Systems Thinking Research in the Twenty-First Century

In this opinion article, the author aims to depict the state of systems thinking research through the lens of my own personal experience. His point of view is that of a relatively young scholar who has the privilege to be involved in the international systems thinking community in many ways. Indeed, in 2012 he established, with other colleagues, an academic society named Business Systems Laboratory (BSLab), which has rapidly become an important society for research into the application of systems thinking to society, business and organizations. Through his activity of organization of conferences and his editorial activity at the journals associated with BSLab (and recently as Editor-in-Chie…

From Marketing Mix to e-Marketing Mix: a literature overview and classification

The marketing mix paradigm, in its famous version of the 4Ps, went all the way through the evolution of marketing theory: from the marketing concept, through relationship marketing, to digital economy, being object of discussion both in academic literature and managerial practice. If it is a fact that the 4Ps marketing mix is a milestone of marketing theory, it is also true that the evolution of business contexts has created, in many fields, the need to review the "controllable factors" which form the marketing mix. The digital business represents the more recent of the business contexts and the one with the greater needs of differentiation of the mix. Throughout this evolutionary process, …

Unraveling the Complexity of Tourist Experience with NFC Technology and Mobile Wallets

By considering the tourist experience as a complex dynamic system, in this paper we depict the traveler as a kybernetes (κυβeρνήτης is the ancient Greek word for ‘sea captain’, ‘steersman’, or ‘governor’) in search of powerful tools to help him or her to obtain directions in the mare magnum of complexity, overcoming the fear of action and taking decisions. We focus our attention on the key role of Near Field Communication technology and mobile wallet as ‘attenuators of complexity’ in the travel and tourism industry.

A relational view of start-up firms inside an incubator. The case of the ARCA Consortium

Purpose Analyzing the entrepreneurial ecosystem related to the ARCA consortium, the purpose of this paper is to study the relationships among the start-up firms inside an incubator. Design/methodology/approach Thanks to the adoption of the relationships concentric model and the density concentric model, the paper highlights the role of relational conditions for innovative projects in partnership among the incubated firms. Reflections herein are tested via a qualitative research approach based on a single case study: the ARCA consortium. Findings This research found that about 32 percent of relationships inside the incubator support the emergence of short-term relationships among the incuba…

Click and drive: Consumer attitude to product development: Towards future transformations of the driving experience

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to supply indications that may be useful in the process of development of new products that fully exploit the value potential of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in the automotive industry. To this aim, the authors investigate how applications of the IoT to smart vehicles are perceived by consumers and describe different ways to increase their satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – After a literature review focused on IoT and consumer behaviour in the automotive industry, the authors apply the Kano model to find the drivers for achieving customer satisfaction with new product developments in smartcars. Findings – Automotive companies need to…

E-BUSINESS MODEL: A CONTENT BASED TAXONOMY OF LITERATURE

The rapid worldwide growth of e-commerce and the resulting great interest on the digital business, caused a proliferation of contributes by academics and practitioners, that identified by different points of view, the fundamental concepts, codes and functions of e-business models. The quantity and the variety of approaches adopted made the concept of e-business model fuzzy and vague, with little consensus about its ontology and definition. The relevance of the topic asserts a claim for the classification of contributions as a first step to a general definition of the concept of e-business model. This paper provides an integrated literature review of contemporary academic writings to ascerta…

Il processo di incubazione per la creazione di imprese vitali. Il caso del Consorzio ARCA

Obiettivi . Il processo di creazione di nuove imprese risulta particolarmente complesso qualora parta da idee altamente innovative che trovano difficolta ad essere percepite come valide dai sovra sistemi. Obiettivo del presente lavoro e dimostrare che gli incubatori accademici svolgono un ruolo determinante per la vitalita di queste imprese. Metodologia . Attraverso un caso studio contraddistinto da un embedded design si analizza l’efficacia del processo di incubazione degli spin-off dell’incubatore del Consorzio Arca. Risultati . L’efficacia del processo di incubazione e dimostrata dall’elevato numero di spin-off che, al termine del periodo di incubazione, sono capaci di competere con succ…

The Culture on the Palm of Your Hand: How to Design a User Oriented Mobile App for Museums

The increased usage of mobile apps has a great potential for the tourism industry. Through the use of mobile apps, web portals and social media may allow a fast and wide diffusion of awareness for museum and attract a large number of visitors, thus increasing the value of their image, with moderate investments. The aim of this chapter is to identify the key factors as antecedents of customer satisfaction for the design of a mobile app for a museum. To this aim, the authors use the Kano model that allows categorizing service attributes according to how they are perceived by customers and estimating their impact on customer satisfaction. This model is adopted in order to identify express and …

The drivers of customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry: applying the Kano model to Sicilian hotels

Starting from the assessment that hotels need to embrace a managerial approach oriented towards customer satisfaction, we adopt the Kano model to identify the relevant drivers of satisfaction of hotels guest in the main cities of Sicily, Italy. This study analyzes the customer satisfaction requirements for Sicilian hotels in order to suggest and weigh a set of key attributes that hotel managers need to consider in order to create an attractive offer. We base our analysis on the qualitative data collected through 600 questionnaires submitted to hotel guests of twenty Sicilian three-star hotels located in city downtowns, in different provinces and locations.

