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This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework that jointly considers Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors and organisational resilience (OR) components to ameliorate organisations' understanding of sustainability’s overall requirements and related decision-making processes.

This paper combines ESG and OR through a 3x3 conceptual matrix, where ESG factors are listed along the vertical axis and OR components along the horizontal axis. This results in nine quadrants, which have been read according to two arrangements: (1) static, looking at the specific characteristics of each single quadrant, and (2) dynamic, investigating the relationships between the different quadrants according to the system theory (ST) lens.

The integration between ESG and OR results in nine organisational typologies, each characterised by a specific focus: (1) green visioning, (2) eco ethos, (3) climate guard, (4) inclusive strategy, (5) empathy ethos, (6) community shield, (7) ethical blueprint, (8) integrity ethos and (9) compliance guard. These typologies and related focuses determine the different strategic options of organisations, the decision-making emphasis concerning ESG factors and OR components and the organisation’s behaviour concerning its internal and external environment. According to ST, the nine typologies interact with each other, emphasising the existence of interconnectedness, interdependence and cascading effects between ESG and OR.

The paper represents a unique attempt to interrelate ESG factors and OR components according to a ST lens, emphasising the dynamic nature of their interactions and organisations’ need for continuous adaptation and learning to make decisions that create sustainable long-term value.

Despite the widespread application and implementation of servitization strategy by manufacturing firms worldwide, little attention has been devoted to its adoption by European-Mediterranean countries, such as Italy. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by investigating if and how Italian manufacturing firms adopt a servitization strategy.

According to the paper’s aim, the survey methodology has been chosen and a specific questionnaire has been constructed by adopting and adapting the questions used by Baines et al. (2010). Key respondents were CEOs and General Managers of the manufacturing firms surveyed.

Findings show the main features and determinants of the adoption of a servitization strategy by Italian manufacturers as well as a comparison between them and UK manufacturers, determining both theoretical and practical implications.

This paper investigates the manufacturing firms located exclusively in the Italian region of Lazio. Thus, even though it is reasonable to believe that they can be considered as representative of the Italian reality, future enrichment of the sample could provide further insights into the investigation of the Italian case.

The paper examines the little-researched adoption of servitization by Italian manufacturing firms, contributing to the servitization research and providing evidence on its trends in a specific European-Mediterranean region.

This paper aims to enhance understanding of how sustainable entrepreneurship (SE) contributes to sustainable development in the tourism sector. To do so, specific factors that act as enablers or inhibitors of SE are identified according to a co-evolutionary lens.

A co-evolutionary explanation of the firm? Environment relationship is adopted to undertake a qualitative empirical study of the Castelli Romani tourism destination (Italy), via 23 semi-structured interviews according to a narrative approach.

The paper demonstrates that entrepreneurs play a crucial role in sustainable development but cannot act in isolation. In fact, according to the co-evolutionary approach, they influence and are influenced by 20 factors. Accordingly, SE can be conceptualised as resulting from effective co-evolutionary interactions between micro (i.e. entrepreneurs and their firm), meso (i.e. the destination where tourism firms are based) and macro (i.e. the wider socio-economic and natural system) levels.

Several actions are suggested to entrepreneurs and policymakers to help achieve specific sustainable development goals. These actions focus on: (1) training courses, (2) investments in technologies, (3) creation of innovative business models, (4) exploitation of cultural and natural resources, (5) community involvement and (6) multi-level partnerships.

This is the first study that adopts a co-evolutionary lens to investigate the influencing factors of SE in tourism, shedding light on the effects of their dynamic interdependence. Thus, it provides a more nuanced SE conceptualisation that takes a holistic and dynamic view of sustainability.

This paper aims to provide and empirically test a conceptual model in which artificial intelligence (AI), knowledge management processes (KMPs) and supply chain resilience (SCR) are simultaneously considered in terms of their reciprocal relationships and impact on manufacturing firm performance (MFP).

In the study, six hypotheses have been developed and tested through an empirical survey administered to 120 senior executives of Italian manufacturing firms. The data analysis has been carried out via the partial least squares structural equation modelling approach, using the Advanced Analysis for Composites 2.0 variance-based software program.

Using a conceptual model validated using an empirical survey, the study sheds light on the relationships between AI, KMPs and SCR, as well as their impacts on MFP. In particular, the authors show the positive effects of the adoption of AI on KMPs, as well as the influence of KMPs on SCR and MFP. Finally, the authors demonstrate that KMPs act as a mediator through which AI affects SCR and MFP.

This study highlights the critical role of KMPs for manufacturing firms that can deploy AI to stimulate KMPs and through attaining a high level of the latter might succeed in enhancing both their SCR and MFP.

