Paolo Canonico, Ernesto De Nito, Vincenza Esposito, Gerarda Fattoruso, Mario Pezzillo Iacono and Gianluigi Mangia
The paper focuses on how knowledge visualization supports the development of a particular multiobjective decision-making problem as a portfolio optimization problem in the context…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper focuses on how knowledge visualization supports the development of a particular multiobjective decision-making problem as a portfolio optimization problem in the context of interorganizational collaboration between universities and a large automotive company. This paper fits with the emergent knowledge visualization literature because it helps to explain decision-making related to the development of a multiobjective optimization model in Lean Product Development settings. We investigate how using ad hoc visual tools supports knowledge translation and knowledge sharing, enhancing managerial judgment and decision-making.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical case in this study concerns the setting up of a multiobjective decision-making model as a portfolio optimization problem to analyze and select alternatives for upgrading the lean production process quality at an FCA plant.
Findings
The study shows how knowledge visualization and the associated tools work to enable knowledge translation and knowledge sharing, supporting decision-making. The empirical findings show why and how knowledge visualization can be used to foster knowledge translation and sharing among individuals and from individuals to groups. Knowledge visualization is understood as both a collective and interactional process and a systematic approach where different players translate their expertise, share a framework and develop common ground to support decision-making.
Originality/value
From a theoretical perspective, the paper expands the understanding of knowledge visualization as a system of practices that support the development of a multiobjective decision-making method. From an empirical point of view, our results may be useful to other firms in the automotive industry and for academics wishing to develop applied research on portfolio optimization.
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Paolo Canonico, Ernesto De Nito, Vincenza Esposito, Mario Pezzillo Iacono and Gianluigi Mangia
In this paper, we depart from extant conceptualisations of knowledge translation mechanisms to examine projects as a way to achieve effective knowledge transfer. Our empirical…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, we depart from extant conceptualisations of knowledge translation mechanisms to examine projects as a way to achieve effective knowledge transfer. Our empirical analysis focused on a university–industry research project in the automotive industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical analysis was based on a qualitative investigation. We analysed material collected within a research project involving a partnership between two universities and Fiat-Chrysler Automotive (FCA), a multi-brand auto manufacturer with a product range covering several different market segments. We used three data collection techniques: internal document analysis, participant observation and semi-structured interviews.
Findings
Our findings show that, in a U-I research project, goals represent a key dimension to support knowledge translation. Defining the goal implies an ongoing negotiation process, where researchers and company employees work together, in order to converge towards a shared meaning of the goal. In this sense, goal orientation and goal-based interaction have significant implications for knowledge translation processes.
Originality/value
Studies to date have focussed on the concept of knowledge translation as a way to contextualise the transfer from the source of knowledge to the receiver and to interpret the knowledge to be exchanged. This study expands the understanding of knowledge translation mechanisms in university–industry research settings. It investigates the concept of projects as powerful knowledge translation mechanism in a dynamic and longitudinal perspective. Our contribution provides insight, reflecting on how the use of projects may represent a way to facilitate knowledge transfer and build up new ideas and solutions.
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Claudio Quintano and Paolo Mazzocchi
This article intends to investigate on the undeclared work (UW) by involving several features, which can be evaluated throughout a set of appropriate variables. The REBUS-PLS…
Abstract
Purpose
This article intends to investigate on the undeclared work (UW) by involving several features, which can be evaluated throughout a set of appropriate variables. The REBUS-PLS (Response Based procedure for detecting Unit Segments–Partial Least Squares) has been proposed in order to support policy decisions targeted to this heterogeneous scenario. The authors refer to Italy, due to the disparity of its territorial districts, but the conclusions can be extended to different European countries.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 2,877,000 firms has been involved for empirical analysis. The manifest variables have been obtained by fixing both NACE codes and the NUTS2 level.
Findings
The analysis confirms that the model is suitable to evaluate the effects of the indicators connected to ‘Labour force’, ‘Tax system’, ‘Non-Profit Organizations’, and ‘Migrants’. Special prominence has been dedicated to the labour inspections' features.
Research limitations/implications
If the management designs the policy actions by using the model proposed, a critical evaluation of the implications is needed, by focusing different perspectives and several weaknesses.
Practical implications
Assuming that the Italian regions are relatively homogeneous, results reveal no significant correlations to the UW, except for the taxes. In contrast, the involvement of the heterogeneity shows that the UW significantly depends on the changes of Labour force, Tax system and NPOs dimensions, in 11 out of 18 Italian regions. No clear evidence emerges from Migrants feature, which seems to have a negatively impact on the UW.
Originality/value
To the authors' knowledge, compared to the previous research papers, the analysis of the UW via REBUS-PLS and the mentioned manifest variables, has never been undertaken so far.
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Justyna Bandola-Gill, Sotiria Grek and Matteo Ronzani
The visualization of ranking information in global public policy is moving away from traditional “league table” formats and toward dashboards and interactive data displays. This…
Abstract
The visualization of ranking information in global public policy is moving away from traditional “league table” formats and toward dashboards and interactive data displays. This paper explores the rhetoric underpinning the visualization of ranking information in such interactive formats, the purpose of which is to encourage country participation in reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals. The paper unpacks the strategies that the visualization experts adopt in the measurement of global poverty and wellbeing, focusing on a variety of interactive ranking visualizations produced by the OECD, the World Bank, the Gates Foundation and the ‘Our World in Data’ group at the University of Oxford. Building on visual and discourse analysis, the study details how the politically and ethically sensitive nature of global public policy, coupled with the pressures for “decolonizing” development, influence how rankings are visualized. The study makes two contributions to the literature on rankings. First, it details the move away from league table formats toward multivocal interactive layouts that seek to mitigate the competitive and potentially dysfunctional pressures of the display of “winners and losers.” Second, it theorizes ranking visualizations in global public policy as “alignment devices” that entice country buy-in and seek to align actors around common global agendas.