Organizational Systems: Managing Complexity with the Viable System Model (Book review)

Editorial

Systems Thinking and Sustainability in Organisations

This set of articles arises from a series of conferences (Business Systems Laboratory Symposia, 2013-2015) and in particular from the 2nd Business systems Laboratory International Symposium, Rome 2014 with the theme ‘Systems Thinking for a Sustainable Economy’, concerned with systems thinking and its relations with sustainable management, where the relevance of systems thinking was demonstrated. The current period of our global society is characterised by intense transformations in the competitive logics of organisations, markets, and, generally speaking, society. Social circumstances today are typified by dynamism, connectivity, nonlinearity, and emergent properties — in other words by ‘co…

Complexity and Action. A Cybernetics Perspective to Decision Making - Plenary Lecture

The problem often faced by some approaches to complexity is that of the abstraction from the competition character of action. Man often is not rational, because of his cognitive limits, his heuristics of thought, and his passions of which the most dangerous is fear. To be aware that the world is complex and there is no way to forecast the future is something that can scare at the point to inhibit decision and necessary action. Today there is a lot of talking about how the world, hence the markets, the social and business environment is complex, but few real proposals about what to do. The temptation coming from reductionist models and the reason why they are still so strong in the manageria…

Reframing the systemic approach to complex organizations as intangible portfolios

The aim of this paper is to pave the way towards the inclusion of mainstream sociological approaches (based on Luhmann’s approach) for the studies of firms-organizations. In social sciences we can observe that the theoretic consequences of a paradigm shift is signiicantly represented by the evolution of systemic thinking from Parsons to Luhmann. This shift implies the change from the vision of systemic organizations as “structures” to that of systemic organizations as “communication flows”. The milestone of systemic approach in management maybe found in the research and applied works of Anthony Staford Beer with his Viable System Model (VSM) that today faced a relevant reconiguration by Gol…

Understanding the price drivers of successful apps in the mobile app market

In this paper, we take the perspective of app developers. Specifically, based on a sample of top paid apps from three major app stores, i.e., App Store, Google Play, and Blackberry World, we construct a hedonic price model to examine the role of relevant factors in price formation in the app market. Our results suggest a strong evidence of two-sided market effects. In fact, the lower price charged for apps operating as two-sided markets reflect the strategy of subsidising users, due to the positive cross-side externalities they exert on valuable third parties. Surprisingly, the effects of trialability, in-app purchase and mechanisms to build reputation are not significant in the context of …

A Holistic Approach to Comprehending the Complexity of the Post-growth Era: The Emerging Profile

The goal of this study is to investigate the problems caused by the rapid growth of the global economy, coupled with high population growth and the excessive exploitation of natural resources. The global economy will not be able to maintain its current speed of growth in the long term, so a paradigm shift in production and consumption is necessary, if the collapse of ecosystems and the concurrent depletion of natural resources are to be avoided. This is the reason why capitalism needs to take a turn towards a sustainable and naturally harmonized development model.

The value of a network in the digital era: insights about Doctor Chat case study

Networks are ubiquitous in our lives in their social, physical, and digital forms. A growing number of firms today rely entirely on networking and lack a physical location or material infrastructure; they are, so to speak, 'liquid'. Through a theoretical analysis and its application to the case of Doctor Chat mobile app, this paper aims to analyse the fundamental laws of networks and to answer the following questions: 1) are the traditional methods to estimate the network value still valid in the current digital age and in particular for mobile applications?; 2) how do the laws of networks work when networks expand? We conclude with some suggestions for a research agenda in order to inspire…

Game theory as a marketing tool: uses and limitations

The growth of complexity of the business environment in which firms operate, calls for more effective tools, able to consider the effect of the strategic choices of the actors of the market and to supply information useful for managerial decision process. Game theory seems to be an ideal candidate for this scope. Nevertheless, because of its axiomatic approach, its validity to highlight and define marketing issues has many critics. This paper analyses the main literature about the use of game theory for marketing management decisions and highlights its limits in this field in order to answer to the question: Can game theory be an effective marketing tool?

Editorial Note The path of complexity science: from theory to managerial practice

The application of complexity science to business has always been a diicult task because it is not easy to demonstrate the relevance of complexity theories to practicing managers. We accepted this challenge with this Special Issue, and I think we are giving a good con- tribution in this sense.

