The overall aim of this paper is to provide knowledge on the importance of organisation as a strategic factor in creating innovative models driving to a sustainable and resilient urban planning in conflict territories. Yet, given the locally critical conditions of the municipality of Jenin despite the on-going Palestinian and Israeli conflict, the paper will attempt to understand if the local community and its actors can still benefit from places and spaces for action where all can develop activities aimed at constructing and sharing knowledge. If that is the case, the goal is to investigate the conditions for contemplating an effective and suitable model of organisation that would support Jenin’s resilient and sustainable planning. The paper will aim to respond to the following research question: RQ1: In what way it is possible to generate Public Value through effective public policies in conflict/occupied settings? RQ2: If it was still possible to produce collective value, what would it be the most valuable organisational model able to stimulates innovation within communities? If yes, once people have been made enabled to acquire, develop and manage information and knowledge, in what ways does the model contribute to triggering off processes of transformation in the urban ecosystem? Would there be the case to imagine a specific model for Jenin? The suggested approach is firstly based on the review of the literature available on organisation models, smart communities, collaborative relationships, knowledge creation, value co-creation and citizen co-production, sustainable urban planning. Secondly, the paper presents a case study that explores some manifestations of community resilience and self-protection mechanisms. The approach used to study this case is qualitative: a number of 930 participants have gathered in this type of research. However, it serves as a spring board for a deeper understanding on conflict communities that can inform theory, practice, and specific situations. Originality is given, firstly, by the topic as it combines the issue of conflict with the capacity of community under threat to leverage on its resilient capabilities. The research will inform about the development of unique mechanisms for self-protection and self-management which reconcile inter-organisational aspects with a macro-level view. Secondly, by the methodology used that, highlighting the multidisciplinary character of urban and territorial planning, focuses on organisation-related implications at both levels. . The paper will tell is all the municipality of Jenin owned the necessary existing resources for stimulating innovation for social and cultural change and activate processes of transformation in a conflict, but resilient, community. Its outcome will be to preliminarily investigate the existence of all the conditions above in order to imagine a specific organisational model for Jenin. Eventually, the model would enable the community itself to share knowledge, co-produce services and create value in order to manage the local assets in the wider perspective of urban and territorial planning.

In today’s dynamic world, the advancement and rhythm of information and knowledge challenge even the most open-minded individuals, communities and societies. The present times have begun to require more than adaptive answers from the human ecosystems, they claim pro-action and a leading-edge vision towards knowledge acquisition, conversion and generation for the collective welfare. This being the case, there are specific social categories with a great potential to efficiently and properly handle knowledge in order to substantively transform the societal landscape. Here, the researchers come forth as mediators between the life of mind and knowledge in action by means of their skills to convert scientific research into collective practical outcomes. Starting from these considerations, the paper intends to approach the role of the researcher and, inherently, the function of research within the boundaries of given social structures, namely smart cities. With a view to methodologically support the pursuit of the research purpose, a synthesis of the theoretical developments on the topic was conducted, followed by a questionnaire-based survey with Romanian academics from different fields of research. The study aims to bring to the fore the unique mediating role of researchers who succeed in shaping knowledge emerging from the general questions asked within various environments towards valuable responses translated into innovative ideas, products and services for local communities acting as smart cities. As such a mediation process requires a comprehensive array of compelling interactions among entities and phenomena, a thorough investigation of the researchers’ skills and research repertoire is of the essence. The envisioned research places the discussion of the role of researchers as facilitators of long-term societal success, as promoters of smart cities, at the core of a conceptual and empirical analysis. Building on the multiple facets of researchers – specialists in their field, citizens and constituents of the public opinion, members of funding agencies and administrative entities, sources of information and educators, influencers and beneficiary of research results – the paper examines their transformative social potential towards innovation in a dynamic world.

