Chiara Cantù’s research while affiliated with Catholic University of the Sacred Heart and other places

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how orchestration mechanisms characterizing meta-organizations can support sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI) leveraged by digital transition. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a qualitative approach. The authors collected qualitative data from 41 in-depth interviews with key informants, participatory longitudinal observations and secondary data analysis related to a digital innovation hub (DIH) and its network. Findings The findings reveal how meta-organizations, such as DIHs, advance SOI – considering the potentialities of digital technologies – through four orchestration mechanisms: collaboration platform setup, SOI resource arrangement, SOI process enablement and SOI scale-up. Each mechanism is founded on recurrent SOI practices identified as aligning, assembling and progressing, and each is characterized by specific activities that depend on meta-organizations’ evolutionary purposes related to the stages of the creation process. The activation of mechanisms concerns a process outlining three sequential evolutionary trajectories: for assessing and regulating interaction, for promoting and coordinating collective action and for creating a collective identity. Originality/value This study contributes to meta-organization and orchestration research oriented toward SOI and leveraged by the digital transition, and considers the distinctive orchestration mechanisms and practices required to support SOI leveraged by the digital transition. Differently from previous research on orchestration and meta-organizations, this study considers the time perspective, and thus, the sequentiality of mechanisms (evolutionary trajectories) to achieve the purposes characterizing the stages of meta-organizations’ creation process.

Purpose The research question is how can a company implement a circular innovation in a supply network context? Leveraging the main conceptual and interpretative models of the industrial marketing and purchasing thinking, this study aims to investigate the interplay between the process of circular innovation development and the changes in the structure and dynamics of the supply network in which innovation takes place. Design/methodology/approach This research applies a case study design focusing on participant interaction dynamics. The case relates to an industrial company producing an innovative coating solution for compostable packaging. The data used to develop the case study came from multiple sources but primarily from semistructured interviews that cover the implementation of the circular innovation and the configuration of the circular network. Findings The dynamics of interconnected relationships can configure a circular network that interconnects business and non business actors through vertical, horizontal and heterogeneous relationships. The network configuration is supported by the new mobilizer actor that facilitates the sharing of circular knowledge within the circular network, together with the sharing of a market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation within the supply network, through the educational learning path. Originality/value This paper aims to contribute to a new understanding of how circular innovation can be developed, adopted and diffused. In a network, when circular innovation takes place, the focal issue is not the new product or technology in itself but how such innovation is developed and implemented by and through the reconfiguration of the business and non-business relationships into circular network.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of digital channels in the internationalization strategies of startups operating in the space tech industry. To achieve this research aim, we conducted 9 semi-structured interviews with Italian space tech startups and other actors involved in theses firms’ internationalization process. The preliminary findings of this study reveal that digital channels enhance the internationalization of space tech startups by supporting the building of business relationships, which are key to access international markets. Moreover, digital channels play a crucial role in acquiring new customers abroad and increasing the brand awareness of startups.KeywordsInternationalizationdigital channelsspace techstartups

Sustainable innovation – the introduction of new products and processes that bring economic, social and environmental benefits – have a crucial role in the textile and fashion industry. However, current literature mainly focuses on new product development and the consequent environmental impacts. One of the main challenges for textile and fashion companies is how to be environmentally, socially and economically sustainable and innovative in the meantime. This paper is based on the Triple Bottom Line framework and attempts to address this gap by identifying some key success factors (KSFs) that could allow textile and fashion companies to develop product and process innovations, taking into account their social, environmental and economic outcomes. The research is based on a multiple-case study method and results show that textile and fashion companies can achieve a competitive advantage by being sustainable and innovative and when there are strong corporate values, cultural heritage and stable relationships with the territory. Besides extending the literature on sustainable, the paper highlights the main challenges and opportunities within this sector. Access: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/GQ2NKZJ5HAQDZKPBNDKJ/full?target=10.1080/20932685.2021.2011766

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the role of relational governance in innovation platform development, specifically investigating the context of living labs. Design/methodology/approach Two longitudinal case studies are presented, derived from auto-ethnographic narratives, qualitative interviews and secondary documents, which cover the critical stages in the development of each living lab. Findings Empirical insights demonstrate the relevance of coordination activities based on joint planning and activities to support innovation platform development across different stages. The governance role of research actors as platform activators is also identified. Practical implications The paper offers a useful perspective for identifying collective goals between living lab actors and aligning joint activities across different stages of living lab development. Social implications The case provides insights into the challenges and opportunities for collaboration between academia, industry and users to support sustainable construction innovation. Originality/value A relational governance mode is identified, going beyond top down or bottom up approaches, which contributes a new understanding of how collective goals align within a relational space.

According to a traditional business management perspective, entrepreneurship is a set of activities carried out by individuals to maximize profit. In social entrepreneurship the priority of the entrepreneurs is to fulfill the social mission. Social entrepreneurship can be defined as the ability to recognize opportunities in order to create social value. What are the main implications of entrepreneurial passion for a firm characterized by a social mission? This chapter investigates the relation between entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial motivation, and its impact on the process related to the pursuit of social innovation outcome. This chapter describes a case study related to an emblematic Italian innovative startup with a social vocation transformed in a benefit company.

