The aim of the current study is to examine the perception of cultural diversity among German STEM students. Previous research has mainly focused on the attitudes towards gender in the STEM field. This study undertakes an innovative approach and explores the opinions of German STEM students with and without a migration background on cultural diversity and educational barriers. To test this, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 90 STEM students from two German cities. The data was analysed with a qualitative content analysis. The results show that both students with and without a migration background are to a large extent unfamiliar with the topic of cultural diversity. Most STEM students think that cultural diversity has a positive impact on work performance. Some of the barriers which students with a migration background face are unfair university structures, lack of support in the educational system, challenges of cultural adaptation, and insensitivity or hostility from host-culture members. This study shows the need for a more inclusive university culture in the STEM field. It also emphasizes that diversity trainings can successfully prepare students for intercultural experiences.

This research aims at exploring and understanding the complex contemporary phenomena of socially sustainable Experience economy. It contributes to the academic discussion around Experience economy research, strategy and policy by developing understanding about managing social sustainability within Experience economy ecosystems in Finland. The core question of this doctoral thesis is how to ensure everyone equal access to Experience Economy Ecosystems?
The context of this research is the new Experience Economy research program conducted at Tampere University. This article is part of a doctoral thesis, focused in specifically on industry phenomenas Accessibility of Experience and Paths and Communities of Experience. The Experience economy research program generates a rich empirical context and metadatabase highlighting the ongoing transformation and market development within the uprising Experience Economy ecosystems in Finland.
In this article experience economy is studied through social sustainability and in specifically inclusivity, to identify and analyse the mechanisms for managing social development goal SDG implementation within the experience economy ecosystems. Empirical data is drawn from OAF Outsider Art Festival. OAF is a new multidiscipline art festival, organized in conjunction with the largest Nordic art festival Helsinki Festival. OAF promotes diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and contributes to Social Development Goal implementation (SDG) by managing innovative collaborations between industry outsiders and insiders. OAF provides an interesting case – an industry specific critical “node” -within the EE ecosystem, providing new knowledge from the perspective of industry outsiders.
In result, by identifying, analysing and mapping the critical nodes, access points and stages where social transformation and inclusivity actualise and create socially sustainable, experience driven business models, this research creates new knowledge of managing social sustainability within Experience economy ecosystems and networks, in research and practice. This research contributes to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): Sustainable cities and communities (11), reduced inequalities (10), partnerships for the goals (17), industry, innovation and infrastructure (9), decent work and economic growth (8).

The fragmentation of data on the existing built environment is a critical obstacle to the governance of urban spaces. Although a wide range of data sources is available, from satellite imagery and environmental sensors to socio-demographic and cadastral datasets, these resources often lack interoperability and integration.
This deficiency limits the ability of governments and stakeholders to conduct accurate monitoring, implement informed real estate development strategies, and promote sustainable urban regeneration practices.
The research aims to explore how the integration of advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) models, particularly Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) based technologies, can contribute to the development of innovative approaches for urban management and the enhancement of disused building stock. In particular, the analysis aims to investigate the role of AI in Due Diligence (DD) processes, through a literature review in the areas of Smart Cities (SC) and Urban Management (UM), to define a theoretical-methodological framework to support data-driven urban regeneration strategies.
These technologies enable the generation of predictive urban models by combining heterogeneous inputs, such as geospatial frameworks, land-use data, environmental performance, and socioeconomic indicators. The research adopts a multidimensional approach based on a systematic literature review, which identified more than 1,200 academic contributions. Through a multi-stage filtering process, the most relevant analyses were classified into two main areas: “Artificial Intelligence and Smart Cities” and “Artificial Intelligence and Urban Management”, with a focus on “Due Diligence” and models for “Architectural Heritage Enhancement.” Integrating AI capabilities into the development of urban regeneration strategies has the potential to create resilient and smart cities. This can optimise resources while minimising land consumption and enhance inclusive and collaborative governance. Despite growing scholarly interest, analysis has revealed significant gaps in the development of these technologies.
The proposed approach is in line with emerging urban agendas and promotes a transition to resilient, circular, and smart cities. This study advocates for digital innovation that is not only technologically advanced but also ethically grounded and socially inclusive.