The Relevance of Systemic Approaches in Business Sciences

Il Paradigm Shift Della Teoria Sistemica Nelle Scienze Sociali: Verso Un Nuovo Concetto Di Impresa Sistemico-Vitale (The Paradigm Shift of Systemic Theory Towards a New Concept of Viable Firm)

La complessita dell’ambiente sociale e di business ha reso ormai evidente l’imprescindibile necessita, per le organizzazioni complesse (tra cui le imprese) del XXI secolo, di miglioramento della capacita di gestione dei necessari mutamenti al fine di mantenere la vitalita e garantirne la sopravvivenza. L’approccio sistemico si e rivelato cruciale per l’apertura di nuove prospettive di studio e di comprensione delle dinamiche dei sistemi viventi. La comprensione di tali fenomeni si e rivelata di fondamentale importanza per il governo delle organizzazioni complesse. Negli ultimi decenni si e potuto assistere alla crescita della rilevanza strategica della comunicazione per la governance delle …

Online Academic Networks as Knowledge Brokers: The Mediating Role of Organizational Support

Placing online academic networks in the framework of social, cultural and institutional “deterritorialization,” the current paper aims at investigating the functionality of these new forms of transnational and trans-organizational aggregations as knowledge brokers. The emphasis is laid on the influence of human collective intelligence and consistent knowledge flows on research innovation, considering the role of organizational support within higher education systems. In this respect, the research relied on a questionnaire-based survey with 140 academics from European emerging countries, the data collected being processed via a partial least squares structural equation modelling technique. E…

International Journal of Markets and Business Systems Volume 1

Cultural Product Management from Environment to Territorial Context

This chapter aims to represent the evolution of the cultural vocation of the territory with relation to the cultural product. The authors achieve this by adopting a holistic, viable-systemic approach. This approach proves useful to draw a better representation of the relationships existing among members of the territory - which is a prerequisite for the creation of any cultural product - and among them and the stakeholders to whom the cultural product itself is targeted. The authors consider the notion of relationship as a form of interactive connection determining - in causal fashion - a series of input-output effects among system members.

Test multiple choice per l'esame di Marketing

How to build an e-learning product: factors for student/customer satisfaction

Abstract The increasing use of web technologies has changed the way business is done, including in the field of education. In the last decade, the development of electronic learning ( e-learning ) systems became crucial to meet students’ demand. In this study, we adopt a relationship marketing perspective and apply the Kano Model to propose a way to build a non-academic e-learning course that can achieve student satisfaction. We measure the relevance of e-learning requirements from university students’ perspective to identify their expectations about e-learning courses and obtain relevant characteristics that can help to plan an e-learning product capable of achieving high customer satisfac…

Mission Statements in Top Higher Education Institutions—What Do They Have in Common?

The present paper envisages an analysis of the main goals and future directions of action in the higher education sector at world level. In recent years higher education institutions apply professional management principles and guide their activities using business specific strategic tools. Starting from the fact that higher education institutions can learn from the best, the purpose of the paper is to analyze the main directions included in the mission statements of the top 150 higher education institutions at world level, according to rankings. The two main objectives of the analysis are: (a) to identify the main directions included in the mission statements of the best universities in th…

Il contesto istituzionale nipponico e l’evoluzione della “lean production”

In Memoriam of Professor Massimo Paoli

HOLONIC PRODUCTION SYSTEM TO OBTAIN FLEXIBILITY FOR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

The Holonic Production System (HPS) can be a valid choice to overcome the problems of traditional production sys-tems’ architectures, thanks to its capability to adapt and react to changes in the business environment whilst being able to maintain systemic synergies and coordination. The HPS is made of holons seen as functional production units which are simultaneously autonomous and cooperative. Although the holonic approach could represent a valid solution in order to pursue the necessary levels of agility of production systems, they have been scarcely implemented in practice and even less studied from a business studies perspective. The purpose of this discussion paper is to show the bene…

Holonic production system

Innovazione e Imprenditorialità. Il ruolo degli spin-off universitari.

Oggi il ruolo delle Università non si limita più soltanto alle tradizionali attività di formazione e di ricerca. La cosiddetta Seconda Rivoluzione Accademica ha attribuito alle Università una "terza missione", che consiste nella valorizzazione e commercializzazione della conoscenza accedemica sul mercato. L'Università diviene così "entrepreneurial university" creando valore non solo in termini di conoscenza ma anche di innovazione e sviluppo economico. Il libro intende approfondire il ruolo che le Università rivestono nel processo di trasferimento di conoscenza innovativa al mercato tramite la costituzione di imprese spin-off. Viene evidenziato come, attraverso il supporto di apposite strut…

The Incubation Process for the Creation of Viable Firms: The Case of ARCA Consortium

Purpose of the study. The process of creation of new firms is particularly complex when it starts from very innovative ideas that may be not understood by the stakeholders of the firm. The aim of this study is to demonstrate that academic incubators play a key role for firms’ viability. Methodology. We analyze the effectiveness of the incubation process that takes place in the incubator of Consorzio Arca, by means of a single case study with embedded design. Findings. The effectiveness of the incubation process is demonstrated by the high number of spin-offs that, after incubation, are able to stand alone in the market and to find the consonance with the relevant supra-systems. Research lim…