Purpose Differently from previous works that focused on the entrepreneur and on his ability to manage social relationships, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of business relationships in the different stages of the life cycle of a start-up. Design/methodology/approach Since the paper aims to explore startups’ evolutionary phenomenon, it adopts a qualitative abductive methodology, presenting an in-depth study of two innovative Italian start-ups. The research is based on two steps. In the first one, the authors collected secondary data from start-ups’ reports and documents, financial indicators (when available) and processed them to understand their background. In the second one, the authors conducted ten semi-structured interviews, including face-to-face interviews, phone interviews and video conferences. Findings The paper presents a relationship-based life cycle model composed of four different stages, depending on the number and role of relationships developed. Indeed, since the beginning, start-ups adopt a relational approach and their evolution involves the shift from the focus on the entrepreneur to the centrality of a network approach based on interconnected relationships. The entering into a new stage of life cycle depends on relationships, mainly based on connected actors and resources shared and combined. Even if a key role is assumed by technology, the main resource is identified in the knowledge concerning the customer/user’s needs that require marketing competencies, human resources, relational capabilities. Thus, the shift from one stage to the next in the start-up’s life cycle is possible thanks to a parallel shift from a focus on the activities to a focus on those strategic and heterogeneous actors that ensure activities. Originality/value In a traditional perspective, the start-up’s life cycle depends on activities, financial resources and revenues, as stated by previous life cycle models. In a different perspective, as depicted in our analysis, the evolution of a start-up depends on the portfolio of their business relationships. The role of business relationships is hence to facilitate the interconnections within specialized key actors, which allow start-ups to access strategic resources. These resources are essential in order to develop the activities that characterize the specific stage of the life cycle.

Purpose Even if in a traditional perspective the discovery and the exploitation of opportunities are associated to the entrepreneur’s capabilities, a relational perspective is required to better analyze the phenomenon of starting up a new venture. The growing attention to interaction with the external environment has been emerging as a precondition of the entrepreneurial processes as it creates the knowledge and the experience necessary to perceive the opportunity. The entrepreneurial opportunities are created through joint acts with others through social relationships. Shifting the attention from social to business relationships, the main aim of this paper is to investigate the discovery and the exploitation of collective entrepreneurial opportunities in starting up new business. In particular, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of relational proximity in the entrepreneurial journey considered as an emergent process of transforming potentiality into actuality. Design/methodology/approach The paper applied a qualitative methodology (Dubois and Araujo, 2004) and a case study approach (Barrat et al., 2011). The case concerns the dyadic spin-off relationship between the innovative start up, ShapeMode (the generated firm), and the Milan FabLab (the generating firm) located in Lombardy Region (Italy). Findings The emerging of collective entrepreneurial opportunities could be analyzed at two levels: the first one concerns the dyadic spin-off relationship, while the second one is founded on the business relationships that the start-up can activate with the business partners of the generating firm. The collective entrepreneurial opportunities are positive influenced by jointness of the actors and their co-evolution, founded on the shared values and goals. Research limitations/implications Although the case study approach allowed the researcher to gain detailed information about the spin-off relationship, this effort does not measure the performance outcomes of the relationships and actions that were taken to improve the competitiveness of the start-up. Future studies would benefit from a large-scale questionnaire given to the members of the start-up and to the actors of its Entrepreneurial Network, so to analyze all of its performance implications for the start-up and the network as a whole. In addition, it could be of interest for future research to investigate the effects of collective entrepreneurial opportunities in order to examine this topic more deeply. Practical implications From a managerial point of view, even if the growing number of start-ups has been associated to a temporary phenomenon, the development of new ventures is now consolidated. A new managerial approach is required to promote the birth and the growth of the start-ups. The development of a new venture requires to shift the attention from the collection of financial resources to the exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities generated by interconnected business relationships. In this way a relevant attention should be recognized to the new role of organizations that can be considered as facilitators of business relationships, such as the FabLab. This paper sheds light on the relevance of the strategic networking that sustains the generation of collective entrepreneurial opportunities. The networking involves actors that belong to different geographic area and different countries but that are focused on the same business dream related to the exploitation of potentialities of digital fabrication. The policymakers should recognize the role of the FabLab as facilitator of knowledge diffusion concerning digital fabrication. Originality/value The entrepreneurial opportunities such as the starting up of a new business and its evolution, are enacted, discovered and exploited through interconnected business relationships. In particular the main entrepreneurial opportunities are generated by the activation of business relationships with new business actors. Focusing on the dyadic spin-off relationship, the exploitation of collective entrepreneurial opportunities depends on the sharing of third actors. The business partners of the generating actor (FabLab) became business partners of the generated actor (start-up). The evolution of the generating firm (FabLab) influenced the birth and the evolution of the generated firms (start-up). The dyadic relationship allows the generated firm to discover entrepreneurial opportunities and to exploit them, accessing to the business partners of the generating firm. The effectiveness of the spin-off relationship sustains the replication of the model of new firm generation, that could benefit from the relationships of the two actors of the dyad. Moreover the strong relationships are founded on relational proximity that is characterized by the sharing of values, vision and business dreams.

The emergence of markets such as China opens new opportunities in the internationalization process. For companies, especially for small and medium sized enterprises, the international context is a challenge to be faced by mobilizing and sharing the resources and knowledge of other players. This is subject to establishing strategic relations, in both the internal and foreign markets, which affect the entire corporate supply chain. This theme was investigated by means of a study of a sample of companies operating in or for the Chinese market. The work provides managerial implications based on an evolutionary model to understand firm behavior in international markets.