Think of a funnel. What is its shape? What does it do? It has a large end, larger and larger that allows many elements to pass through, such as grains of sand or kernels of rice; and it has a narrow end, narrowing to block the passage to most of them; funnel has a simple but useful function: it serves to pour a big mass of parts into a container with a small opening. This is, when you think about it, the same principle behind human information processing and knowledge management. This paper proposes a funnel-shaped conceptual framework, that integrates three dimensions of knowledge: complexity; intelligibility; innovability; as the three dimensions of the funnel. Such framework provides a more comprehensive form of understanding complex institutions, both political and economic. It highlights, also, the interaction between information and institutions, and how it can impact human behaviour.

This ongoing research investigates how Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) technologies are reshaping the roles and competencies of middle managers. While much of the existing literature emphasizes macro-level impacts of AI—such as productivity gains and strategic transformation—this study focuses on micro-level changes, particularly managerial adaptation, decision-making, and skill reconfiguration.
Grounded in activity theory (Engeström, 1987, 2001) and informed by a critical realist epistemology, the study adopts a qualitative, inductive approach. Data is being collected through semi-structured interviews with middle managers from three contrasting organizational contexts: a large enterprise in the energy sector (30 interviews), a medium-sized digital services firm (15 interviews), and a small telecommunications company (15 interviews). This multi-site design enables the analysis of systemic tensions across different governance models and organizational cultures.
Preliminary findings reveal that middle managers are often at the forefront of GAI experimentation, initiating Bottom-Up innovation processes outside official IT channels. These informal practices—frequently associated with Shadow IT—allow for agile problem-solving but also pose significant risks in terms of data security and strategic misalignment. Managers report that GAI tools not only automate routine tasks but also support cognitive structuring, thereby transforming how they plan, communicate, and lead.
The integration of GAI calls for hybrid competencies that go beyond technical know-how. Conceptual skills (e.g., sense-making and system thinking), human skills (e.g., empathy, leadership, conflict mediation), and ethical awareness are increasingly vital. Middle managers thus emerge as key facilitators of digital transformation, mediating between frontline innovation and top-down strategic frameworks.
This paper contributes to the literature by offering a multi-dimensional reading of managerial transformation through the lens of activity theory. It proposes actionable insights for organizations aiming to responsibly integrate GAI, emphasizing the need for adaptive governance, targeted upskilling, and the creation of experimental safe zones. Future work will extend the dataset and explore longitudinal trajectories of GAI adoption and governance.

The present study investigates the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to foster inclusive cultural value in Italian museums, focusing on addressing the physical, sensory and cognitive barriers encountered by visitors with disabilities. The research employed a multiple-case qualitative design, engaging more than twenty museums through a semi-structured online questionnaire administered to accessibility managers. The museums varied in governance, location, and thematic focus, but all were committed to accessibility. The findings demonstrate a robust theoretical understanding of AI’s potential to personalise experiences. However, its practical implementation remains predominantly experimental, constrained by infrastructural limitations, organisational rigidity and financial constraints. A significant proportion of institutions engaging with AI, specifically 87.5%, reported incorporating co-design processes with individuals living with disabilities. This finding serves to emphasise the pivotal role that participatory approaches play in ensuring technological solutions are aligned with the needs of the end-users. From a governance perspective, the study posits that truly inclusive innovation necessitates a systemic strategy: museums must invest not only in technological infrastructure but also in interdisciplinary processes that facilitate collaboration among curators, technical specialists and disability-community representatives. Furthermore, the sustainable integration of AI tools necessitates a coordinated commitment across multiple institutional levels, encompassing individual museums, governmental bodies, and disability-rights organisations, to ensure the availability of adequate resources, expertise, and policy support. To strengthen the evidence base, it is recommended that future research should expand the empirical scope by testing the proposed framework on a larger, more diverse sample of cultural institutions and by conducting longitudinal studies to track the long-term impacts of AI-driven accessibility initiatives. The work under discussion here establishes the foundations for human-centred technological innovation that extends beyond the scope of pilot projects and integrates inclusivity as a fundamental element of museum practice.