E-Marketing. Analisi dei cambiamenti dai modelli di business al mix operativo

Se il XX secolo ha visto la radio e la televisione come principali strumenti della comunicazione, il XXI secolo sembra rivolgersi a Internet. Le tecnologie digitali consentono più alti livelli di interazione con l'utente grazie a nuove modalità di comunicazione. Le possibilità offerte dai nuovi media hanno determinato mutamenti nel contesto socio-economico che coinvolgono le strategie dell'impresa, istituto centrico dell'operare economico, inserito con vaste funzioni nel contesto sociale. La diffusione capillare di Internet e delle tecnologie digitali ha trasformato non solo le strategie di business ma anche il sistema di relazioni tra imprese e consumatori. Il marketing, nella sua funzione…

Knowledge management in cyberphysical systems: determining the quality requirements for health systems with the Kano model

This paper focuses on knowledge management in cyberphysical systems (CPS), dealing with the importance and influence of smart technologies for the creation of the smart health systems as a part of the smart home. This approach considers the reorganisation and adaptation of medicine and health systems, building the research framework upon knowledge management 4.0 for health systems. Customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction was researched using the qualitative methodology of the Kano model. The questionnaire deals with five factors that play a crucial role in the decision to purchase such a system: 1) software reliability; 2) medical device interoperability; 3) security and privacy; 4) system…

Facility Management nel Settore Pubblico: tre istituzioni siciliane a confronto

L'articolo presenta un'analisi della domanda di Facility Management (FM) da parte del settore pubblico esponendo dei casi relativi alle tre principali istituzioni pubbliche della sicilia occidentale.

Complexity Theory for a New Managerial Paradigm: A Research Framework

In this work, we supply a theoretical framework of how organizations can embed complexity management and sustainable development into their policies and actions. The proposed framework may lead to a new management paradigm, attempting to link the main concepts of complexity theory, change management, knowledge management, sustainable development, and cybernetics. We highlight how the processes of organizational change have occurred as a result of the move to adapt to the changes in the various global and international business environments and how this transformation has led to the shift toward the present innovation economy. We also point how organizational change needs to deal with sustai…

Decoding the dynamics of value cocreation in consumer tribes. An Agency Theory approach

In the last decade, marketing studies have tried to define methodologies, models, and tools to support organizations in developing pathways “oriented to” and “based on” the value cocreation. To shed light on these dynamics, using the interpretative lens offered by Agency Theory, this study investigates the sociocultural and cognitive/figurative roots of the process of emergence of consumer tribes in which and by which value cocreation takes place. This paper offers a possible advancement in knowledge useful to define approaches, models, and instruments able to better explain and manage the dynamics of value cocreation.

PREFAZIONE AL LIBRO: INTERNAZIONALIZZAZIONE D'IMPRESA E STRATEGIE DI PENETRAZIONE DEI MERCATI

Viable Systems Approach and Consumer Culture Theory: A Conceptual Framework

The aim of this study is to depict the relational dynamics between the firm/ brand and the individual/consumer or communities of consumers. To this aim we propose a conceptual framework, integrating the viable systems approach (VSA) with consumer culture theory (CCT), which considers the individual as an active co-maker of the product/brand (‘prosumer’). The VSA view of the firm overcomes the limitations of CCT research, which is mainly focused on the individual, giving little consideration to the other actors in the context. Among the different approaches under the umbrella of viable systems we chose the VSA because of its emphasis on the analysis of the systemic external relations with th…

An empirical analysis of online price dispersion in the Italian airline industry

Firms operating in the electronic marketplace set and adjust prices to affect demand and profitability. In service markets, such as airline markets, different prices are commonly offered by diverse firms to accommodate to a variety of market segments having particular sets of consumer attitudes. This variation in prices is the price dispersion and is based on market distinctiveness deriving from customer heterogeneity as well as the peculiar competition in the specific market arena. In this paper we use a panel dataset from the Italian airline market to investigate the role of competition and different online channels in the emergence of price dispersion. Specifically, we examine the unclea…

Choosing Open Innovation Intermediaries through their web-based platforms

This paper examines the services provided by Open Innovation Intermediaries (OIIs) through their web-based platforms, in order to understand how OIIs can effectively support innovation seekers in their innovation processes. Relying on the existing literature exploring the roles and functions of web-based OII platforms, we carried out an exploratory and comparative qualitative study to identify the services available, to classify them by the various phases of the innovation processes in which they can be beneficial, and to link them to general roles and functions. Our analysis of the services provided by OII platforms sheds light on the dynamics of innovation seekers’ choices, and gives mean…

Place brand as an emergent property: The case of Vascitour and Naples

In this paper, by adopting a systemic framework, we argue that place's adaptive connotation be considered as a mere result of endogenous processes but as a viable system that will remain viable if it can continue to answer the needs of its numerous heterogeneous internal and external socio-economic agents. Place can be seen as a complex adaptive system characterized by a more or less planned evolution, driven by both top-down and bottom-up processes, and composed of various interconnecting parts that, at the same time, can be seen as wholes at different levels as an holoarchy. The model of the holoarchy allows to consider the place as the result of both planned and spontaneous relationships…

Untangling knowledge fields and knowledge dynamics within the decision-making process