This study demonstrates that manufacturing firms interested in properly applying AI to ameliorate their performance and resilience must carefully consider KMPs as a mediator mechanism.

This paper aims to empirically investigate how cognitive biases influence employees' product creativity (EPC) and related product performance. In particular, the paper primarily studies (1) the direct effect of employees' implicit creativity – based on five cognitive biases – and explicit creativity on EPC; and (2) the mediating role of coworkers' heuristic transfer between shared leadership and EPC.

Data have been obtained from big Italian manufacturing technology firms through a series of online questionnaires that resulted in 555 answers from R&D employees and their direct managers, who are, respectively, involved and responsible for the proposal of manufacturing technology products. The developed four theoretical hypotheses have been tested through correlation analysis, hierarchical regression, mediation analysis and structured equation modelling.

Cognitive biases positively influence EPC in manufacturing technology firms, leading to positive product performance. In particular, implicit creative personality better predicts EPC than explicit creative personality; whilst, shared leadership leads to a cognitive convergence among co-workers through the spread of heuristics that positively influence EPC.

The originality of this work lies in having: (1) investigated the influence of cognitive biases in creativity, (2) hypothesized and proved that co-workers' heuristic transfer mediates the relationship between shared leadership and EPC; (3) conducted the first specific study on employees' creativity in manufacturing technology firms; and (4) first implemented the implicit creative personality measurement, apart from those who conceptualized it.

This paper aims to (1) identify the different performance drivers (lead indicators) and outcome measures (lag indicators) investigated in the literature concerning the four balanced scorecard (BSC) perspectives in operations management (OM) contexts and (2) understand how performance drivers and outcome measures (and substantiated perspectives) are related.

We undertake a systematic literature review of the BSC literature in OM journals. From the final sample of 40 articles, performance drivers and outcome measures have been identified, and the relationships amongst them have been synthesised according to the system dynamics approach.

Findings show (1) the most relevant performance drivers and outcome measures within each BSC perspective, (2) their relationships, (3) how the perspectives are linked through the performance drivers and outcome measures and (4) how the different measures relate systemically. Accordingly, four causal loops amongst identified measures have been built, which – jointly considered – allowed for the creation of a dynamic strategy map for OM.

This study is the first one that provides a comprehensive and holistic view of how the different performance drivers and outcome measures within and between the four BSC perspectives in OM relate systemically, increasing the knowledge and understanding of scholars and practitioners.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how knowledge management systems can support the adoption of the servitization strategy in a manufacturing firm.

In order to reach the paper aim, an inductive single-case study has been adopted. The analysis focuses on the IBM Corporation.

In spite of the paucity of studies that simultaneously address both servitization and knowledge management topics, the case study findings show five connections points between the two streams of research, proving not only that they are closely connected to each other, but also how the adoption of a good knowledge management system can facilitate the implementation of a servitization strategy.

As far as the adoption of a single-case study is concerned, this could create biases that can affect the final product in terms of reliability, validity, and generalizability. However, as stated by Erickson (1986), the general lies in the particular and, as argued by Flyvbjerg (2006), the strength of a single example is underestimated in its contribution to scientific progress. Thus, even though this paper is based on a single-case study, it is reasonable to believe that it could be considered as a representative case of companies of the time and its findings sufficiently generalizable.

Case study findings could guide managers towards understanding if their knowledge management tools and practices are appropriate, or if they need to be modified in order to successfully implement the servitization strategy adopted.

This study represents the first attempt to fill the paucity of studies contemporaneously addressing both servitization and knowledge management topics, and could be used as a pilot case for future research works.

This chapter focuses on performance measurement and management systems (PMMS) in the inter-municipal cooperation context by considering the development of new capabilities required to exploit the digital governance potentialities in which data integration is essential. The analysis relied on the advent of digital governance, the Italian public informative systems reform, as well as on local governments (LG) renewals through the Union of Municipalities (UMs) – one of the most widespread structured forms of inter-municipal cooperation – based on the sustainability of local service delivery. Through a review of the literature and the conceptual outcomes resulting from the analysis of the dynamic capabilities (DCs) theory applied to digital governance, this chapter aims at suggesting a useful contribution for an effective improvement of PMMS in the public sector networks, with the consequent improvement of resilience in policy management. Thus, the broad information required by the UMs and the complexity of its administration together with the constraints regarding the need to share a common vision and strategy, plan objectives, targets, measurement, and evaluation processes are considered. In particular, three propositions have been developed as guidelines for achieving coordination, coherence, and integration of measuring and managing performances in public networks. This evidence will offer insights allowing scholars and practitioners a practical understanding of whether and how DCs – applied to digital governance – address PMMS challenges within an inter-municipal cooperative context.