The museum sector is undergoing a significant digital transformation, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed vulnerabilities such as revenue losses and reduced visitor engagement. Emerging Web3 technologies, including blockchain and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), offer potential solutions for monetization, visitor engagement, and accessibility. However, adoption in Italian museums remains limited. This study explores the barriers to Web3 technology adoption from an institutional perspective, using qualitative interviews with 23 museum professionals, including directors and curators.
Key findings reveal multifaceted challenges, including skepticism about the added value of NFTs, perceived technological complexity, financial constraints, and regulatory uncertainties related to copyright and data protection. Cultural concerns also emerged, with some stakeholders fearing that digital innovations might compromise museums’ traditional roles or lead to excessive commercialization. The study aligns these themes with the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), extending the model to include sector-specific factors.
The research highlights the tension between innovation and tradition in museums, emphasizing the need for compelling use cases, robust regulatory guidelines, and dedicated funding to facilitate adoption. By contextualizing Web3 adoption within UTAUT, this study provides a theoretical foundation for future empirical investigations and practical insights for museums navigating digital transformation. The findings underscore the importance of balancing technological advancement with cultural preservation, ensuring that digital tools enhance rather than overshadow the core mission of museums as custodians of heritage and education. This study contributes to a broader debate on technology adoption in cultural institutions, particularly in contexts with strong historical traditions such as Italy.

This study explores visitor satisfaction at Bourbon cultural heritage sites in Campania, with a focus on the Royal Palace of Naples and the National Archaeological Museum (MANN). Adopting a mixed-methods approach, researchers carried out 97 interviews to assess eight critical dimensions of satisfaction. Through the application of the expectancy-disconfirmation model, the study contrasts perceived quality with the importance attributed by visitors. Findings show strong appreciation for the cultural content offered but point to notable shortcomings in infrastructure, digital accessibility, and post-visit engagement. A clear mismatch between visitor expectations and the actual services provided—especially regarding online communication and complementary offerings—emerges.
The research incorporates a pilot phase conducted by the Siti Reali organization, which represents a foundational step in satisfaction measurement. This phase serves as a valuable input for future collaborations with innovative startups that could enhance and scale similar evaluation processes using digital and data-driven tools.
Demographic and behavioral data indicate a growing interest in thematic experiences and customized itineraries, underscoring the need for more responsive and flexible site management. Overall, the study contributes to the field of cultural tourism by aligning satisfaction analytics with heritage site operations. Strategic proposals aim to strengthen visitor engagement and reposition Bourbon sites within the global tourism landscape, supporting sustainable and visitor-focused growth for Southern Italy’s cultural tourism sector.

The present research aims to explore how digital transformation, when integrated within Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and social enterprise models, can foster inclusive, innovative, and sustainable approaches to cultural heritage governance. Anchored in the case study of JustMO’, a cultural cooperative operating in Sepino (Molise, Italy), the study investigates how multi-stakeholder collaboration can activate new value creation processes in the cultural sector.
Adopting the SoPHIA evaluation model as a holistic analytical framework, the study examines the cultural, social, educational, and economic impacts of digitally supported heritage initiatives not only to enhance visitor experience and educational outreach but also to reinforce place identity and community ownership.
The analysis emphasizes the strategic role of Special Public-Private Partnerships (PSPPs) in enabling cross-sector collaboration, with social enterprises positioned as key orchestrators of digital ecosystems. These hybrid actors bridge institutional boundaries, channel public and private resources, and promote co-creation through participatory design and open digital infrastructures.
From a theoretical perspective, the paper contributes to current debates on PPPs by proposing an expanded view of social enterprises as drivers of digitally enabled cultural innovation. Ultimately, the study provides insights for cultural managers, policymakers, and scholars seeking to align heritage valorization with sustainability objectives and place-based development strategies.

