
Valentina De MarchiESADE Business School · Department of Society
Valentina De Marchi
PhD
About
107
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Introduction
Interested in the study of the managerial implications of environmental innovations and the evolution of industrial districts within global value chains.
Currently working on the overlapping between circular economy and industry 4.0, on frugal innovations and B Corps as approaches to reach sustainable development.
Deputy editor at JIBP, past president of the wonderful GRONEN community, Italian National representative @ EIBA, member of SASE Network O organising committee
Additional affiliations
September 2018 - present
October 2015 - present
December 2014 - April 2015
Publications
Publications (107)
The chapter discusses the relationship between knowledge management, circular economy strategies and investments in Industry 4.0 technologies. Based on an empirical analysis of about 200 Italian manufacturing firms adopting such technologies, the chapter maps the knowledge implications of adoption comparing firms that achieved and did not achieved...
The complexity of current social and environmental grand challenges generates many conflicts and tensions at the individual, organization and/or systems levels. Paradox theory has emerged as a promising way to approach such a complexity of corporate sustainability going beyond the instrumental business-case perspective and achieving superior sustai...
This article offers a comprehensive and systematic review of the literature on Global Value Chains (GVCs). The GVC framework has received growing attention in the last decade, providing theoretical concepts and analytical tools to understand and assess patterns of value creation in view of the new international division of labour. In this area, a b...
This paper examines the role of state policymaking in a context of global value chains (GVCs). While the literature acknowledges that states matter in GVCs, there is little understanding of how they matter from a policy perspective. We address this tension between theory and practice by first delineating the state’s facilitator , regulator , produc...
The literature on Sustainable Business Models (SBMs) has burgeoned, identifying different archetypes to capture the variety of business models applied. Little is known, however, regarding to what extent such SBMs are effectively driving sustainable performance. This paper addresses this gap by exploring how SBMs relate to sustainability performance...
Over the past fifteen years, several studies have used the organizational theory of paradoxes to understand some typical organizational tensions, including that between global and local dimensions typically faced by multinational corporations. ese studies analyze paradoxical tensions at the organizational or even intra-organizational level, while...
1. Introduzione L'incremento dell'incidenza e della prevalenza delle patologie croniche rappresenta un elemento di criticità, soprattutto per i sistemi sanitari naziona-li dei Paesi caratterizzati da un forte trend di invec-chiamento della popolazione come l'Italia, in quanto tali patologie richiedono trattamenti continuativi nel tempo e tendenzial...
How to study the globalization of the economy? What are the scenarios for globalization processes in the post-pandemic era? This book takes stock of the current debate starting with the studies of Prof. Gary Gereffi (Duke University), who developed the theory of Global Value Chains and made a fundamental contribution to the understanding of the dyn...
This chapter starts from the recognition that we need to develop better ways to capture and measure Frugal innovation (FI). Through using data from a systematic literature review, we explore how FIs contain relatively differentiated characteristics from conventional innovations. We provide an overview regarding what are the specificities of FI, and...
Much of the literature on environmental sustainability in global value chains (GVCs) focuses on how ‘lead firms’ (usually global buyers or retailers) can improve the environmental conditions of production among their various layers of suppliers. This approach focuses on the vertical governance dynamics of environmental upgrading along with GVCs. In...
Climate crises are being experienced all over the world and appear to be accelerating as "extreme weather" events become the "new normal." In today's world economy, where trade and production activities are internationally dispersed and prone to disruptions , the global value chain (GVC) framework provides a systematic approach to understand and co...
Tensions are an unavoidable experience for companies dealing with social and environmental issues because of their inherent complexity and diversity. Paradox and sustainability literature are proposing the crucial role of cognitive frames in effectively manage sustainability tensions. Indeed, denying and suppressing them can spur vicious downward s...
Purpose
Advance the state-of-the-art on how frugal innovation links to sustainability outcomes and based on content analysis of empirical publications in the field of frugal innovation, analyzing when and how FI is connected with social, environmental and economic outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
Quantitative content analysis on empirical pap...
Firms are increasingly pressured to introduce green innovations. The literature suggests that – given their high complexity – collaborating with external stakeholders is a key ingredient in the effective development of green innovations (GI), even more so than for ‘traditional’ types of innovation. While there is evidence that firms engage with mor...
A key concern of the global value chain (GVC) and global production network (GPN) literature relates to whether and how actors, especially in the Global South, upgrade by generating and capturing more value. To date, such research has predominantly focused on the economic and social aspects of upgrading. In this article, we leverage selected insigh...
