Managerial Insights

2024-05-23 Luigi Rinzivillo

Generative AI: A Source of Wisdom

In "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," the journey and adventures of a young girl, Dorothy, are recounted as she navigates the magical Land of Oz after being swept there by a tornado that struck Kansas. The story describes Dorothy's travels with her "new friends" to meet the wizard who can grant each of their wishes. Although being displaced by a tornado is not a common experience, the feeling of being "swept away by a cyclone" is more common than one might think. A defining characteristic of our time is undoubtedly the rise of "artificial intelligence" (AI), the ability of a computer system (an algorithm) ...

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2024-05-10 Andrea Ciacci

The Strategic Value of Big Data Transition

Overwhelmed by massive data flows and compelled by the need to intercept the real customer needs in a competitive, swiftly changing world, firms must take rapid action to address economic needs by restructuring how they think and operate. Since big data is changing the intrinsic nature of strategy, firms need to shape their functions and processes to facilitate the big data transition, implementing data-driven business models and capitalizing on big data value. While big data provides significant opportunities to enhance a firm's potential in terms of competitiveness and innovativeness, it also ...

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2024-05-02 Donato Masciandaro

Declining Interest Rates and the Five Faces of the Fed

In recent months, financial markets seem stuck in a repetitive cycle: analysts closely watch US economic indicators to gauge the timing of the Fed's interest rate cuts. This represents the "macroeconomic" face of the Fed. Yet, there are at least four other faces that need attention: the political and bureaucratic ones, followed by the psychological aspect, and not forgetting, albeit last, the financial. Last March, the Fed confirmed its decision to maintain the maximum level of the benchmark interest rate at five hundred and fifty basis points, as decided eight months prior. This phenomenon is ...

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2024-04-16 Sandro Castaldo

A Journal with an Impact

One of the priority issues facing the different management disciplines today is the critical question of research impact. We are confronted with the question of how to 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. In management studies, it is not difficult to find works that question the relevance and real impact of research. It is also not uncommon to find evidence from the world of management that the academy is a distant, ...

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2024-04-16 Salvatore Vicari

Artificial Intelligence Ethics: a Brief Overview

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly revolutionizing our world, with applications in every sphere of life, from medicine to finance, manufacturing to entertainment. It is estimated that, in the near future, a large part of our activities will be carried out by intelligent machines or will see a collaboration between humans and AI. However, this unprecedented technological progress brings with it new ethical challenges. Intelligent machines, in fact, can make decisions that have a significant impact on the lives of people and society. It is no coincidence that the first Artificial Intelligence ...

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2024-04-16 Generoso Branca

Beyond physical reality. Packaging and product in the age of VR

Interest in Virtual Reality (VR) technologies is growing in various sectors, attracting the attention of academia and society. In VR, users can interact in real-time with digital objects, in a completely virtual environment, living an immersive experience characterized by presence and interactivity. Individuals are isolated from the outside world, in a synthetic environment that may or may not simulate the real world. VR can help accelerate digitization in many areas of human life. It commonly finds application in areas such as entertainment, tourism, education, or healthcare. In addition, it ...

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2024-04-16 Stefano Caselli

Capital Markets A Key Asset for Growth

The coming months will be crucial for thinking about how to shape the European Single Market and how to make the European Union competitive with other economies. The values at stake, compared to the size of the United States on the one hand and China on the other, would be enough to justify the reasons for accelerating the path of political integration. This would enable the economic systems of the individual European countries and their companies to play a role on the international stage. But the optimism of reason must be supported by progressive steps, and the construction of the single financial ...

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2024-04-16 Andrea Beltratti, Alessia Bezzecchi

CFO and AI: an Evolution Starting from Afar

The Financial Times recently argued that the role of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is changing as a result of the increasing introduction of Artificial Intelligence in the enterprise, which enables the availability of analytical and predictive tools. It is hard to disagree: academic research supports with econometric models that the use of predictive analytics enables a productivity improvement amounting to about 3 percent of revenues for companies in the United States. But can we really say that the role of the CFO is suddenly changing because of algorithmic innovations? We believe not. ...

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2024-04-16 Sylvie Goulard, Francesco Perrini, Stefano Pogutz

Research, Sharing, and Impact to Address the Sustainability Challenge

Excellence in Sustainability and Governance - eSG Knowledge Platform is the name of the SDA Bocconi platform that brings together and coordinates all research activities on these increasingly urgent topics. Sustainability, understood in an integrated and cross-cutting way, is studied starting from global challenges on environmental, social, and governance issues that lead companies, international organizations, public, and governmental institutions to rethink their future. In this perspective, the eSG Platform proposes innovative and pragmatic solutions through research activities and analysis ...

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2024-04-16 Emanuele Acconciamessa

The Role of Brands, Media, and Sports in Breaking Stereotypes

Stereotypes still deeply permeate our society. Many unconscious biases shape attitudes, behaviors, and choices. One of the most prevalent biases links diversity with the idea of minority. Conversely, the definition of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) is broad, resulting in a commitment to recognize and emphasize the variety of characteristics that make individuals unique in an atmosphere that embraces and celebrates individual and collective achievements (Diversity Brand Index, 2018). Considering the eight forms of diversity recognized in literature (gender and gender identity, age and generations, ...

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