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The purpose of this paper is to present a new operational approach to equipment maintenance designed to exploit the complementary nature of total productive maintenance (TPM) and reliability-centered maintenance (RCM).

This paper focuses on the operational aspect of the maintenance practice, proposing an equipment maintenance methodology that can be suitably adopted to define a new maintenance plan or check and improve an existing one. It integrates principles and methods of TPM and RCM and uses different tools to support decision-makers and operators. It proposes several worksheets which facilitate planning and implementing maintenance activities, that range from autonomous maintenance tasks to maintainability improvement actions.

This paper exploits the complementary nature of TPM and RCM to design or improve maintenance plans for a generic system. The tools and worksheets presented can be helpful to practitioners and operators.

While the integration of TPM and RCM is evidently a central issue in the maintenance management context, it has received limited attention in literature. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it lacks a structured practical equipment maintenance methodology that exploits the complementary nature of TPM and RCM. Therefore, the approach presented in this paper would fill the current gap.

The paper proposes a new workforce effectiveness metric that is a sophisticated evolution of a pre-existing overall labour effectiveness (OLE) indicator. The KPI, named revised OLE (ROLE), provides a structured methodology to measure in a holistic way the losses relating to labour, maintaining some formal similitude to the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)

A new structure of losses is proposed to overcome the drawbacks and the difficulties that usually affect the data collection stage, referring to directly measurable quantities or, when this is not the case, suggesting a viable method to quantify the loss. Besides, this approach facilitates the comprehension of labour-related issues, suggesting potential countermeasures. The novel ROLE indicator has been defined, based on this new structure, to evaluate the labour effectiveness in batch process industries. A real case study is provided, which explains the methodology and illustrates the capability of the corresponding KPI.

The present work analyses the labour performance indexes available in literature, with the aim of evidencing those aspects that can be properly observed and quantified and, at the same time, categorizing them to identify their possible drawbacks. A new structure of losses is derived, with respect to four different categories, which may help to measure the losses themselves more effectively

The paper investigates some important KPIs dealing with labour performance and individuates some significant drawbacks. Then it suggests a new, inclusive structure of losses and a modified KPI that not only measures effectiveness but also allows to identify viable countermeasures.

The purpose of this paper is to present a reliability centered maintenance (RCM) embedded integer linear programming approach (suited to the budget monetary resources allocation task) to the maintenance strategies mix selection for an industrial plant equipment.

The developed approach allows to determine the optimal maintenance strategies mix for a set of equipment in a more quantitative way than the classic RCM approach. The proposed model takes into account, for each potential failure determined using the FMECA and for each admissible strategy, the costs and the potential risk priority number (RPN) reduction. Finally, an industrial case concerning an Italian paper-mill plant is reported to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach presented.

The paper finds that the application of the proposed approach allows to optimally allocate the budget monetary resources, determining which suitable maintenance practice apply to each failure, taking into account the costs of each strategy and the potential reduction of the RPN.

The proposed model permits to assign (during the budget monetary resources allocation task) to each failure the optimal strategy, among a set of suitable maintenance practices, considering the costs and the estimated RPN reduction.

The paper proposes a completely new RCM embedded approach to the maintenance strategies selection, in order to optimally allocate the budget monetary resources. This model overcomes the limits of the traditional RCM approach, taking into account quantitative aspects, i.e. the compatibility constraint between failures and policies, the maintenance strategies costs, and the RPN estimated reduction.

This study explores the ethical and organizational challenges associated with non-standard work arrangements in public administration (PA), focusing on the implications of digital transformation and its alignment with public sector values.

A qualitative methodology with a deductive approach was employed, grounded in deontological ethics, utilitarian ethics and psychological contract theory. Data collection included 39 semi-structured interviews with public managers in the Italian PA, supplemented by focus groups and secondary data analysis.

The study identifies critical challenges in managing atypical workers, such as job insecurity, wage disparities, privacy concerns and unequal treatment. These challenges are exacerbated by the use of digital platforms, which intensify power imbalances, raise ethical concerns and undermine trust in public institutions.

The research offers actionable strategies, including enhancing job security through clear contract mechanisms, addressing wage disparities with equitable compensation structures, strengthening privacy protections and fostering inclusivity by integrating non-standard workers into organizational processes. Balancing operational efficiency with ethical responsibilities is essential to preserving public trust and institutional legitimacy.

This study contributes to the literature by addressing underexplored ethical challenges of non-standard work in PA, extending established ethical frameworks to a public sector context. It highlights the role of digital platforms in reshaping work arrangements and provides a comprehensive framework for ethical workforce management practices.

Using an abductive perspective, this study aims to review the scientific literature about the governance and management of the digital supply chain (DSC) in the context of the business organizations, providing an overview of the state of the art of the research and outlining a future research agenda with a knowledge management (KM) focus.

