dimensions. Design/methodology/approach – The qualitative analysis has been conducted through face to face interviews of individuals working for Italian firms operating in Egypt. These interviews were structured to specifically identify the impact of cultural differences on the interaction between Italian and Egyptian firms. Findings – The results show that Italy is one of the most important commercial partners of Egypt. However, cultural diversity results in Italian small and medium enterprises facing risks when ope...

Policy and institutions facilitating entrepreneurial spin-offs: USA, Asia and Europe

Purpose - – Existing work documents the role that institutional setting plays in the process of spin-off creation. However, despite decades of studies, scholars have not clearly explained why some regions are more involved in spin-off activity than others. Drawing from institutional theory, the purpose of this paper is to compare different institutional settings identifying factors affecting the general environment capability to support spin-off activity of a specific region. Design/methodology/approach - – The authors utilize a cross-national analysis of American, Asian, and European areas identifying factors affecting their different rate of spin-off activity. This study contributes to the policy debate concerning entrepreneurship and how best to spur spin-off activities. Findings - – In this paper, the authors identify the general and specific factors that explain the cross-national diversity in spin-off creation. The authors then perform an analysis of the impact of these factors in various regions of the USA, Asia, and Europe, providing evidence for the necessity of specific combinations of these factors. Originality/value - – The paper offers a new perspective on the causes of spin-offs through a cross-national analysis of many areas around the world.

Interlocks network structure as driving force of coopetition among Italian firms

Purpose – The prevalent literature considers interlocking directorates as a mechanisms of cooperation among companies, but if the same director seats on the boards of two companies that are in competition, interlocking directorates, matching cooperation with competition, become a coopetition mechanism. This article aims to argue that the analysis of both the structure and the evolution of interlocking directorates provides some relevant insights on the driving forces behind the coopetition among firms.Design/methodology/approach – Through a longitudinal study the authors analyzed relations among Italian listed firms belonging to financial or manufacturing sectors and traced the evolution networks of interlocking directorates among them. They then analyzed the coopetitive nature of interlocking directorates among firms acting in the same sector that are in direct competition and their impact on M&A processes.Findings – It was evidenced that interlocking directorates among firms belonged to the same industr...

Factors fostering students’ spin-off firm formation

Purpose – The university is an institution with a long history and, over the course of the centuries, it has gone through several stages in its development. While initially conceived as an institution with a teaching “mission,” the university later adopted a knowledge generation function (research). In recent years, the idea has emerged that the university is assuming a “third mission”: contributing to society and economic development more directly; turning the university into an Entrepreneurial University. What, however, constitutes this Entrepreneurial University? Are all Entrepreneurial Universities composed of the same factors? The purpose of this paper is to answer these significant questions, through an empirical analysis performed on a sample of 59 Northern and Southern European universities. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical analysis performed on a sample of 59 Northern and Southern European universities. Findings – The findings show that students’ spin-off firm formation is the only differe...

Main rules and actors of Italian system of innovation: how to become competitive in spin-off activity

Purpose - – The purpose of this study is to analyze Italian system of innovation and evidence factors that can affect its global competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach - – The article provides a conceptual analysis of main factors of competitiveness of an innovation system and an empirical discussion of Italian case. Findings - – The article evidences main factors affect Italian systems of innovation that both researchers and practitioners can use in their activities. Originality/value - – The article offers a new perspective on innovation systems.

Factors affecting spin-off creation: Macro, meso and micro level analysis

Purpose - – The aim of the paper is to present a theoretical approach and an empirical analysis of factors affecting the spin-off creation, as although research on spin-off has increasingly received attention in recent years, few studies have focused on the main factors of the spin-off creation. Design/methodology/approach - – Considering the exploratory nature of our research objectives, the Universite Libre de Bruxelles cases were chosen to evidence macro-, meso- and microfactors that affect the universitys ability to create a spin-off. Findings - – Many factors that affect the spin-off creation were evidenced. Originality/value - – A multilevel perspective for the spin-off analysis was offered.