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This paper aims to contribute to the literature concerning performance measurement tools which allow a balanced control of both social goals and financial performances in a hybrid organization.

This paper shows the result of an action research project performed within a hybrid organization in Northern Italy. The tool and the main indicators it should reflect were selected cooperating with the management and stakeholders, and the project was brought on by following Lewin’s (1947) three-stage approach (freezing, moving and, unfreezing).

The paper shows how a useful tool for measuring social and financial performances has to be driven by the stakeholders’ needs and has to take into consideration the organizational mission.

The paper contributes to the performance evaluation literature, as it focuses on a hybrid organization with an action research approach which contributes to bridging the gap between research and practice.

This paper contributes to the debate on the relationship between IT‐artefacts and organisational structuration by describing the dynamics surrounding the collaborative development of an innovative electronic metering system. The aim of the paper is to address a clear gap in the current literature on collaborative IT‐artefacts design, as cooperation at early design stages has barely been analysed. This work tries to understand whether and to what extent the design of an IT‐artefact is driven by the interests of a number of heterogeneous actors and how these are able to affect the artefact's evolution.

The research relies on a case study analysis, which focuses on a consortium of heterogeneous actors (firms, the public sector, research institutes) working within the green energy industry. The research focuses on a workgroup attempting to develop an innovative IT‐artefact: an electronic metering system.

The main results emerging from the field study are: the relevance of each actor's interests as a prevalent rationale for explaining the technical features of the IT‐artefact; the role of negotiation and consensus in determining the final shape of the IT‐artefact in terms of its features; and the bundling/unbundling of IT‐artefact features as a result of changes in the alignment of actors.

The research presents two clear limitations. First, the activities of the workgroup are still ongoing thus limiting some of the insights one may draw from the case study. Second, the analysis is carried out on a single case study. Further analysis should be done to increase consistency and validity of the findings.

Findings indicate that in an open and collaborative environment, the conceptualisation and evolution of an IT‐artefact are influenced more by the political agendas of the various actors rather than by pure technical problems and concerns. The practical implications thus are that every attempt to manage such a collaborative effort must seriously take into consideration these aspects.

Starting from the recognition that little research has been conducted on the factors influencing cooperative IT‐artefact design, this paper sheds new light on how these factors influence such cooperative activity. The authors believe that this kind of work helps lay some foundations for general models attempting to explain cooperative innovation processes such as the open innovation model.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a new institutional perspective of knowledge Management technology adoption through an empirical study of a knowledge intensive firm.

The research involved collection of qualitative data about knowledge management practices. The analysis was carried out over a six month period by means of ethnographic research and a series of interviews. It focused mainly on the personnel involved in Knowledge Management initiatives within two information technology units of a telecommunication firm.

This article proposes a new institutional perspective of knowledge management as an alternative of the instrumental point of view. The authors argue that knowledge management initiatives are better understood if considered as rational myths instead of rational choices.

The paper has some limitations. First, the research is based on a single case study; secondly, the authors acknowledge the difficulty in having full access to decision‐making rooms or corridors “of power” where institutional pressure is exerted. To improve the theoretical framework and the methodological approach, both qualitative and quantitative analyses are recommended.

Why do organizations, even in the face of the poor results produced by knowledge management initiatives, continue to invest financial and organizational resources in knowledge management related technologies? This article proposes that this apparently irrational behaviour can be explained when evaluating knowledge management initiatives, rather than in their instrumental value, as symbolic means to legitimate the organization in an environment where the management of knowledge is said to be a core feature of modern organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the ongoing debate on organizational socialization by exploring the constitutive aspects of socialization practice. By taking a practice stance, the paper explores how the constitutive aspects shape the evolution of the socialization practice and of the overall organizational functioning. The aim is to address a clear gap in the literature as it does not have fully investigated socialization as an evolving practice in the web of other organizational practices.

The research relies on a case study analysis, which focuses on a multinational consulting firm. The paper focuses on the evolution of two main practices within the company one of which is socialization and the second is knowledge management.

The main result emerging from the field study is that the evolution of the socialization practice as well as its alignment with other organizational practices is affected by a set of constitutive aspects. The analysis of these elements allows to disarticulate the nature of a practice and to clarify how it evolves. The paper is particularly interesting as during the analysis, the case study firm experienced an external shock. This latter resulted to be a relevant cornerstone for understanding the evolution and alignment of the socialization practice and of the organizational functioning as a whole.

The research presents two clear limitations. First, the results might be very case‐specific. Further analysis should be done to increase consistency and validity of the findings. Second, the qualitative methodology needs further improvement as the practice based analysis of socialization is still at its infancy and thus is not well assessed.

Findings indicate that socialization practice might be somehow rigid over time and unable to match the evolving organizational setting. The case study further shows that while the procedures which are embedded in a practice might not change apparently, their content might be substantially affected by external facts.