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the influences of different types of knowledge and their inherent dynamics on the effectiveness of the decision-making (DM) process. Knowledge dynamics (KD) is envisioned through the lens of the knowledge fields theory while effective DM process is objectivised via organisational appreciation and reward, higher business performance, sustainable partnerships and managerial satisfaction with previous achievements.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire-based survey was conducted with 275 middle managers from companies operating in the business consulting field. The conceptual and structural model was tested using the partial least squares stru…

A Complex Adaptive System Framework for Management and Marketing Studies

This theoretical work aims to analyze the choice of strategicmanagement activities, taking into account a complex systems perspective. Following this approach, we represent the firm as a complex adaptive system, in which the management must be able to develop and implement different behaviors in order to dynamically ensure the viability of the firm or system. This implies that the management governing the firm or system is capable of choosing, from among a number of heterogeneous entities, the relevant stakeholders within the competitive context and of creating and maintaining significant relationships with them, which are considered to be relevant in a turbulent environment. As an expressi…

DEMAND DRIVEN SUPPLY CHAIN ED INNOVAZIONE: IL SISTEMA LOGISTICO-PRODUTTIVO PER LA SODDISFAZIONE DEI BISOGNI DEL CLIENTE

La produzione di beni e servizi, per il soddisfacimento dei bisogni, con il oiettarsi nel tempo e nello spazio, determina incertezza e rischi in vario odo correlati a due diversi aspetti: uno di carattere tecnico inerente la ma della capacità produttiva di cui disporre, l’altro di natura più icamente economica, dovuto al fatto che i bisogni, che le produzioni sono stinate a soddisfare, si proiettano nel futuro con caratteri di significativa utabilità e variabilità2 . Anche se l’impresa dedica rilevanti risorse per la evisione della domanda, al fine di allinearla con l’offerta, non sempre iene i risultati attesi. Nonostante i cospicui investimenti, i sistemi di evisione non riescono infatti …

University incubator as catalyst of resources for academic spin-offs. The case of ARCA Consortium

Today we can observe an increasing proliferation of new academic spin-off initiatives aimed to transfer knowledge from the university to the market. Due to their strategic role in enhancing the development of technological innovation, academic spin-offs can attain high levels of social performance and consonance with their environment. At the same time, they must overcome many difficulties if they are to achieve a high level of financial performance and growth. They are often considered to be mere vehicles for the transmission of knowledge, implying that their entrepreneurial potential is not fully exploited. According to the Resource Based View (RBV) the competitive disadvantage of an acad…

The Complex System Theory for the Analysis of Inter-Firm Networks: A Literature Overview and Theoretic Framework

In this paper we discuss the body of knowledge known as complex system theory and its relevance to the analysis of inter-firm networks. We start by addressing the development of systems thinking. Through a literature overview, we point out the main elements for the development of systemic thought from its beginning, through its application in business sciences, to the birth of Complex Systems Theory (CST). With these initial annotations we provide an introduction to the concepts of the complex systems theory. We will underscore those aspects of CST that can be useful to analyze inter-firm networks, in order to highlight the evolutionary dynamics of the networks and to clarify the logical li…

A holistic approach to the management of human consumption towards an economics of well-being

The goal of this conceptual paper is to draw attention to the problems caused by the rapid growth of the global economy, coupled with high population growth and excessive exploitation of natural resources. It is necessary to be aware that the global economy will not be able to grow at the actual speed in the long term. A paradigm shift in production and consumption is therefore necessary to avoid the collapse of ecosystems and the concurrent reduction of stocks of natural resources. This is the reason why capitalism has to take a new direction towards a sustainable and naturally harmonized development model.

Systemic Approaches for Business Innovation and Sustainability. Editorial Note to the Special Section for the 2nd BS Lab Symposium-Rome 2014

Our times are characterized by intense transformations in the competitive logics of markets and, broadly speaking, of business systems. Business scenarios today are typified by dynamism, connectivity, nonlinearity, and emergent properties—i n other words by ‘complexity’ (Dominici,2012). The systemic approach has been pivotal to open new lenses and understandings of the inner dynamics of complex systems. In recent times, we have witnessed a paradigm shift in the managerial approach from the whole/part model to the systemice nvironmental approach. This shift generated the epistemological frame of the systemic approach to social sciences in the fields of sociology, management and economics (Pita…

Consumer attitude toward using smart shopping carts: a comparative analysis of Italian and Croatian consumer attitudes

This paper aims to explore consumer attitudes toward using smart shopping cart, considering country of origin, gender, age, and intentions to use smart shopping carts while purchasing. Moreover, it investigates the influence of extracted factors on consumers' attitudes toward using smart shopping carts and the users' levels of digital competence. The data was collected through survey questionnaires using a purposive sample of 313 Croatian and Italian respondents. To this end, we applied statistical methodologies such as binary logistic regression, factor analysis, and analysis of variance. We found that, compared with Croatians, Italian respondents have a more positive attitude toward using…

