Annachiara Scapolan, Fabrizio Montanari, Sara Bonesso, Fabrizio Gerli and Lorenzo Mizzau
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the behavioural competencies of directors and managers working for cultural organizations and their relationship with organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the behavioural competencies of directors and managers working for cultural organizations and their relationship with organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts an ESC competency modelling process and the technique of the Behavioural Event Interview as the primary source of data collection. In particular, the authors interviewed 14 directors and managers of six performing arts organizations operating in Emilia-Romagna, a region located in Northern Italy.
Findings
Findings show that directors and managers of cultural organizations are characterized by a specific set of social and emotional (e.g. persuasion and empathy), whereas cognitive competencies, such as quantitative analysis, are less frequent. Findings highlight also that a balanced portfolio of behavioural competencies emerges as importantly correlated with high organizational performance.
Practical implications
Findings offer relevant managerial implications for the design and implementation of a coherent set of human resource management practices, which allow cultural organizations to reach above-average performance.
Originality/value
This study contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between managerial competencies and the performance of cultural organizations, taking into account specific kinds of competencies – namely, behavioural competencies – which have been neglected by the previous literature.
Objectivo
Este estudio pretende investigar las competencias comportamentales de los directores y managers que trabajan en las organizaciones culturales, y la relación entre estas competencias y la el desempeño organizacional.
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
Este estudio usa el proceso ESC competency modelling y la técnica de la Behavioral Event Interview. Sobre todo, entrevistamos 14 directores y managers de seis organizaciones de espectáculos en vivo que operan en Emilia-Romagna, una región del Norte de Italia.
Hallazgos
Encontramos que los directores y managers de las organizaciones culturales muestran un conjunto especifico de competencias sociales y emocionales (persuasión, empatía, etc.), mientras que las competencias cognitivas son menos frecuentes. Hallazgos muestran también que un portfolio balanceado de competencias comportamentales está correlacionado con alto desempeño organizacional.
Implicaciones prácticas
Los Hallazgos ofrecen relevantes implicaciones administrativas por el diseño y la implementación de un sistema coherente de prácticas de recursos humanos, que permite a las organizaciones culturales conseguir un alto rendimiento organizacional.
Originalidad y valor
Este articulo contribuye a una mejor comprensión de la relación entre las competencias de los managers y el desempeño de las organizaciones culturales, sobre todo considerando competencias específicas (las competencias comportamentales) que los estudios pasados han descuidado.
Details
Keywords
Paula Ungureanu, Carlotta Cochis, Fabiola Bertolotti, Elisa Mattarelli and Anna Chiara Scapolan
This study investigates the role of collaborative spaces as organizational support for internal innovation through cross-functional teams and for open innovation with external…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the role of collaborative spaces as organizational support for internal innovation through cross-functional teams and for open innovation with external stakeholders. In particular, the study focuses on collaborative spaces as tools for multiplex (i.e., simultaneous internal and external boundary management in innovation projects).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a qualitative study in a multi-divisional organization that set up in its headquarters a collaborative space for collaborative product development. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and participant observations.
Findings
Findings highlight that the relation between expectations and experiences about the collaborative space impact on employees' ability to perform boundary work inside and outside the organization. In addition to the collaborative space's affording role for expectations about hands-on collaborative innovation (space as laboratory), the study also highlights a set of collaboration constraints. These latter are generated by perceived boundary configurations (i.e. degree of boundary permeability and infrastructure in internal and external collaborations) and by discrepancies between expectations (space as laboratory) and actual collaboration experiences in the space (i.e. space as maze, cloister, showcase and silo). We show that space-generated constraints slow down internal and external boundary work for innovation and generate a trade-off between them.
Originality/value
Using the process-based perspective of boundary work, the paper connects studies on cross-functional teaming and open innovation through the concept of “multiplex boundary work.” It also contributes to the literature on boundary work by showing the challenges of using collaborative spaces as organizational support tools for multiplex boundary spanning.
Details
Keywords
Fabrizio Montanari, Annachiara Scapolan and Elena Codeluppi
In recent years, festivals have become prominent events in many cities throughout Europe, playing a crucial role in improving the image of the host city and enhancing its…
Abstract
In recent years, festivals have become prominent events in many cities throughout Europe, playing a crucial role in improving the image of the host city and enhancing its attractiveness to tourists. Festivals are temporary organizations with a short-lived and intermittent nature. Such features could raise several challenges in terms of maintaining a festival’s identity and its attendees’ identification during the periods of inactivity. Drawing on the literature on temporary organizations, organizational identity, and social identification, this chapter investigates how festivals can communicate their central and stable characteristics to audiences by adopting Web 2.0-based communication strategies. To explore this issue, the chapter illustrates the case of an Italian festival, Fotografia Europea, which has changed its communication strategy from a more traditional approach to a Web 2.0-based one.
Details
Keywords
Anna Comacchio and AnnaChiara Scapolan
The diffusion process of e‐learning has been, in recent years, at the centre of several studies. These researches focused mainly on the USA case, where there has been an…
Abstract
The diffusion process of e‐learning has been, in recent years, at the centre of several studies. These researches focused mainly on the USA case, where there has been an exponential adoption both in the public and private sectors. From this perspective the paper would give a contribution to understand the diffusion process of e‐learning in a specific country and it deals with the following questions: are there relevant consistencies in the rate and the model of adoption of e‐learning solutions in Italian companies? What are the causes of this process? Building on bandwagon theories and institutional literature, the paper analyses the antecedents of the adoption process in Italy, asking whether it is determined by the rational search for economic benefits, or is it driven by the fear of lost legitimacy or strategic advantage under institutional or competitive bandwagon pressures. The paper also looks into the solutions adopted by the Italian firms, studying their e‐learning strategies. To answer the research questions and to test the related propositions, an empirical study has been developed based on a survey, on interviews and document analysis. Since the e‐learning diffusion process in Italy is at an early stage, the research has been undertaken in two sectors, pharmaceutical and banking, where e‐learning has been adopted to a greater extent than in other sectors.