Starting from the recognition that the evolution of the socialization practice has not received enough attention, this paper sheds new light on how a set of constitutive aspects may facilitate/hinder such evolution.

The purpose of this special issue s to cover a substantial range of approach to knowledge management penetrating inquiry that goes beyond intra-organizational learning processes to include inter-organizational perspectives.

As pointed out by the literature on various aspects of the knowledge processes within and between organizations, the work has been organized coherently with two “strains” of topics: the first one focused on managerial practices and operative directions of knowledge management, the other one pointed out on applications of knowledge management to inter-firm networks. Qualitative as well quantitative papers have been welcomed.

Opening up the idea of pluralism as a driving force in the knowledge economy pushes the organizations in a permanent cumulative process of adaptation and re-creation through innovative means of social interaction in global environments.

The dynamic nature of the field is reflected in the fact that this project expanded to encompass emerging works on knowledge models and concepts that grew from conversations within the network.

This special issue aims to extend the current understanding on how diversity of approaches enhances the process of discovery: the authors convey the sense of where the stimulating challenges lie.

The purpose of this paper is to review the research concerning the use of lesson studies in the education of secondary school prospective mathematics teachers. It discusses the adaptations made on the designs, the aims and outcomes established, the processes used, and the needed improvements in the experiences reported so far.

The scientific studies reviewed were identified in a Google search, using the key words “lesson study”, “mathematics”, and “secondary.” The identified material was recorded in a database and the themes for the analysis cover the planning, execution, and reflection phases of a formative process.

The paper identifies the several pending issues regarding the use of lesson studies in prospective teacher education such as defining the aims, establishing the relationships among participants, scaling, and adapting lesson studies for the particular purpose of educating future teachers.

At a practical level, this review suggests that lesson studies in pre-service teacher education must have a clear formative aim. It also shows that many formats are possible and must be chosen according to the specific conditions. In addition, it suggests the need for research regarding the definition of the aims, the working relationships established among participants, the problem of scale, and the problem of adaptation or simplification.

The paper identifies the key issues in the design of lesson studies in initial teacher education. It argues that besides signaling the positive outcomes, more critical (or self-critical) investigations are needed, e.g. using external researchers as “critical friends”, which address their difficulties, limitations, and drawbacks in a more thorough way.

This event is not just one event but a whole series of them running more or less concurrently. The main parts consist of meetings of the various IPC Technical Committees and their Working Groups, a number of Tutorials and Workshops, some Forums, a Technical Conference with 21 sessions and, of course, the Printed Circuits Expo. The last‐named is the second of its type, the first having been held in Boston last year. The only real problem with this series of events is that there is so much going on at any one time that it is impossible to split oneself into parts to attend them all or even a fraction of them. For example, on the Monday morning, there were 28 Committee and Task Group meetings, some of them lasting four hours, five Workshops and as many Tutorials. By Tuesday, the Conference and Expo had started, so there were fewer, only ten Committee meetings, one forum and three Paper Sessions in the Conference, and so on.

The first two decades of the 21st century saw the rise of girl power discourses in international development, which argue that when girls in the Global South are given an investment to stay in school, they will lift entire communities out of poverty. Transnational Corporations partnered with, or even founded, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) aimed at educating girls. Yet many of these corporations face criticisms that their products, employment practices, or supply chains are harmful to girls and women. In this chapter, I employ a feminist, postcolonial and poststructuralist approach, analyzing the transnational politics of corporate–NGO partnerships for girls' education. I argue that Apple Inc.’s sponsorship of the Malala Fund and Caterpillar Inc.’s partnership with Girl Up amount to transnational forms of genderwashing, aimed primarily at alleviating the concerns of publics in the Global North while doing little to address harm experienced by girls and women in the Global South.

From the perspective of the supply chain risk management (SCRM), this paper addresses the effects of a hybrid production system (make-to-stock and make-to-order) in order to know which risks can impact the production planning process at a large automaker in Brazil. Through the correlation of these themes, the purpose of this paper is to understand the relevant risks to the supply chain (SC).

Before the field research, a theoretical approach was made on two themes. After theoretical analysis of a case study on the automaker and data collection, the work used the Pearson’s product moment correlation (r) and χ² and Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests to assess the risk factors raised by the interviewed professionals, thus characterizing a mixed methodological approach (i.e. qualitative and quantitative).

It was evidenced that many risks are the result of functional failures, such as input of incorrect information in the system, and many are inherent to managerial decisions when procedures and different paths of production are adopted. Additionally, it has been proven that the adoption of a hybrid production planning approach does not increase the risks to the SC and that the identified risks do not necessarily are included within the scope of SCRM.

This study is characterized by an approach which combines SCRM and hybrid production system.