Sviluppare l'e-business

Anche se i cambiamenti dell’economia mondiale non sono avvenuti nelle modali- tà radicali ed improvvise pronosticate all’alba della nascita delle tecnologie digitali, si è assistito comunque ad un cambiamento epocale avvenuto in modo evolutivo e diffuso. Questo cambiamento, sebbene non visibilmente rivoluzionario, ha comun- que avuto un impatto pesante sull’economia mondiale. È oggi incontestabile che i nuovi strumenti di comunicazione digitale abbiano mutato profondamente la socie- tà, dunque le opportunità di business. Quello che conta oggi per trovare valore ag- giunto sono: i servizi, la capacità di gestire la globalizzazione dei mercati e di adat- tarsi a cicli di vita dei prodotti mol…

Marketing Archetypes: Applying Jungian Psychology to Marketing Research

In the current situation of growing information overload, individuals are gradually becoming less sensitive to traditional marketing communications. For this reason, traditional marketing research models are no longer capable of giving useful insights to management. This calls for new approaches that can grasp the inner meaning of consumer behaviors and evaluate their relevance. To this end, a new multidisciplinary approach is needed to interpret complex behavioral patterns so as to gain deeper and more effective insights into customers and to understand their behavioral patterns. In this paper, following a short introduction to the basic concepts of Jung's analytical psychology and their r…

Lezioni di produzione snella per l'azienda

Editorial: The relevance of a better understanding of the online consumer behaviour

Editorial note for the special part of selected papers for the BSLab Symposium 2019

I livelli di sostenibilità delle istituzioni di microfinanza

Consulting of the XXI Century. Coping with Complex Business Systems

The increase of the social and economic complexity causes frequent discontinuities and the rapid change of the business environment, triggering intense transformations of the competitive logics and of the capability of forecasting using traditional models. The new competitive reality is characterized by dynamism, connectivity, non–linearity and emergent properties, in other words by “complexity”. The XX century’s myth of the “one best way” reveals its weaknesses and its inability to deal with the new emerging problems and opportunities, which, at the beginning of the XXI century, fIrms have to face. The traditional reductionist concept of “one best way”, based on the “replication of standar…

Complexity and Action: Reflections on Decision Making and Cybernetics.

This paper highlights some theoretical and epistemological reflections about the relevance of action for managerial studies. These reflections show how the cybernetic paradigm of complexity management can be used for better decision making that unites knowledge and action in a comprising, dynamic, and evolving approach. Cybernetics can help to overcome the fear of decision making in the face of uncertainty in complex scenarios, and can be an effective tool for improving the viability and competitiveness of firms in the twenty-first century.

Effectiveness of Entrepreneurial Universities: Experiences and Challenges in Digital Era (A Systemic Approach)

The modern world actively discusses the challenges that will lead to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As the specialists assume, part of the jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence. In addition, creation of completely new jobs is expected. As for the jobs that might be maintained in future, skills upgrading will be particularly important. In such a turbulent environment of economic development, universities, and in particular entrepreneurial universities, play a significant role. We think so as these universities have special structures that promote form a university-industry-government triple helix, reskilling and commercialization of new ideas, etc. Due to the above-mentioned fa…

Designing a mobile app for museums according to the drivers of visitor satisfaction

The aim of this study is to identify the key factors as antecedents of visitor satisfaction for the design of a mobile app for museums. To our aim we use the Kano model that allows to categorize service attributes according to how they are perceived by customers and to estimate their impact on customer satisfaction. We collected qualitative data trough 300 questionnaires administered to tourists visiting the Sicilian cities of Palermo and Trapani over a period of 3 months (October- December 2012). The results of our analysis can be relevant for museum and public managers to plan strategic and operative activities, for researcher in the field of touristic marketing, for application developer…

Decoding the XXI Century’s Marketing Shift: An Agency Theory Framework

Since the beginning of the XXI century, marketing theory has moved through a series of epistemological shifts from modern positivism to postmodern constructivism. This has resulted in a series of changes to the main concepts of “traditional” marketing such as: market, product, customer, and value. These shifts can be better viewed under a social cybernetics approach such as agency theory. This is because there is now a view that the linear concept of value creation needs to give way to the more complex process of value cocreation, where value is created collectively. Agency theory is one approach that is able to shed light on how customers and providers are able to recursively create collec…

Conceptual Key Competency Model for Smart Factories in Production Processes

Abstract Background and Purpose: The aim of the study is to develop a conceptual key competency model for smart factories in production processes, focused on the automotive industry, as innovation and continuous development in this industry are at the forefront and represent the key to its long-term success. Methodology: For the purpose of the research, we used a semi-structured interview as a method of data collection. Participants were segmented into three homogeneous groups, which are industry experts, university professors and secondary education teachers, and government experts. In order to analyse the qualitative data, we used the method of content analysis. Results: Based on the anal…

Cybernetics of Value Cocreation for Product Development

In marketing theory, the shift from the paradigm of value creation to value ‘cocreation’ calls for a deeper grasp of the interactions between producers and customers. Marketing studies have widely focused on the value cocreation concept, but so far, the mechanism through which consumers can be involved in the process of value cocreation through product development had found little space in marketing studies. In this theoretical paper, we aim to fill this gap and pave the way towards a better understanding of the mechanisms of value cocreation for product development through second-order cybernetics. We conceive the market arena as a physical or virtual place where communications of value pro…