In the current economic and business context, Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes a debated topic among academic and practitioners. Although the specific literature has outlined the relationship between top management and digitalization, sustainability topics remain less scrutinized, particularly concerning AI. With these premises, this study intends to investigate whether sustainable corporate governance (SCG) affects disclosure about AI.
To test the research hypothesis, we adopted a mixed approach (i.e., content analysis, structural equation modelling, ordinary least squares and lasso regression) working on a sample of 104 Italian listed companies.
Firms with higher levels of SCG scores display a greater impact on AI disclosure, suggesting that sustainable boards are demonstrating greater integration of AI in their disclosures as well as in their decision-making processes.
Although the literature is becoming increasingly interested in sustainable corporate governance issues, research is still lacking. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has previously investigated possible relationships between sustainable governance and the digitization process, especially with regard to the implications of AI.
Our findings provide insightful contributions to SCG- and AI-related literature, enriching the UET framework. In doing this, this study provides important implications for managers – especially at a strategic level – and policymakers.
The research is not free from limitations. First of all, AI disclosure is assumed to be representative of effective AI implementation, leaving room for doubt as a level of AI disclosure does not guarantee the same level of actual integration. Furthermore, it falls into a single-year analysis (2023) and Country (Italy). Therefore, future studies, survey-based, could increase the accuracy of the AI index and expand the analysis over time as well as to other countries.

Digital transformation, board characteristics, and environmental performance are increasingly significant in the realm of corporate sustainability. Numerous scholars assert that digital transformation can serve as a powerful catalyst for sustainable corporate development, delivering substantial benefits to both businesses and society. Digital transformation refers to the process through which companies evolve from traditional industrial stages to the Industry 5.0 paradigm, which integrates technological innovation with human-centric approaches.
According to the stakeholder theory, firms operate within an interconnected system encompassing economic, social, environmental and political dimensions, and enhancing corporate profitability has become an essential requirement for stakeholders. In this context, digital transformation can substantially boost corporate productivity and contribute to achieving sustainable development goals, thereby acting as a primary factor through which stakeholders can compel firms to initiate transformation processes.
Furthermore, companies are increasingly subjected to pressures from stakeholders who are placing greater emphasis on environmental issues, compelling them to adopt proactive environmental governance strategies. However, despite the extensive development of literature on digital transformation and environmental performance, studies analyzing the potential moderating role of board characteristics remain limited. This paper aims to bridge this gap by exploring the relationship between digital transformation and environmental performance, considering the specificities of board characteristics.
The existing empirical literature often employs textual analysis to quantify the extent and quality of digital transformation. Similarly, in this study, the construction of the digital transformation indicator is achieved through keywords selected based on prior literature, including: big data, informatization, intelligence, robotics, Internet of Things, blockchain, automation, digitization, and cloud computing.
Based on this method to measure the digital transformation efforts, we investigated the potential moderating effect of board gender diversity on the relationship between digitalization and corporate environmental performance, using data from Italian publicly listed companies for the year 2023.
The results of the empirical analysis indicate that 1) digital transformation has a positive and significant impact on corporate environmental performance, and 2) that impact of digital transformation on environmental performance is reinforced by a higher presence of female directors on corporate boards.
These findings provide potentially valuable insights to a diverse audience. Firstly, to companies engaged in digitalization processes. Secondly, to developing countries still in the Industry 3.0 or Industry 4.0 phase. Thirdly, to governments of developed countries, to promote national technological growth, monitor companies, and establish appropriate regulatory frameworks for the digital era.

Workplace safety is increasingly recognized not only as a matter of regulatory compliance but as a collective, knowledge-based infrastructure that must be cultivated early and systemically. In response to this challenge, the “Let’s Play 81!” project introduces a school-based, game-driven educational pathway aimed at promoting occupational safety awareness among students aged 8 to 13. Developed in alignment with Italy’s updated safety legislation (Legislative Decree 81/2008, reform 2024), the project reframes prevention as a civic competence rooted in shared knowledge, care, and responsibility.
The initiative was piloted in four public schools in central Italy, involving 198 students, 20 teachers, and 4 certified safety trainers. It employs analog games—developed and validated by occupational health experts—as tools to activate learning through play. Three distinct games simulate safety challenges in fictional yet relatable settings. These tools enable students to interact with roles, rules, and consequences, encouraging reflection, dialogue, and collective problem-solving.
The study adopts a mixed-methods approach. Quantitatively, it measures knowledge acquisition using a pre/post quiz (81Questionnaire), revealing a significant improvement in the intervention group (+4.43 points on average, p < 0.001). Qualitative data from teacher and trainer feedback underscore increased engagement, emotional involvement, and transversal learning outcomes (e.g., collaboration, attention, civic sense). From a knowledge management perspective, the project demonstrates how structured play can serve as a conduit for transmitting tacit and explicit knowledge in early education contexts. It also fosters interinstitutional collaboration among schools, Universities, and training bodies, suggesting a model for distributed governance in prevention. “Let’s Play 81!” offers a replicable framework to embed safety culture through experiential, inclusive, and cognitively rich learning. It contributes to the broader discourse on how public value can be co-generated through educational innovation and how knowledge-intensive processes—like risk awareness and prevention—can be activated far beyond the boundaries of formal workplaces.

