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Article
Publication date: 21 November 2016

Mario Pezzillo Iacono, Vincenza Esposito, Lorenzo Mercurio and Marcello Martinez

The aim of this paper is to interpret the concept of a business model from the pattern of coordination mechanisms used by an Italian wine cooperative to manage its…

411

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to interpret the concept of a business model from the pattern of coordination mechanisms used by an Italian wine cooperative to manage its inter-organizational relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

The business model is taken as the structure and governance of the relationships between the focal firm and its exchange partners. The empirical analysis is based on a qualitative investigation, analyzing material collected at the Farming Cooperative Gran Cru.

Findings

Several different coordination mechanisms were used to rethink the firm customer value proposition, showing a very complex and dynamic inter-organizational system: process control mechanisms, knowledge suppliers and clan control mechanisms. The combination of mechanisms enables the firm to govern the extreme complexity of external complementarities and interdependence among activities and resources.

Practical implications

The study is particularly helpful to managers because wine entrepreneurs and managers can influence their networks’ features and strategies, as well as the mechanisms for governance of the relationships and extracting customer value.

Originality/value

The study seeks to enrich the debate on the strategy/structure fit by shifting the focus from the organizational to inter-organizational level of analysis. The analysis centers on boundary-spanning relationships between one wine firm and its partners and knowledge suppliers. This perspective brings business model analysis and inter-organizational design closer because variables of the business model – such as customer value – can be seen as combinations of inter-organizational coordination mechanisms.

Details

Measuring Business Excellence, vol. 20 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-3047

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Article
Publication date: 17 August 2015

Paolo Canonico, Ernesto De Nito, Vincenza Esposito, Marcello Martinez, Lorenzo Mercurio and Mario Pezzillo iacono

This paper aims to consider how and to what extent it is possible to interpret a performance management system (PMS) as a typical control mechanism or in a more innovative way as…

2594

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to consider how and to what extent it is possible to interpret a performance management system (PMS) as a typical control mechanism or in a more innovative way as a learning tool. PMSs are typically used for planning and coordination purposes. However, they may also be used as an opportunity to foster learning inside the organization.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical analysis was carried out during January-May 2014. A single case study was developed, in the first phase, through document analysis and semi-structured interviews with three top managers, to investigate the purpose and rationale of the design of the PMS. The investigation then continued with non-participant observation.

Findings

The picture shows the dominance of “command and control” thinking, based on a cybernetic control system connected to targets and linking the achievement of these targets to individual performance.

Practical implications

This paper helps to contextualize reflections on PMSs and potential learning outcomes in knowledge organizations, with specific reference to the airport industry.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the extant debate on the relationship between PMSs and learning. Traditionally, the literature has focused only on particular aspects of PMSs. Other authors, relying on a contingent approach, have instead put forward the need of a more comprehensive and integrated frameworks encompassing organic conception of PMSs, as well as of the interdependencies among their components. In the case study under scrutiny in this paper, adaptive or single-loop learning is taking place, in which adaptive changes occur but do not lead to any major changes.

Details

Measuring Business Excellence, vol. 19 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-3047

Keywords

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 17 August 2015

Harri Laihonen

1558

Abstract

Details

Measuring Business Excellence, vol. 19 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-3047

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Article
Publication date: 28 August 2024

Ida Papallo, Domenico Solari, Ilaria Onofrio, Lorenzo Ugga, Renato Cuocolo, Massimo Martorelli, Teresa Russo, Ilaria Bove, Luigi Maria Cavallo and Antonio Gloria

This study aims to integrate design methods and additive manufacturing with the use of a thermoplastic elastomer certified for medical use and reverse engineering towards a new…

54

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to integrate design methods and additive manufacturing with the use of a thermoplastic elastomer certified for medical use and reverse engineering towards a new concept of a customized buttress model with optimized features for the reconstruction of the osteo-dural opening after endoscopic endonasal transtuberculum-transplanum approach.

Design/methodology/approach

Additive manufacturing allows making of cost-effective and useable devices with tailored properties for biomedical applications. The endoscopic endonasal approach to the suprasellar area enables the management of different intradural tumours, and the craniectomy at the skull base is generally wide and irregular. Defining an optimal strategy for osteodural defect closure at the preoperative stage represents a significant challenge.

Findings

Using the results obtained from a computed tomography analysis, skull base defects were designed to plan the surgical approach. Several concepts of customized buttress models were first built up, initially focusing on thin, flexible edges characterized by different thicknesses. Finite element analyses and design optimization allowed us to achieve the optimal design solution with improved compliance/flexibility for easy intranasal manoeuvrability, maintaining an adequate mechanical stability. As the thickness of the edges decreased, an increase of strain energy values was found (i.e. 1.2 mJ – Model A, 1.7 mJ – Model B, 2.3 mJ – Model C, 4.3 mJ – Model D). However, a further optimization (Model E) led to a significant increase of the compliance (strain energy of 14.1 mJ).

