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1 – 4 of 4Mariasole Bannò, Emilia Filippi and Chiara Leggerini
The introduction of gender quota laws in many countries has garnered significant attention in the literature and in the political discourse. Proponents of this solution emphasise…
Abstract
Purpose
The introduction of gender quota laws in many countries has garnered significant attention in the literature and in the political discourse. Proponents of this solution emphasise its potential to bolster opportunities for women, foster their participation on boards of directors and improve corporate governance, market value and firm performance. Conversely, opponents express concerns regarding the possibility of appointing less-qualified women, thereby diminishing board effectiveness and potentially leading to negative consequences on firm market value and performance. This study aims to address this ongoing debate by examining the impact of gender quota laws on firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The impact of gender quota laws on firm performance, measured through ROE, ROA and ROI, is evaluated using a database of 27,977 Italian firms and adopting a two-stage traditional treatment effect model.
Findings
The econometric analysis reveals a negative impact of the gender quota law on firm performance.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the academic debate on the pros and cons of imposing gender quota laws by providing empirical evidence on their impact on firm performance.
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Giorgia Maria D'Allura, Bannò Mariasole and Emilia Filippi
The paper aims to explore how family involvement influences family firms (FF) decisions to innovate in automation (i.e. artificial intelligence, big data and robotics). Automation…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to explore how family involvement influences family firms (FF) decisions to innovate in automation (i.e. artificial intelligence, big data and robotics). Automation implies pronounced emotional significance within the shared societal consciousness, presenting specific intricacies that pose challenges to the strategic decision-making processes of FFs.
Design/methodology/approach
This study draws on the levels of ambivalence described in the literature and the FF archetypes (i.e. enmeshed FFs, balanced FFs and disengaged FFs), which are characterised by a different relationship between the family and the firm. Empirically, this study adopts a qualitative approach, conducting three case studies involving FFs that have registered patents in automation technologies.
Findings
A distinctive pattern emerged among the different FF archetypes in their approach to innovation in automation. Innovation in automation will be limited in enmeshed FFs (based on emotional concerns at the firm level), while it will be supported in balanced FFs (based on a balanced view between emotional concerns at the family level and economic aspects at the firm level) and in disengaged FFs (based on economic considerations at the firm level).
Originality/value
Our research, focussing on the strategic choice of family firms (FFs) to innovate in automation, fills an important gap and investigates an area with relatively scant research despite the current importance of automation. Additionally, we consider the ambivalence that characterises family firms, providing a nuanced understanding of how emotional dynamics within the family-business interface influence strategic decisions.
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Mariasole Bannò, Giorgia Maria D'Allura, Emilia Filippi and Sandro Trento
This study examines the propensity to innovate in automation of family firms (FFs) based on the socio-emotional wealth (SEW) perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the propensity to innovate in automation of family firms (FFs) based on the socio-emotional wealth (SEW) perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This study’s analysis is based on three aspects. First, the authors consider three main non-economic goals and priorities of FFs: the family’s relationship with employees (read as to care for their satisfaction and well-being); the inner pride of building and maintaining the family and firm image and reputation; and the inner feeling to be socially responsible. Second, the authors consider how these goals and priorities vary among FFs according to four dimensions: family ownership, the presence of family members on the board of directors, the involvement of young successors, and the presence of founding and later generations. Finally, the consequences of automation are considered: lower firm employment, lower employees’ satisfaction and well-being, and higher firm productivity. The analysis is based on a sample of 4,150 Italian firms.
Findings
The analysis revealed that FFs are less prone to innovate in automation than non-FFs. Specifically, family ownership, the presence of family members on the board of directors, and the presence of founding generation are negatively associated with innovation in automation. Instead, the involvement of young successors and the presence of later generation are positively associated with innovation in automation.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first investigation that, based on SEW, examines how FFs act on the decision to innovate in automation, thereby providing empirical evidence.
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The paper draws extensively from Aristotle’s Poetics, a classical work on the aesthetics of drama. Drawing from symbolic and thematic elements from folklore and mythology, this…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper draws extensively from Aristotle’s Poetics, a classical work on the aesthetics of drama. Drawing from symbolic and thematic elements from folklore and mythology, this paper aims to illustrate how the Poetics can be referenced as an allegorical device in the design of culture-building strategies and interventions.
Design/methodology/approach
This exploratory paper examines Aristotle’s “Poetics” and the range of creative expression this literature provides as a conceptual design framework for the development of a culture map in creating a distinctive organisational mythology. The Poetics articulates an Aristotelian perspective on theatre which infuses itself as a new language in offering structural and archetypical plot devices in the development of an organisational narrative.
Findings
Findings from this explorative study can provide a creative roadmap to culture practitioners and leaders, to be used as a determining reference point in developing culture maps and change management interventions.
Practical implications
Poetics has its detractors, notably Bertolt Brecht and Augusto Boal. Boal examines how Poetics promotes a narrative that suppresses free thinking and encourages a cult of feudal personality, therefore encouraging industrial and cultural oppression, which he rebelled against through the development of his “Theatre of the Oppressed”. This new kind of theatre discarded the Aristotelian model of thinking. Ideas proposed in the Poetics may also lend verisimilitude to the propagation of obsessive consumerism through the definitive symbolism it offers in the development of institutionalised personality cults.
Originality/value
The Poetics as a creatively driven reflexive study provides a forward movement in the study of culture design templates. Its definitive allegorical devices and metaphors act as action principles through which an enterprise culture and its value system can be examined and developed.
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