The healthcare sector is characterized by intense emotional, cognitive, and physical demands that expose professionals to chronic stress, with significant consequences for their well-being and performance. Despite growing scholarly attention to stress in healthcare, little is known about the specific coping strategies that professionals employ and the organizational factors that facilitate or hinder these approaches. This study addresses this gap by examining how healthcare workers navigate daily stressors and how organizational structures can support or undermine their coping mechanisms.
Based on a qualitative research design, the study involved 41 semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals—including doctors, nurses, psychologists, and other staff—operating in various settings. The findings reveal that organizational support plays a crucial mediating role between job demands and perceived job control. In particular, participants who reported supportive leadership, accessible resources, and open communication channels were better equipped to handle high workloads and emotional fatigue, even in contexts with limited formal autonomy.
The concept of perceived control emerges as a central theme, expanding traditional models of occupational stress. The study demonstrates that the subjective perception of being able to influence one’s work environment—fostered by empathetic leadership and inclusive organizational culture—can significantly enhance resilience and reduce burnout risk. Moreover, the diversity of professional experiences in the sample underscores the importance of tailored organizational strategies that reflect the unique stressors and coping needs of different roles within the healthcare system.
By integrating insights from organizational behavior, human resource management, and health psychology, this research contributes to the development of more resilient and supportive healthcare organizations. The findings offer practical recommendations for policy-makers and managers seeking to promote employee well-being, improve job satisfaction, and sustain innovation in complex healthcare environments, particularly in the face of ongoing global health challenges.

The emergence of Digital Innovation Ecosystems (DIEs) is reshaping how innovation is generated, diffused, and scaled across sectors, especially within highly regulated domains such as pharmaceutical logistics. These ecosystems bring together startups, corporations, research institutions, and intermediaries to co-create digital solutions. However, such collaborations are inherently asymmetric—startups and corporates differ vastly in resources, legitimacy, and influence—posing challenges related to power imbalances, cultural misalignments, and governance.
This paper investigates how asymmetric collaborations are orchestrated within DIEs, drawing on a single in-depth case study: Logi-farma, a digital platform project aiming to optimize pharmaceutical distribution through AI, automation, blockchain, and data analytics. The case involves a large ICT corporation, an innovative SME, a logistics specialist, and a university research center. Guided by a conceptual framework derived from a prior systematic literature review on asymmetric collaborations, this study explores how stakeholders with diverging capabilities and motivations coordinate innovation efforts and mitigate power asymmetries.
Using semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and comparative assessments of digital innovation models, we investigate the governance mechanisms, collaboration dynamics, and innovation outcomes within the project. Findings are structured through a 6W-based framework—exploring who the actors are, how they collaborate and integrate technology, why they engage, and where/when the processes unfold. The analysis reveals that while startups benefit from legitimacy and scale, corporates leverage agility and niche expertise. However, unresolved asymmetries around data ownership, IP, and decision-making risk undermining trust and long-term viability.
This paper contributes to both theory and practice. Theoretically, it advances open innovation and ecosystem literature by integrating asymmetry as a structural component and proposing a novel conceptual lens for analyzing goal-oriented, multi-actor innovation networks. Practically, it offers guidance for ecosystem orchestrators, policymakers, and innovation managers on how to design inclusive governance structures that support fair value co-creation. The case study illustrates how digital health innovation can be scaled through collaborative orchestration, provided that power differentials are addressed and trust is actively managed. Ultimately, this work underscores the potential of orchestrated asymmetric collaborations to drive digital transformation and sustainability in complex, high-stakes sectors.