Originality/value

The results obtained from clinical evaluations demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed technical solutions, improving surgery effectiveness.

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Article
Publication date: 15 June 2020

Juan Ferrer and Emiliano Villanueva

The purpose of this paper is to describe, analyze and compare business models (BMs) developed and used by wineries in two very different wine regions, one from the New World of…

589

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe, analyze and compare business models (BMs) developed and used by wineries in two very different wine regions, one from the New World of wine [the USA, Connecticut (CT) and Rhode Island (RI)] and the other from the Old World of wine [Spain, Rias Baixas (RB)].

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted aimed at all the wineries of both regions. The survey describes wineries’ decision-making process regarding their value chain through four variables, namely, supply, product, market and distribution and their perceptions regarding how competitive their business environment is through five variables, namely, barriers of entry, power of suppliers, power of buyers, internal competition and the threat of substitute products. This complimentary analysis (internal and external) approaches a definition of the BMs used in wineries of these two different wine regions.

Findings

The study highlights how BMs evolve and adapt to the competitive environment in which companies find themselves; wineries from CT and RI BMs display behavioral elements of companies that compete in the first stage of the life cycle, however, RB wineries BMs show elements of companies competing in the stage of maturity of the life cycle.

Originality/value

The paper shows empirical evidence of the use of BMs in an agribusiness sector as important as the wine industry. It also describes these distinctive BMs per region and explains how the creation of value occurs and how they adapt to different environmental conditions.

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 December 2022

Silvio Cardinali, Alessandro Pagano, Elisa Carloni, Marta Giovannetti and Lorenzo Governatori

This study aimed to provide an exploratory analysis of digitalization processes in small professional service firms (SPSFs) by examining their main drivers and barriers and their…

3527

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to provide an exploratory analysis of digitalization processes in small professional service firms (SPSFs) by examining their main drivers and barriers and their impact on customer management practices, considering the intra-organizational, inter-organizational and service offering dimensions.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopted a qualitative, exploratory and inductive research methodology based on in-depth interviews with 19 owners or consultants of small tax/accounting firms, focusing on the role of digitalization in their internal and external processes.

Findings

The findings reveal external and internal barriers to and drivers of digitalization, as well as its effects on customer management practices. They also reveal the emergence of tensions related to the intra-organizational, inter-organizational and service offering dimensions.

Originality/value

This work contributes to the research on the role of digital technologies in the professional service sector, with a focus on SPSFs, which has thus far received limited attention. This research highlights the complexity of combining increasingly standardized processes and services with the need to maintain flexibility and informality in internal and external interactions.

Details

Journal of Service Theory and Practice, vol. 33 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-6225

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Article
Publication date: 19 May 2023

Akilimali Ndatabaye Ephrem and McEdward Murimbika

As good as existing measurements of entrepreneurial potential (EP) may appear in the literature, they are fragmented, suffer from the lack of theory integration and clarity, are…

401

Abstract

Purpose

As good as existing measurements of entrepreneurial potential (EP) may appear in the literature, they are fragmented, suffer from the lack of theory integration and clarity, are inadequately specified and assessed and the dimensions are unordered by importance. These limitations of EP metrics have hindered entrepreneurial practice and theory advancement. There is a risk of atomistic evolution of the topic among “siloed” scholars and room for repetitions without real progress. The purpose of this paper was to take stock of existing measurements from which the authors developed a new instrument that is brief and inclusive.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors followed several steps to develop and validate the new instrument, including construct domain name specification, literature review, structured interviews with entrepreneurs, face validation by experts, semantic validation and statistical validation after two waves of data collected on employee and entrepreneur samples.

Findings

A clear operational definition of EP is proposed and serves as a starting point towards a unified EP theory. The new EP instrument is made up of 34 items classified into seven dimensions, which in order of importance are proactive innovativeness, management skill, calculated risk-taking, social skill, financial literacy, entrepreneurial competencies prone to cognitive and heuristic biases and bricolage. The authors provide evidence for reliability and validity of the new instrument.

Research limitations/implications

Although a model is not the model, the authors discuss several ways in which the new measurement model can be used by different stakeholders to promote entrepreneurship.

Originality/value

The authors discuss the domain representativeness of the new scale and argue that the literature can meaningfully benefit from a non-fuzzy approach to what makes the EP of an individual. By developing a new EP instrument, the authors set an important pre-condition for advancing entrepreneurial theory and practice.

Details

Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, vol. 26 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-5201

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