Non-profit organizations are dynamic actors in the contemporary society, contributing to the community development and general welfare. They are primarily credited of answering to social needs, but they could also contribute to economic, cultural, or behavioral transformations by cooperating with public bodies and other individuals and organizational actors. The paper investigates the perceived role of non-profit organizations in the development of communities and cities, having in mind a Quadruple Helix framework. We propose a two steps investigation of the relationships between nonprofit organizations and the actors of the Quadruple Helix. A succinct literature review aims to clarify the relationships between NGOs and public bodies, as well as the role NGOs have in urban development. The second stage consists in the analysis of two case studies from Romania, highlighting the mechanisms of interactions and the outcomes of NGOs involvement in urban development. This methodology puts in evidence the place of NGOs as active members of the Quadruple Helix in urban development. The paper highlights not the actual impact of non-profit organizations on urban development, facilitating the development of effective public policies involving these organizations, maximizing their potential impact in the social and economic fabric. The paper leads to better understanding of the knowledge transfer chain, especially connected to the relationship between NGOs and public bodies. At the policy-makers level, it offers a clearer understanding of the framework in which they operate, would help then involve local communities and NGOs.

Cities drive urban, social and economic development and select a path for sustainability following a smart approach. Cities should evolve as smart communities understanding the potential of information technology to support collaboration between public and private organizations in order to improve urban competitiveness, sustain innovation and ensure the quality of life. The aim of this study is to identify the dimensions leading cities to sustainability: developing a smart approach; sustaining the role of municipal institutions for building smart governance; promoting education, learning and innovation. As smart communities, cities use technology to develop smartness and sustainability for knowledge and innovation. This study is based on archival and qualitative data drawn by literature review and analysis on smart and sustainable cities and communities. Cities promoting a smart approach should select a path for sustainability. Identifying dimensions driving cities to develop as sustainable cities and communities helps to identify knowledge source for innovation and urban growth. As smart and sustainable communities, cities should encourage partnerships between private and public actors in order to provide services, create and ensure high quality of life. As communities, cities should support people by sustaining learning and education, developing smart institutions of governance to design policies driving sustainable urban growth and development.

In this research, it is very important to show how the global learning of the students has evolved due to the IT (Information Technologies and Communication Technology) in the higher degrees. These problems are addressed through a comprehensive and systematic strategy regarding the management of education and training methods for teachers, in such a way that the different modalities of the use of ICTs are incorporated. (UNESCO, 2008). The proposal of the Unesco was for 2015, and actually is already applied. This research is focused on the new modality of curriculum of the University of Guadalajara in the higher degree that is to have the B-learning, as an alternative to the face to face or classroom modality. In the University of Guadalajara exists the Virtual modality, but the results are not the expected to achieve competitiveness in the workplace, deficiencies were detected and this motivated the design of the B-learning plan and to carry out this investigation to analyze if the results have been positives. The objective of this modality was designed so that the graduates achieves competitive skills in the work environment with the B-learning modality. Based on the antecedents of the desertion of the students in the University center due to economic reasons and to avoid the desertion, this modality was developed. This has resulted in some students of the face-to-face can make their change to B-learning due to lack of financial resources and not to drop out and can look for a job at the same time they study and work. The methodology is a quantitative and qualitative research. An exploratory investigation, Hernández et al. (2010) is to examine the problem considering the type of phenomenon investigated, an exploratory approach, phenomenology, correlation of variance and prospective according to Bernal (2010). A correlation analysis of variance is performed through the Analysis of Variance model (ANOVA). With data collection from 2015 to 2017.

How to distinguish the best or worst institutions of higher education? This is a question that permeates the minds and hearts of parents, students, and teachers because education is an investment in the personal and nation’s future. As a source of information for the response to asking, the University Ranking of Folha – RUF appears. Known for its traditional evaluation, the Folha’s Ranking is considered an independent evaluation tool and provides a ranking of the best Brazilian universities. 74% of the data are related to research areas and postgraduate programs. Who regulates and supervises the postgraduate programs in Brazil is CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior), authorizing or not the program, assigning a score from 1 to 7, with 7 being the best score. Your data for this evaluation is published. In this article, are using machine learning techniques based on Naïve Bayes algorithms. CAPES data and the Folha’s Ranking of previous years are used as the training mass for the machine Naïve Bayes algorithm. After the training, CAPES data from 2015 was applied to predict the 2016 Ranking with a hit rate of 61.5%. A percentage above 60 of the Folha’s Ranking shows that it is possible, with a more detailed study and analysis of the techniques, to predict with a certain confidence. It should be noted that according to the Folha’s Ranking roles, the Scientific Research (mostly postgraduate) corresponds to a weight of 42% in the ranking.