Entrepreneurial ecosystems are increasingly seen as complex, dynamic environments requiring effective coordination by ecosystem orchestrators. While prior research has focused on structural and institutional elements, little is known about the cognitive processes guiding orchestrators’ decisions. This study addresses this gap by examining how mental models influence ecosystem performance. The study analyzes three key attributes of mental models: complexity, centrality, and accuracy. Data were collected through a simulation environment where eleven teams played the role of orchestrators across ten rounds of strategic decision-making. Using a fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), the study identifies two causal configurations sufficient for high performance: one based on high centrality and the other on high complexity, both combined with low accuracy. The findings suggest that orchestrators can adopt different cognitive strategies to achieve strong outcomes, challenging the assumed importance of accuracy. The study contributes to the literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems and managerial cognition, offering practical insights for those aiming to enhance ecosystem performance through cognitive and strategic design.

The concept of Innovation Ecosystem has taken on a central role in corporate innovation strategies and industrial policies, representing a key element for competitiveness and economic growth. Innovation Ecosystems differ from traditional ecosystems due to their emphasis on cross-sector cooperation and the integration of heterogeneous skills, facilitating the alignment of supply and demand for innovation and fostering knowledge dissemination. In this context, startups emerge as key players thanks to their agility, experimentation capabilities, and focus on technological discontinuity.
However, startups face numerous challenges, including a high risk of failure, technological and market uncertainty, and difficulties in accessing financial resources and strategic networks. To overcome these obstacles, they often engage in collaborations with established companies within an Innovation Ecosystem, in line with the Open Innovation paradigm. Despite the growing attention to these ecosystems, the startup perspective remains underexplored in academic literature.
This study aims to analyze the main factors influencing the success or failure of startups in Innovation Ecosystems, with a particular focus on the role of collaborations with large companies, sustainability, and digitalization. To achieve this goal, the research framework is structured into three main phases: (1) a systematic literature review to identify key variables and build a solid theoretical foundation; (2) the design of a questionnaire and a structured interview protocol based on the literature review findings; (3) an empirical analysis conducted through interviews with innovative startups operating in Innovation Ecosystems. The methodological approach combines quantitative and qualitative tools, enabling an in-depth understanding of collaboration dynamics.
The proposed analysis will contribute to expanding knowledge on interactions between startups and established companies, highlighting the necessary conditions for effective collaboration and the strategic role of digitalization and sustainability. The findings will provide valuable insights for both theory and practice, supporting businesses and policymakers in designing more effective and inclusive innovation ecosystems.

In a fast-changing and hyper-connected business environment, startups are increasingly challenged to innovate, scale efficiently, and remain competitive despite limited internal resources. This paper investigates how digitalisation and open innovation (OI) jointly impact the performance of innovative startups, with a particular focus on how digital technologies enable open innovation processes. To address this, the study adopts a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology, analysing 42 peer-reviewed articles retrieved from the Scopus database. The selected studies span various industries and geographic regions, although the majority are concentrated in developed economies and ICT-intensive sectors. The review identifies a growing interest in the role of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data Analytics (BDA), Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, and Cloud Computing as key enablers of both inbound (e.g., external knowledge sourcing) and outbound (e.g., licensing, platform participation) open innovation activities. Findings show that while digitalisation and OI are often studied in isolation, few models offer an integrated, startup-specific perspective. Moreover, most existing frameworks focus on financial performance, neglecting sustainable performance metrics such as environmental and social value creation. The analysis highlights several theoretical gaps, including a lack of longitudinal and cross-sectoral studies, and limited exploration of digital open innovation dynamics in early-stage firms. From a theoretical standpoint, the study maps the most frequently adopted frameworks—Resource-Based View (RBV), Dynamic Capabilities Theory (DCT), Knowledge-Based View (KBV), and Open Innovation theory—and proposes a conceptual model linking digital technology adoption, open innovation practices, and dual performance outcomes (financial and sustainable). This model provides a foundation for future empirical testing and theoretical refinement. On the managerial side, the paper offers practical insights for startup founders, innovation managers, and ecosystem developers, suggesting how digital tools can be strategically combined with open innovation practices to enhance agility, reduce costs, and drive long-term value creation. Overall, this study contributes to the literature by clarifying conceptual relationships, identifying key constructs, and outlining directions for future research at the intersection of digital transformation and collaborative innovation in startups.