After investigating the Scopus database, 54 articles were identified as relevant and then subjected to an initial discernment. After this assessment, 34 articles focusing on operations management were further analyzed through both a bibliometric analysis and a content analysis.

The DSC represents a research area of increasing attention, with relevant contributions to several aspects of the field, as well as about KM. At the same time, the results show that the scientific literature on DSC models, solutions and applications is fragmented. Although the analysis has found a heterogeneous literature, two main streams of research seem to emerge: KM in the business culture development about DSC and KM in the business technological evolution about DSC.

Although there exists growing interest in the scientific community, or perhaps because of this, area of research remains fragmented and under-theorized, thus requiring more systematic studies considering both economic and social aspects of the DSC. This study aims to provide innovative insights about this evolution, especially highlighting the two main contributions of KM in DSCs that have been revealed (business culture development and business technological evolution).

According to Fee (2009), e-learning systems have three components: technology, learning content and e-learning design. Few studies have examined e-learning design as an educational process, although universities are increasingly using e-learning as they become more entrepreneurial. This article aimed to investigate how universities approach e-learning design.

The study used a mixed methods approach. First, the authors carried out a quantitative analysis of the websites of the top 100 European universities in the Quacquarelli Symonds Ranking. The authors then moved to a qualitative approach, analyzing a pilot case and three case studies. Semistructured interviews were conducted with managers of e-learning services at the chosen European universities.

The 100 best European universities in the Quacquarelli Symonds Rankings all use e-learning methods. The case study universities were selected from this list. The semistructured interviews with managers of e-learning services highlighted the importance of the design of e-learning courses. However, most focused on the professional figures involved, rather than the process for e-learning and the overall design of the course.

The article provides a detailed study of e-learning design in an educational context. The analysis of multiple case studies allowed the authors to identify how the selected universities carry out didactic design activity through the use of technology. It therefore contributes to knowledge of cases of digital academic entrepreneurship.

Suppliers are essential partners in innovation projects, as they own resources, knowledge assets and capabilities that complement those of buying firms. In today’s competitive environment, firms may choose to collaborate with suppliers beyond dyads, forming triadic or three-party relationships. Using the theoretical lens of the relational view (RV), this study aims to explore what type of triad configurations firms use to govern supplier relationships in collaborative innovation projects, how they choose to share resources and implications for project performance.

The authors use interview data from buyers and suppliers in six case studies of firms involved in ten collaborative innovation projects. The four constructs of the RV are used to observe how firms govern triadic relationships, combine complementary resources, invest in relationship-specific assets and manage information and knowledge exchange with and between suppliers in innovation projects.

Four archetypes of triadic relationships in innovation projects – labeled Triangle, A-frame, D-Frame and Line – are presented and characterized in terms of their structural and relational features. The authors discuss how each triad archetype is applicable to different innovation projects according to specific project characteristics.

This study is pioneering in its empirical examination of triadic relationships in collaborative innovation projects. It provides a novel typology of four archetypes of triad from the perspective of collaborative relationships with suppliers. Through applying the RV, it advances understanding of how triadic relationships are governed, how they invest in relationship-specific assets, how they combine complementary resources and how they exchange knowledge and information in each type of triad appropriate to different innovation project settings. To date, much of the extant literature has focused on dyads.

Nowadays, it is hard to retain a knowledge monopoly since tacit knowledge has become essential for innovation and organizational effectiveness (ORP). This study analyzed the role of product innovation as a mediator in the relationship between the tacit knowledge management process (TKMP) and organizational performance. In addition, two moderating variables were examined: (1) Affective trust (AFT) between the tacit knowledge management process and product innovation relationship and (2) Task efficiency in product innovation and organizational performance (ORP) relationship.

Around 344 questionnaires were collected from various Chinese regions between February and April 2023 to conduct this study. The regression, mediation and moderation analyses on lower and higher-order data were evaluated using the SmartPLS approach.

The results validate that product innovation mediates the connection between managing tacit knowledge and the organization’s performance. Affective trust also plays a positive moderating role between tacit knowledge and product innovation. These results provide valuable theoretical and practical insights, substantiating various direct, indirect, mediate, and moderated effects hypotheses.

The scope of the study was restricted to manufacturing companies; however, further research may broaden the model’s scope to include other industries. Furthermore, future research should continue to explore the role of task efficiency in the innovation process and identify strategies for enhancing task efficiency in organizations.

The study establishes the significance of effectively managing tacit knowledge for fostering product innovation. Company managers and leaders can promote employee trust, enhancing innovation capabilities and overall organizational effectiveness.

This study, involving dual moderation, explores the connections between processes of managing tacit knowledge, product innovation and organizational performance. It addresses research gaps, enriching the understanding of managing tacit knowledge, leading to organizational innovation and performance improvements. The study also highlights how affective trust is vital in strengthening the connection between TKMP and product innovation.