Governing Business Systems. Theories and Challenges for Systems Thinking in Practice

Small world theory and the World Wide Web: linking small world properties and website centrality

This qualitative paper aims to point out the incidence of small world characteristics in the World Wide Web. To this end, some theoretical implications of small world theory (SWT) are verified using information from focus groups and in-depth interviews administered to experts and users of the World Wide Web. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether it is possible to apply small world properties to online social networks while pointing out the key variables of website centrality in that context. Building on this, the paper traces possible contributions for better management of the World Wide Web in terms of the professional use of social media to facilitate information or product …

Cybernetics of Value Cocreation for Product Development

Place Marketing and Management: A Complex Adaptive Systems View. The Strategic Planning of the City of Avellino, Italy

The objective of this work is to contribute to place management and marketing studies by looking at the territory, as a complex adaptive system aiming to reach a dynamic equilibrium—a steady state. According to this approach, the territorial system emerges as a result of its capacity, its social actors and governance, and the analysis, creation and maintenance of relationships—the dynamics—between the territory components, both tangible and intangible ones, and its many and varied stakeholders. These relational dynamics produce continuous and reciprocal adaptive behaviours among social actors who determine, influence, and adapt the vision of the territory. Through an interdisciplinary appro…

I DISTRETTI INDUSTRIALI: L'IMPATTO DI BASILEA 2 SULLE PMI CHE OPERANO IN FILIERA

Why Does Systems Thinking Matter?

The social and economic complexity of our times triggers intense transformations in the competitive logics of markets and, broadly speaking, of business systems. Business scenarios today are typified by dynamism, connectivity, nonlinearity, and emergent properties—in other words by "complexity". Asserting that the world, and consequently business systems, are complex means that it is impossible to understand them by considering their individual elements separately, and that there is no option of predicting the future, but only of grasping and proactively influencing future scenarios. Reductionist models are unable to fully depict, or to allow us to deeply understand, new complex and dynamic…

Cybernetics of Value Co-creation

The paradigm shift from value creation to value "co-creation" calls for a deeper grasp of organizational learning in marketing theory. This paper adopts a cybernetic view of the process of value co-creation to shed light on its relevant aspects and to supply a framework to implement operations and strategies to foster this process. Can cybernetics help to better understand the process of value co-creation? Can the Viable System Model (Beer, 1979) be a sound approach to shape a more effective value co-creation process able to achieve higher satisfaction and value? In this theoretical paper we will show how cybernetic can be effectively used to give a positive answer to both questions above

Customer Satisfaction in the Hotel Industry: A Case Study from Sicily

In order to be successful in the market it is not sufficient to attract new customers managers must concentrate on retaining existing customers implementing effective policies of customer satisfaction and loyalty. In hotel industry customer satisfaction is largely hooked upon quality of service. A management approach focused on customer satisfaction can improve customer loyalty, thus increasing the positive image of the touristic destination. Hence, exploring the importance for customers of hotel attributes in hotel selection is indispensable. Research on the topic of guest satisfaction, which translates into the consideration of whether or not customers will return to a hotel or advise it …

Decoding the Japanese Lean Production System according to a Viable Systems Perspective

The increase in the complexity and variability of the business environment, due to constant and rapid changes in markets, calls for more flexible and effective production systems. Of the most valuable production systems, the Japanese lean production system (LPS) is the best known and studied, but is still not the most widely applied with success outside Japan. The reason for the low level of success of lean production outside its native country is the lack of understanding of the strong interactions which hold between enterprises and business systems. In order to fill this gap in our knowledge, we investigate the systemic interactions according to the Viable System View. To develop our anal…

Limits and Criticalities of Predictions and Forecasting in Complex Social and Economic Scenarios: A Cybernetics Key

Predictions play a key role in assuring the status of “rationality” in decisions. Nevertheless, in the field of social sciences and economics, predictions fail to correctly depict the oncoming scenarios. Why is it so difficult to achieve quantitative prediction of social and economic systems? Can science provide reliable predictions of social and economic paths that can be used to implement effective interventions? As in the notorious “El Farol bar problem” depicted by Brian Arthur (Am Econ Rev 84:406–411, 1994), the validity of predictive models is more a social issue than a matter of good mathematics. Predictability in social systems is due to limited knowledge of society and human behavi…

New Challenges for Sustainable Organizations in Light of Agenda 2030 for Sustainability

Sustainability is one of humanity’s most daunting issues at present. Increasing popula- tion, escalation of anthropogenic activities, industrialization, modern agricultural practices that pollute water, air, and soil around the world, and ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions mean that sustainability is now in doubt [1]. In response to these critical concerns, the world has come up with several initiatives including Agenda 2030. Agenda 2030 is a commitment to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development worldwide, ensuring that no one is left behind by 2030. Its adoption was a landmark achievement, providing a shared vision towards sustainable development for all. Its 17 Sustain…

The drivers of customer satisfaction for academic library services: managerial hints from an empirical study on two Italian university libraries using the Kano model