Start-ups represent one of the main sources of innovation and, consequently, national competitiveness. However, due to their limited size, they face several challenges, such as the scarcity of technical and financial resources, which significantly constrain their innovation capacity. To overcome these challenges, start-ups should engage in the adoption of open innovation (OI) processes, which enable them to collaborate with external organizations and exchange resources and knowledge. The effectiveness of such processes is amplified when start-ups are embedded in solid innovation ecosystems. Among the various actors that compose these ecosystems, innovation intermediaries — such as business incubators (BIs) — play a key role. BIs, through targeted networking services, enable incubated start-ups to more easily develop OI collaborations, either with one another or with external organizations. This study aims to explore the role of BIs as OI intermediaries — a topic that has received limited attention in the literature — by identifying the main operational strategies implemented to foster the openness of their incubated start-ups. To achieve this objective, a case study was conducted on the incubator of the University of Calabria (UniCal), “TechNest”. The findings reveal a strong commitment by TechNest to supporting the development of both internal and external innovation networks. However, some limitations were observed in terms of openness among start-ups operating within the academic context. This research provides valuable implications. On a theoretical level, it contributes to the limited body of literature on the topic. On a practical level, it highlights the importance for incubator managers to integrate an OI perspective into their incubation programs, while also emphasizing the need for managers of incubated start-ups to open their innovation processes to external collaborations. At the same time, policymakers should work to improve innovation policies, providing greater support to incubators and, more generally, to local and national innovation ecosystems.

This paper investigates the factors that shape the resilience of entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) in the context of long-term structural and technological change. Drawing on a longitudinal dataset from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for Switzerland (2003–2023), we examine how ecosystem diversity, coherence, and digitalization influence adaptive capacity in the face of external shocks. Building on recent literature, we conceptualize ecosystem resilience as the ability to sustain early-stage entrepreneurial activity over time, and explore whether digitalization contributes to resilience outcomes. We construct composite indexes for diversity, coherence, and digitalization, and estimate a series of linear regression models including interaction effects. Our results confirm that diversity has a significant positive impact on resilience, and that digitalization contributes independently and strongly to resilience as well. However, we find no significant interaction between diversity and coherence, suggesting that alignment and diversity do not always produce synergistic effects. Notably, we identify a negative and statistically significant interaction between coherence and digitalization, indicating that in ecosystems with high institutional alignment, the use of digital tools may be associated with reduced flexibility and adaptability. These findings contribute to the emerging body of research on entrepreneurial ecosystem resilience by introducing digital infrastructure as a dynamic moderating variable. The study also provides one of the few longitudinal assessments of ecosystem resilience in a European context, offering new insights into the interplay between diversity, institutional alignment, and technological capacity.
We discuss the implications for theory, highlighting the conditional nature of resilience mechanisms and the need to account for ecosystem maturity and saturation effects. For policymakers, the results suggest that coherence-building and digitalization strategies should not be treated as universally beneficial, especially in already well-structured ecosystems. Instead, interventions should aim to balance structure with openness, and stability with experimentation, in order to enhance long-term ecosystem resilience.

In this paper, we rely on multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) to explore a complex ecosystem of Italian innovative enterprises. In this respect, we analyze more than 11.000 innovative SMEs and start-ups. We find that the Italian innovation ecosystem is mainly structured along two dimensions. The first and most significant dimension emphasizes the opposition between structured institutional elements that are typical of SMEs and leaner, more flexible arrangements closer to the start-ups. The second axis is that of social inclusiveness and innovation as opposed to sociocultural sedimentation, which is more representative of well-established SMEs in the industrial/artisanal sector. An additional analysis of concentration ellipses revealed that start-ups are prone to rely on higher female representation and are closer to the service sector category. If we treat the latter as a proxy category for incubators, which were all designated as services, then the unfortunate conclusion is that Italian innovative enterprises tend to lose their social innovativeness aspects, which include but are not limited to social inclusivity, once past the start-up phase. The ramifications of these dynamics are yet to be sufficiently understood in relation to the broader ability of enterprises to innovate.