This article focuses on small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Kenya's leather sector. It explores how public governance impacts SMEs' technological capabilities and access to global value chains (GVCs). By public governance, we mean all government regulations and interventions set in place to shape the organization of value chains. Drawing o...
This article focuses on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Kenya’s leather sector. It explores how public governance impacts SMEs’ technological capabilities and access to global value chains (GVCs). By public governance, we mean all government regulations and interventions set in place to shape the organization of value chains. Drawing...
We address the questions of whether multinational (MNC) subsidiaries are more likely to introduce green innovation (GI) than domestic firms and how intra-MNC resources are likely contribute to this effort. Using the Community Innovation Survey for 14 European countries and adopting a knowledge-based view of the MNC, our results suggest that subsidi...
Background:
Sedentary behaviour (SB) and physical inactivity (PI) are associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases and a significant economic burden. This pilot study aims to estimate the possible cost savings for the Veneto Regional Health Service (Italy) due to a population-based physical activity (PA) intervention.
Methods:
The PA-re...
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the role of business support organisations (BSO) in overcoming barriers to the adoption of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies, especially in disseminating knowledge on such technologies among cluster firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on in-depth interviews conducted in 2021 with representatives...
Supply-chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are of unparalleled magnitude because of a confluence of circumstances: a sudden rise in demand for some products, unforeseen shifts in demand points, supply shortages, a logistical crisis, and an unprecedentedly quick recovery in major economies. This article maps the changes that will occur...
There is a great expectation that Industry 4.0 technologies will enable better circular economy (CE) results at firms. However, it is unclear how these technologies might contribute to CE. We hypothesize that Industry 4.0 technologies are positively related to the level of integration among actors along the supply chain and within the firm supply c...
This work analyzes the impact of university–industry collaborations (UICs) on the innovation performance of a sample of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) located in Veneto, a region in the north-east of Italy, which is considered particularly representative of the often-cited “innovation without research” model. We consider two aspects of such UI...
Molto si è discusso sulla capacità dei distretti industriali italiani di fornire un vantaggio alle imprese che lo compongono in termini di capacità innovativa, flessibilità e produttività. Nell'ambito di questo dibattito, il presente lavoro si pone l'obiettivo di discutere se e come tale potenzialità possa portare non solo benefici economici ma anc...
The chapter analyzes the role of Universities in supporting the development of a sustainability-oriented offering of spin-offs. In particular we focus on environmental KIBS (eKIBS) as peculiar spin-offs who could exploit their interaction with Universities to overcome the complexity of the circular economy framework. Based on five case studies of s...
A growing interest in the circular economy concept has pushed the discourse in various management-related disciplines beyond established boundaries, with calls to better address how such a model may be developed in a world of global value chains. Still, the conventional linear economy model continues to dominate business, society, and research. Whi...
The aim of this paper is to adopt the absorptive capacity (ACAP) framework to understand radical innovation in industrial districts (IDs), adopting a multi-level perspective. By performing a longitudinal case study on an ID that has successfully introduced a radical innovation – the plastic ski boot innovation developed within the Montebelluna Spor...
The paper contributes to the knowledge management literature by arguing how a community of practice (CoP) can react to a situation of crisis quickly, providing support to the whole organisation where it operates. This work examines a CoP of “change agents” at the University of Padova, how it coped with the emergency and the risk of disruption cause...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze how important is co-location of R&D and production for firms originated from high-cost countries and to provide evidence of the relationship between the different strategies of location choices and co-location.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to investigate the relationship between R&D/design-pr...
Purpose
This paper aims to explore if firms located in industrial districts (IDs) have different adoption paths concerning Industry 4.0 technologies and get different results with respect to other similar firms located outside IDs.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a quantitative analysis related to an original data set of 206 Ital...
Clusters are places that facilitate knowledge sharing and dissemination among firms and institutions working in functionally-related fields. Structural changes that take place within clusters over time influence knowledge-related processes and require new approaches towards external knowledge sourcing. In this paper, we use a mixed-method approach...
Responding to stakeholder pressure, firms are increasingly challenged to reduce their environmental impacts. This chapter reviews the potential upgrading trajectories for firms engaged in global value chains (GVCs) to effectively reduce the impacts on the environment of all activities linked to their products - not just those that are carried out i...
