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How would you explain why you bought your car, enrolled in your university of choice or purchased that monthly coffee subscription? It is only through marketing that consumers become aware of a brand's existence, sourcing methods, production process, end-product materials and its effects on the environment. This study analyses the factors marketers consider while conducting their activities and the ethical duties they have with the aim to ascertain the claim that marketing aims to influence consumers in a certain direction. Proving the truth of this claim will help marketers adjust their practices and ethical conduct to help achieve sustainability as a Global Sustainable Development Goal, in addition to helping their target market make well-informed purchasing decisions.

This study investigates the role of “soft” factors of total quality management – in terms of empowerment and engagement of employees – in facilitating or hindering organizational performance of the university technology transfer offices.

The authors developed an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), multiple regression model to test if empowerment and engagement affect organizational performance of the university technology transfer offices.

The authors found that “soft” factors of total quality management – in terms of empowerment and engagement – facilitate the improvement of organizational performance in university technology transfer offices.

The authors’ analysis shows that soft total quality management practices create the conditions for improving organizational performance. This study provides practical implications by showing that, in the evaluation of the technology transfer office, not only the “hard” variables (e.g. number of employees and employee experience) but also the “soft” one (e.g. empowerment and engagement) matter. Therefore, university technology transfer managers or university technology transfer delegates should take actions to promote not only empowering employees but also create a climate conducive to employees' engagement in the university technology transfer offices.

With regards to the differences in organizational performances of university technology transfer offices, several studies have focused their attention on technology transfer professionals in technology transfer offices, but only a few of them have examined the “soft side” of total quality management. Thus, this study examines the organizational goals of technology transfer offices through “soft” factors of total quality management in terms of empowerment and engagement employees.

This study examines the relationships between the sizes of Coop Alleanza 3.0 retail outlets and indicators (in value) of surplus food (SF), real food donation (FD) and potential food waste (FW) from 2013 to 2019.

Retail outlets were grouped by size class and geographic macro-area. The authors adopt a procedure composed of Kendall's tau-b coefficient with ties (ttest) and the coefficient of determination (R²). The authors studied bread, pastries, fruits and vegetables as representative food categories.

Among the hypermarket group (Emilia-Romagna Region and those in group with Apulia Region), the study found the t-test with many high negative relationship and related R² high. Results showed that size significantly influenced the trends of the indicators for the food categories analyzed. This allowed the authors to hypothesize the presence of inefficiencies in these groups.

From a practical point of view, the procedure can provide Coop Alleanza 3.0, with a dashboard to analyze surplus food management (SFM) progress within its retail groups. This can provide a warning signal (WS) to trigger a management control system. If necessary, it can lead to corrective measures, such as internal optimization, by adopting appropriate work procedures. In this sense, the procedure is scalable and transferable at the international middle and micro-scales. This approach facilitates the transition to a retail circular economy transition.

Looks at the first 100 years of Italian cinema examining its role in Italy’s recent history. Provides a bibliography of major film directors, Italian cinema sources, reference works, histories, themes, theory and criticism and articles in journals.

Resurgent interest in the life and work of the Italian Cambridge economist Piero Sraffa is leading to New Directions in Sraffa Scholarship. This chapter introduces readers to some of these developments. First and perhaps foremost is the fact that as of September 2016 Sraffa’s archival material has been uploaded onto the website of the Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge University, as digital colour images; this chapter introduces readers to the history of these events. This history provides sharp relief on the extant debates over the role of the archival material in leading to the final publication of Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities, and readers are provided a brief sketch of these matters. The varied nature of Sraffa scholarship is demonstrated by the different aspects of Sraffa’s intellectual legacy which are developed and discussed in the various entries of our Symposium. The conclusion is reached that we are on the cusp of an exciting phase change of tremendous potential in Sraffa scholarship.

The purpose of the paper is to highlight the considerations and lessons learned from a re-layout project in an assembly area for productivity improvement. The case study took place in Bosch Rexroth Oil Control Nonantola (Italy) with satisfactory results. The paper suggests how to approach reorganization projects with focus on productivity improvements following defined targets.

After an analysis of the initial status, the authors examine several plausible layout alternatives: the main comparison criteria and their weights are defined. Then a scoring/measuring procedure follows for the criteria of each alternative, and the alternatives are compared using principal parameters analysis (PPA).

The paper lists common considerations and lessons learned in the re-layout process. Using the PPA, the authors validate the best solution for the company.

This paper shares a valuable experience that is general enough to be shared with many other assembly systems. A unique experience combining re-layout planning, MTM and use of PPA is shared with the readers.

Recognizing novel entrepreneurial opportunities arising from a crisis is of paramount importance for firms. Hence, understanding the pivotal factors that facilitate firms in this endeavor holds significant value. This study delves into such factors within a representative empirical context impacted by a crisis, drawing insights from existing literature on opportunity recognition during such tumultuous periods.

The authors conducted a qualitative inspection of 14 Italian firms during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The authors collected a rich body of multi-source qualitative data, including 34 interviews (with senior managers and entrepreneurs) and secondary data (press releases, videos, web interviews, newspapers, reports and academic articles) in two phases (March–August 2020 and September–December 2020).

The results suggest the existence of a process model of opportunity recognition during crises based on five entrepreneurial influencing factors (entrepreneurial knowledge, entrepreneurial alertness, entrepreneurial proclivity, entrepreneurial personality and entrepreneurial purpose).

Various scholars have highlighted that, in times of crises, it is not easy and indeed very challenging for entrepreneurs to identify novel entrepreneurial opportunities. However, recent research has shown that crises can also positively impact entrepreneurs and their capacity to identify new entrepreneurial opportunities. Given these findings, not much research has analyzed the process by which entrepreneurs identify novel entrepreneurial opportunities during crises. This study shows that some entrepreneurial influencing factors are very important to identify new entrepreneurial opportunities during crises.

Based on a comparison with different realities, analysis of the situation of libraries in line with International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) policies and directives.

The method used for the following paper is that of a remote interview.

The expected results will emerge from the debate that can be raised from this paper.

The IFLA guidelines have international value but are implemented according to the context of the individual country, not always in a uniform manner.

The interview reveals the formality of the contents through the informality of the method.

The tendency to utilize transnational organizations (TNO), with the tacit support of transnational institutions such as the European Union, to realize mega projects affecting local populations and territories distant from decision-making boardrooms, may result in increasing democratic alienation between those who are charged with implementing these projects and local citizens.

This chapter presents Stage 2 of a study to examine democratic participation and communicative action between a transnational organization, governing bodies, and the citizens affected by a high-speed rail project in Susa Valley, Italy. Findings related to potential democratic alienation between citizens and decision-makers are presented. Societal factors which contribute to this alienation, such as a communication deficit, are considered, as well as the strategies adopted to counter this participatory gap – including a reliance on electronic media for disseminating information and the creation of transnational resistance networks.

Results suggest that the emergence of transnational resistance networks such as the Forum Against Unnecessary and Imposed Mega Projects – spearheaded by members of the No TAV social movement, may provide new avenues for democratic participation and citizen engagement.