Archive

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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2024-10-17 Francesco Billari

Building the Future with Demography

Think future, build future. The strategies of companies, institutions, and corporations are based on approaches that project today onto tomorrow. Among these, one approach remains underutilized: the analysis of change through the lens of demography. Although demographic change may seem slow and almost imperceptible, this very phenomenon is one of the most powerful forces shaping our economic, social, and political future – a true megatrend. To envision the future and build a sustainable tomorrow, it is essential to adopt a demographic perspective. By starting with demography and then exploring ...

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2024-10-16 Andrea Beltratti, Alessia Bezzecchi

Transition Finance, Sustainability and AI

In recent years, major European banks have developed a list of sectors populated by companies with high CO2 emissions. The concept of "transition finance" is primarily about working with these companies to identify and achieve shared decarbonization goals, typically by 2030. However, as we know, in economics "everything is interconnected," so the list may not be exhaustive or entirely stable, requiring updates based on new information. Which sectors are most scrutinized, and which should be closely monitored? What should companies do to align more closely with stakeholders' expectations ...

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2024-10-07 Donato Masciandaro

European Capital Markets: The Lost Decade and Draghi’s Wake-Up Call

European stock markets are thriving, but this is not necessarily a sign of a broader positive trend. In fact, if politicians and bureaucrats fail to act, the Union could lose the historic opportunity to create the European capital market it so desperately needs, especially in light of the challenges posed by the "Three Ds"—deglobalization, demographics with declining birth rates, and decarbonization. Having discussed this since 2015, we have already lost a decade. Stock exchanges are having a momentous year, with European ones in the front ranks: Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Amsterdam, with the ...

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