As a growing number of firms are investing in social and environmental sustainability, academics and practitioners are increasingly becoming concerned with studying the factors that drive firms to achieve higher corporate social performance (CSP). This paper aims to contribute to the literature investigating country‐level characteristics that influ...
The paper explores the role of suppliers in the process of environmental upgrading (EnvU) within global value chains (GVCs). Theoretical contributions to EnvU have highlighted, in particular, the role of global buyers in supporting the EnvU of products and processes, while limited attention has been given to suppliers as proactive actors within GVC...
The industrial cluster and global value chain (GVC) literatures reflect opposite premises: the former stems from the need to understand local dynamics and the consequences on innovation and competitiveness; the latter reflects an interest in explaining the organization of industries at the global level. Also, they have a different focus with respec...
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze the characteristics and performance of university–industry (U-I) collaboration for knowledge transfer in relation to environmental sustainability, considering for both parties of the collaborations.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is explorative in nature, based on an original data set of more than 350 U-I...
En un mundo cada vez más complejo, en el que la competencia es cada vez mayor y más global, los clústeres locales podrían seguir desempeñando un papel muy relevante. El desarrollo de estrategias ancladas en un lugar, caracterizado por dinámicas innovadoras, es clave para poder beneficiarse de la integración en las cadenas globales de valor (CGV) y...
This paper contributes to the debate on the differences across service and manufacturing firms focusing on two comparable sectors: knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS), and specialized suppliers within manufacturing (SSM). Using a large panel dataset of Spanish firms, we compare the two industries in terms of the impact on their innovation...
In light of the resource-base view of the firm, liability of newness appears as a capability gap. Several studies claim that collaborating with others is an effective strategy for bridging this gap. However, none of them demonstrates that, against a capability gap declared by the new venture at its birth and filled at the end of the start-up phase,...
Environmental sustainability has increased its relevance within business strategies and innovation in particular while circular economy (CE) is receiving growing attention as a new paradigm of production and value creation. Low attention has been given to explore the relationship between digital transformation of business processes via industry 4.0...
Lo studio analizza le caratteristiche e i risultati delle collaborazioni università-impresa legati all'innovazione orientata alla sostenibilità, sulla base dell'analisi di una banca dati originale di oltre 350 contratti di consulenza e ricerca realizzati da oltre 70 professori specializzati in discipline connesse alla sostenibilità ambientale dell'...
The possibility of realizing production systems which deliver high social, environmental, and economic performance has gained attention in internationalization studies at large. While the literature has focused on large firms from Western countries, we investigate the role of firms from emerging economies (EE) in supporting upgrading and improving...
As industries are becoming increasingly global, researchers and practitioners are compelled to look at supply chains (SCs) from a global perspective. In this respect, the Global Value Chain (GVC) framework is particularly useful in understanding global dynamics because it relates the nature of relationships between firms (governance) to the possibi...
Purpose
This paper aims to explore in depth how internal and external knowledge-based drivers actually affect the firms’ green innovation performance. Subsequently, this study analyzes the relationships between absorptive capacity (internal knowledge-based driver), relationship learning (external knowledge-based driver) and green innovation perform...
The role of emerging economies in the global economy via embeddedness in Global Value Chains (GVCs) is increasing, but their ability to become innovation leaders is less certain. The GVC approach stresses that the inter-firm linkages afforded by being part of a chain are crucial for transferring knowledge. However, their impact on the innovation pe...
The location of economic activities in specific territories and the reorganization of industries into global value chains have reshaped analysis on the competitiveness of regions and countries in recent decades, while leaving still many questions open. This introductory chapter of the book motivates the importance of bridging the industrial distric...
Chapter 3 provides a typology of how globalization dynamics have affected traditional Italian industrial districts (IDs), specialized in manufacturing industries in the last decade or so. We highlight the determinants of three evolutionary trajectories: decline, hierarchization and resilience. The analysis, based on the Riviera del Brenta footwear,...
The chapter discusses the co-evolutionary process of clusters and GVCs and the need for an integrated theoretical framework able to provide a more comprehensive view of the organization of global and local economic activities. It explores the heterogeneity between and within clusters and GVCs, and cluster-related elements that shape this outcome. B...
Negli ultimi vent'anni i distretti industriali italiani, e più in generale quelli del "vecchio "mondo, sono stati sottoposti a forze esogene ed endogene di straordinaria intensità. Da un lato, il vantaggio localizzativo sui cui tali sistemi avevano basato il loro successo competitivo è stato eroso dalla globalizzazione della produzione. Dall'altro,...