The author introduces benchmarking as a tool for improving university’s technology transfer performance. As it is well known, universities are now considered to be the starting point of technology transfer process, when knowledge is generated in universities and then delivered to firms and markets. This fact requires from university management to transform university’s activity: to establish new departments (such as business incubators), to implement new policies, and to change education programs. However, there is frequently no clear understanding what specific pattern should be chosen as an exemplar. Benchmarking allows to design the transformation program which matches particular university. In order to take a productive part in technology transfer process universities have to support academic entrepreneurship and transform their traditional form into “entrepreneurial university” form. In fact, the core feature of entrepreneurial university consists in supporting academic entrepreneurship, i.e. creating university’s spin-offs, licensing, joint research projects with business, etc. We propose the approach that helps universities to create their transforming strategy based on constructing ideal models of entrepreneurial university through benchmarking. At that, these models take into account university’s strategic goals, field of knowledge, and other factors. This challenge forces universities to look for new management techniques and performance assessment methods. Benchmarking methodology is applied to a variety of tasks, both for marketing and management purposes. Obviously, each university has its unique characteristics – experience, faculty number, fields of research, geographical position to name a few. Thus, it would be impractical to develop one standard model of entrepreneurial university in universities. We believe benchmarking can provide university’s decision-makers with a model adjusted to specific circumstances and needs. The outcomes of the application can be used by universities which set becoming entrepreneurial as one of their priorities, but they lack appropriate organizational elements or policies. First, this approach is intended for universities in developing countries, where experience of academic entrepreneurship is not sufficient and many proper mechanisms (such as government’s support) are not advanced well. For these universities adopting practices of universities from the USA or Great Britain may become an insurmountable problem. By employing the method described in the paper universities are able to implement best practices in a more flexible way.

Final year librarianship students at a South African University are required to do a six months work integrated learning (WIL) programme in a real workplace environment. The purpose of the WIL is to put theory into practice so that the students can gain workplace experience. To gain experience, students are assigned mentors who teach them the job hands-on. During that process it is assumed that tacit knowledge is transferred from the mentors to the students. Tacit knowledge transfer has been a matter of intense debate in the knowledge management field. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether tacit knowledge is transferable from professional mentors in industry and students doing WIL. Further to that, the study sought to investigate if there are tacit knowledge transfer barriers that students face when they are doing their WIL. A qualitative case study was adopted. The case is a department in a South African University. Content analysis was used to analyse students’ WIL reports. 120 reports collected over a period of four years were analysed. Studies on knowledge transfer in internship programmes have been conducted and revealed many results. This study is unique in that it focused on a different context. Results reveal that tacit knowledge is transferred from mentors to students. This is because after WIL, students gain cognitive (ability to take job related decisions) and technical skills (ability to perform job related functions). The major barriers to tacit knowledge transfer are insufficient time for WIL, unwillingness of mentors to teach students and a slow absorptive capacity rate of students. This study has revealed that tacit knowledge is transferable although there are barriers to its transfer. The results inform organisations and Universities about the current WIL situation and suggests ways to improve the current situation. Institutions will have to find ways to eliminate the barriers to facilitate the successful transfer of knowledge so that students fully benefit from WIL programmes.

