Managerial Insights

2024-12-13 Giuliana Bensa, Giovanni Fattore

Artificial Intelligence and the Administrative Side of Public Healthcare

There is no doubt that technological innovation in the digital domain is accelerating, and that applications of artificial intelligence (AI) could have a profound impact on society. The future holds the prospect of a different way of life from the one we know today, with potential changes in the way we are citizens (e.g., how we engage in political life or use public services), consumers (digital marketing, already a reality, will continue to evolve), and workers (we can expect further automation and a major redefinition of job skills). While technological innovation advances rapidly, its practical ...

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2024-12-10 Sylvie Goulard

Biodiversity Credits: a New Market to Protect the Planet

Our economies are dependent on Nature, as are our health and our wellbeing. However, as services from nature are rarely priced, its vital contribution remains largely invisible, as its deterioration. According to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which plays the same role for nature as IPCC for climate, biodiversity loss is ongoing at an unprecedented scale and pace, because of climate change and overuse of natural resources. Since 1970, the average size of monitored wildlife populations has shrunk by 73%, as measured by the WWF Living ...

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2024-12-03 Donato Masciandaro

Viral Macroeconomics: Trump, the Fed, and Sentiments

Every time Wall Street takes a rollercoaster ride, someone inevitably evokes the specter of a viral recession. But should we truly fear such recessions? And what role can the Fed play in mitigating this risk? First, what are we talking about? Italian Poet Giovanni Pascoli might describe it as something new–yet ancient. The phenomenon of a viral recession can indeed be characterized as a blend of tradition and innovation. The traditional factor lies in the role of sentiments – or beliefs, or perception – introduced into macroeconomic analysis by John Maynard Keynes as early as 1936. Keynes’s ...

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2024-11-26 Guia Pirotti

When a Company is Driven by an Idea

Purpose-driven organizations direct their economic activities toward a higher goal. In other words, these are organizations whose explicit objective is not only to generate economic value but also to create a positive economic, social, and environmental impact over the medium to long term across the value chain, benefiting all stakeholders. This is particularly crucial in the food & beverage sector, where sustainability and conscious food choices have emerged as primary concerns for the health of individuals and the planet. In this interview with Fabio Brescacin, co-founder and President of EcorNaturaSì ...

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2024-11-18 Francesco Perrini, Stefania Carraro

A New Approach to Sustainable Supply Chain Management

In recent years, growing regulatory pressures and stakeholder expectations have heightened the need for transparency and accountability across entire production chains, driving companies to adopt new management models. On September 10th, Italy officially adopted Directive 2022/2464/EU – known as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) – through Legislative Decree 125/2024, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale. Replacing Directive 2014/95/EU (Non-Financial Reporting Directive – NFRD), the CSRD significantly expands the scope and transparency requirements for companies concerning ...

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2024-11-11 E&M Plus

In Search of Impact: from Theory to Practice

How can we translate the immense potential of knowledge produced by the scientific community into management practices that are useful for transforming organizations and their processes to create value and generate welfare for society? On December 9th, 2024, at 5 PM CET, we dealt with this topic during the webinar “In Search of Impact: From Theory to Practice.” The discussion featured: Nic Beech, President Elect of IFSAM and Vice-Chancellor at the University of Salford; Sandro Castaldo, Editor-in-Chief of Economics & Management, President of IFSAM and Full Professor at Bocconi University; Paola ...

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2024-11-05 Mirko Olivieri, Ginevra Testa

Internationalization Strategies of Food Tech Startups: an Empirical Analysis

In recent years, the rapid adoption of digital platforms has transformed the relationship between organizations and markets, creating both new opportunities and challenges, particularly through today's social media-dominated environment. Social media tools not only facilitate interactions between individuals and companies but also promote internationalization, enabling businesses to connect with global customers more quickly and effectively. Through social media, consumers can gather information about products and services offered by companies worldwide, bridging physical distances and facilitating ...

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2024-10-29 Lorenzo Diaferia, Leonardo De Rossi, Gianluca Salviotti

Implementing AI in Business: a Five-Phase Roadmap

We can identify two main approaches to leveraging AI in companies today. The first focuses on products and services, while the second emphasizes processes. In the first approach, AI is used to enhance existing products with new features or to develop entirely new, technology-driven products. In the second, AI acts as a tool for evolving current processes or enabling new processes that were previously unattainable. These two broad application areas can also be examined through a different lens: distinguishing between externally oriented uses –those that impact customer-facing processes and products ...

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2024-10-24 Andrea Ciacci and Lara Penco

Unveiling the Nature of Big Data Analytics Capabilities

Introduction Big data represents a disruptive paradigm shift for businesses (Chauhan et al., 2022; George et al., 2014; Ekbia et al., 2015). According to McAfee and Brynjolfsson (2012), firms that anchor their activities on data show productivity rates and profitability that are 5% or 6% higher than their counterparts. Data-driven firms are business organizations that build tools, abilities, and culture on data (Anderson, 2015; Persaud and Zare, 2024). To leverage the potential of data effectively, the various roles in these firms are often structured into multiple teams, each possessing complementary ...

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2024-10-21 Gianmario Verona

Making Decisions in the Era of Complexity

The fundamental problem we face in a complex environment is our limited capacity to make predictions. Cases in point: At year’s end 2021, who thought that Putin would have the nerve to challenge the West by invading Ukraine just weeks after New Year's? An invasion that sparked an energy crisis that further fueled the upsurge in inflation, the economic demon that was almost forgotten for years. And in late 2000, who could have even imagined 9/11 happening the following year? (Back then, the United States was working on a space shield to defend against a new Cold War; Al Qaeda’s international ...

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