Nel panorama europeo il Veneto si distingue come regione caratterizzata da una elevata propensione innovativa, per quanto occupi una posizione arretrata rispetto alle variabili di input tradizionalmente considerate importanti per supportare i processi innovativi delle imprese. A partire dai risultati di una ricerca empirica sulle piccolo-medie impr...
This paper provides evidence of how environmental regulatory stringency relates to firms' offshoring decisions, while controlling for firms' characteristics and (environmental) strategies. Relying on an original dataset of Italian manufacturing firms, a distinction is drawn between international outsourcing and foreign direct investments, and betwe...
The literature on regional innovation systems (RIS) has focused so far just on a few exemplary cases of regions where innovation resulted from systemic interactions between firms and institutions. This paper aims at evaluating quantitatively which regions can be considered RIS using Community Innovation Survey data on Italy. The analysis reveals a...
Drawing from recent empirical literature on Italian industrial districts, this paper
sketches an outline for interpreting the changes that have recently been taking place, in the
face of strong competition on a global scale in light of the global value chain perspective.
Departing from an analysis of the reasons why Italian districts have lost the...
On the basis of a knowledge management perspective, this paper expands the literature on new ventures' capabilities by considering how these firms fill knowledge gaps and develop the technological, marketing, management, and ICT capabilities they need to compete. In particular, this paper investigates the role of networks in these dynamics. Althoug...
The GVC approach has stressed that inter-firm linkages within GVCs can play a crucial role in transferring technological knowledge and promoting innovation. However, the exact nature of these GVC inter-firms relationships, and their impact on the learning and innovative processes of firms involved in such GVCs in developing countries is still contr...
In recent years, environmental innovations are getting increasingly at the center both of the scientific debate and of the policy-maker agenda. Adopting the resource-based view, this paper provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the specific role of – internal, external and hybrid – resources in the environmental innovation development...
This paper aims at enriching the literature on international business (IB) studies to include insights from Global Value Chain (GVC) analysis to better explain how MNCs can orchestrate a global network organization. A first important contribution of the GVC literature is that it shifts the focus from single firms to their value chains, providing in...
Globalization and the recent recession crisis are significantly challenging Italian industrial districts (IDs), leading to deep transformations in their internationalization, innovation and organization strategies. With our empirical focus on a single industry (gold jewellery) and a specific country (Italy) and through the theoretical lenses of the...
This paper aims at enriching the literature on international business (IB) studies to include insights from Global Value Chain (GVC) analysis to better explain how MNCs can orchestrate a global network organization. A first important contribution of the GVC literature is that it shifts the focus from single firms to their value chains, providing in...
Based on original data on Italian firms specializing in medium- and low-tech industries, we study the relationship between firms’ upstream and downstream internationalization and their propensity to introduce products or processes that reduce environmental impact. Preliminary evidence suggests that geography plays an important role in green firms’...
In the last 15 years, Italy’s industrial districts (IDs) have been undergoing profound changes. Based on a number of empirical studies, this article analyzes several phenomena now amply evident in Italian IDs, including globalization and its effects on the firm population of each district and its fabric of interorganizational relationships; the imp...
With increasing fragmentation of production between independent firms that are spatially dispersed and are responsible for different steps of the production process, a Global Value Chain approach is employed to examine how ‘lead firms’ shape the green features of upstream activities. Comparative case studies in the Italian furniture industry (Ikea,...
Purpose
This paper aims at investigating the rather unexplored issue of how green innovators address the knowledge needs emerging when initiating a sustainability path, comparing their knowledge strategies with those of non‐green innovators.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors investigate this issue using data from the 2008 Italian Community I...
Several studies have emphasized the role of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) in fostering innovation in metropolitan areas and regional innovation systems. Such areas are capable of expressing a strong demand for KIBS and consequently stimulate the rise and growth of KIBS. Despite an abundance of literature on KIBS emphasizing the relev...
Nel lontano 1989, con grande luciditŕ e lungimiranza, Giacomo Becattini invitava a concepire il distretto industriale marshalliano "come una fase evolutiva lungo uno fra i diversi, possibili, sentieri di industrializzazione" (Becattini, 1989c, p. 409). Oggi numerosi osservatori qualificati della articolata realtŕ distrettuale italiana, accademici e...
The literature is increasingly focusing on how firms are improving their environmental performances and promoting green strategies to transform environmental constraints into new drivers of competitive advantage. This paper contributes to the literature by expanding knowledge about environmental management at the value chain level by exploring the...