The intent of this qualitative research is to investigate and understand the requisites of customer satisfaction for academic libraries’ users and to give managerial hints for the implementation of user centred academic library services. To this aim, we analyse the library services of two Italian Universities (the Faculty of Economics of University of Palermo and the Central Library of the University of Salerno) to find relations and congruencies and to evaluate the perceived relevance of the tangible and intangible aspects of these services. In the preliminary phase of the research, we conducted both focus groups and individual interviews involving students or researchers who regularly use…

The holonic approach for flexible production: a theoretical framework

This paper discusses the body of knowledge about Holonic Approach to theoretically demonstrate how Holonic Production System (HPS) can be a convincing choice to overcome the problems of traditional production systems? architectures. Today, enterprises are trying to find ways to manage the growing environmental complexity that is well described by Complex Systems Theory (CST). After the focus on the main problem regarding environmental complexity, the Holonic system and the Holonic Production System will be analyzed. The paper will focus the potential of HPS to adapt and react to changes in the business environment whilst being able to maintain systemic synergies and coordination through the…

The Holonic Production System: a Multi Agent Simulation Approach

Today’s turbulent markets are facing unpredictable and sudden variations in demand. In this context, the Holonic Production System (HPS) seems to be able to overcome the operational and economic problems of traditional production systems. The HPS’ ability to adapt and react to business environment changes, whilst maintaining systemic synergies and coordination, leverage on its network organizational structure, assuring both flexibility and profitability. In this paper we study HPS experimentally, modeling holon-firms as agents. In our simulation, holon-firms interact both with each other and with the external environment without predetermined hierarchies and following their own aims and int…

L'EFFETTO BULLWHIP NELLA GESTIONE DELLA SUPPLY CHAIN

Marketing as a Luhmanian System

This study is focused on a twofold observation through Niklas Luhmann’s systemic theory (1927-1998). On one side, we see marketing as a methodology/topic in the relentless process of sense and meaning construction by each system through its specific code and program (e. g. science, economics, law, religion, politics). The process of making of sense and meaning can be depicted as communication: (Marketing = Code -> System = Market System).

Guest editorial Preface Special issue on Managing Complex Business Management Systems: Revised Papers from the 2nd B.S.Lab Symposium, Rome 2014

Editorial

The Relevance of Systemic Approaches in Business Sciences

Our times are characterized by intense changes in the viable logics of markets and, generally speaking, of business systems. Business scenarios today are typified by connectivity, dynamism, nonlinearity, and emergent behaviors - in other words by “complexity” (Dominici, 2012). Reductionist models are unable to completely depict, or to allow us to totally understand the new business scenarios. Today, more than ever, it is necessary to recognize the need for a paradigm shift that can carry science beyond the analytical reductionist approach, and towards a more comprehensive systemic perspective. Systems thinking can be critical to unlock new perspectives and enhance holistic views for a bette…

From Business System to Supply Chain and Production in Japan. Lean production and its roots in Japanese business culture

The Japanese business environment has been studied for many years by researchers and business operators from all over the world. The Japanese culture created a business climate that is different from other industrialized economies. Gerlach defined the Japanese economy as “alliance capitalism” , an expression, which better than others, represents the relational nature of the Japanese society and business system. It is not by chance that the manufacturing and management techniques, later defined as “lean” by MIT authors, were born and raised in Japan. In this dissertation I will attempt to explain why and how these approaches are linked with the Japanese culture and the Japanese business envi…

Approccio olonico e sistema logistico-produttivo aziendale per i mercati del XXI secolo

L’impresa industriale deve oggi far fronte a problematiche di rapidità ed efficacia di gestione dei processi, in presenza di frequenti disturbi e cambiamenti negli ordini di produzione. La gestione della Supply Chain (SCM) deve tenere conto di queste tendenze e trovare un paradigma organizzativo-gestionale in grado di fornire all’azienda la richiesta agilità e capacità di sincronizzazione del sistema logistico-produttivo con le nuove caratteristiche dei mercati. Ne i sistemi gerarchici ne quelli eterarchici sono in grado di soddisfare questi requisiti, mancando della necessaria agilità i primi e della capacità di garantire la prevedibilità necessaria alla sincronizzazione i secondi. L'idea …

MODELLI DI E-BUSINESS: ONTOLOGIA E TASSONOMICA DELLA RICERCA

The proliferation of research on e-business models, by academics and practitioners, asserts a claim for the definition and classification of the many contributions on the topic, in order to clarify both the ontological domain and the state of the art of research. The extent of contributes on e-business brings the danger of unclear definitions, boundaries and scopes, a risk generated also by the overlapping of similar concepts during different periods of the short but intense history of the application of Internet in the business world. In the first part, this article intends to formulate a scheme of e-business models through the conceptual construction of a hierarchical structure which incl…

Capire l'origine della lean production per avere successo nel mercato nipponico

FROM BUSINESS SYSTEM TO SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN JAPAN

Dispensa di produzione e logistica

KAIZEN: MIGLIORAMENTO CONTINUO

L'importanza delle variabili socio-culturali per l'internazionalizzazione dell'impresa