Pay satisfaction represents one of the key elements of job satisfaction. Salary is one of the major motivators impacting employee engagement. Main aim of our research was to empirically test the relations between pay satisfaction as an element of job satisfaction and the three dimensions of organizational commitment; affective, normative and continuance. In this research we focus on the lecturers in the higher education, as a twofold important factor in knowledge management. First, higher education staff is obliged to create knowledge through research, as a precondition for securing and advancing on the job. Second, traditional role of higher education staff in disseminating knowledge, as well as urging students and other stakeholders to use it, which in combination with the first role fits in the definitions of knowledge management. We tested three hypotheses in one structural model by using structural equation modelling (SEM). The quantitative data was collected through a survey on 409 higher education lecturers from Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Serbia and Slovenia. Almost half of the respondents were professors, while the rest included other pedagogical workers. We designed an online questionnaire, which was sent to lecturers via e-mail. After conducting online research, primary data was controlled and edited. For processing and analyzing data, we used IBM SPSS Statistics 24. Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ), the instrument that we used for measuring organizational commitment, was developed by Allen and Meyer (1990), and has been tested in various research. Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS), used for measuring job satisfaction, was developed by Spector (1997), and has been used in more than fifty studies in different context and industries. In this research we combined two relevant instruments on the set of respondents from six European countries, providing original results regarding three dimensions of pay satisfaction in the higher education. Since employees are the driving force of any organization, the lecturers are the driving force of higher education institutions, which needs to provide them fair treatment in order to secure organizational commitment. Job satisfaction is driven by a set of elements and depending on the industry some of them can be more important than others. This research determined that positive relations between pay satisfaction and organizational commitment are also present in the case of higher education lecturers. The results can be practically used in designing and developing reward systems on the higher education institutions, and generally in human resource management in education.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the state of the art about distance learning in Italian universities, in order to understand how higher education institutions are reacting to the change that occurred in the education market. Distance learning represents an upgraded version of lifelong learning, defined as each activity that starts in any moment of life in order to improve knowledge, skills, and competences in a personal, civic, social, and/or employment perspective (European Commission, 2001). Higher education institutions are called to satisfy the needs of their students also after the end of their educational path, updating their supply by providing “massive open online courses” (MOOCs). Given the presence of new online universities, starting with an analysis of the behaviour adopted by all Italian traditional higher education institutions, we will try to answer the following research question: How do traditional universities effectively face the challenge of lifelong learning, especially in terms of distance learning? We propose an approach based on the following steps. We will start by reviewing the literature on the concept of lifelong learning and its evolution in terms of distance learning. We will proceed with a documentary analysis based on the official statements provided by the Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of the University and Research Systems (ANVUR) and by the Italian higher education institutions investigated. Collected data will be analysed through a qualitative method, in order to identify changes in the traditional universities’ supply, by answering to the recent emergence of distance learning. Lastly, we will interpret the findings in order to make considerations in terms of future perspectives. This methodology puts in evidence the importance of ensuring lifelong learning experiences, according to the needs of learners. The aim is to describe the current situation in Italy and the behaviour adopted by traditional universities in order to accept this unavoidable revolution. The outcome of the application of this work is represented by the possibility of generating a new field of interest about the institutionalization of MOOCs in Italy. This is a preliminary study: in a future perspective, the aim will be to define a new strategy for traditional universities, that will help them in order to combine distance learning opportunities and high quality in terms of education offered.

Cultural organizations seek to attract and retain a broad range of audiences by offering them emotional, cognitive, and memorable experiences, able to satisfy their expectations and desires. To understand cultural organizations’ audiences, it is crucial to investigate why many people never visit, why other people visit occasionally, and why still others visit regularly cultural goods; specifically, the process whereby visitors (and potential visitors) take decisions on how to spend their leisure time. The aim of this paper is to investigate both the antecedents of visitors’ fruition experience and the latent dimensions of their satisfaction, so to understand how to design novel and engaging cultural offerings. A qualitative/quantitative study has been carried out to evaluate both the fruition process and satisfaction of a cultural goods, the Carlo V castle, located in Lecce, a baroque city in Southern Italy. In the exploratory phase a pilot open-ended questionnaire was directed to obtain the items able to evaluate the antecedents of the intention to visit the heritage, and the items able to evaluate visitors’ satisfaction of the entire fruition experience. As regards the intention to visit cultural goods, an extended version of the Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of planned behaviour (hereafter TPB) was used, according to which the Intention is a decision influenced by Attitude, Subjective norms, Perceived behavioural control, and Past behaviour. As regards the measurement of visitors’ satisfaction, the evaluation of consumers’ expectancies –expectations and desires– has been carried out in the entire fruition experience, which includes the following phases: i) need recognition; ii) information search; iii) evaluation of alternatives; iv) fruition decision; and v) post-fruition evaluation. This approach goes beyond the traditional evaluation of satisfaction, as the post-fruition evaluation of the experience, to consider not only the “objective quality” (“rational factors”) but also the emotional, motivational aspects of fruition – expectations and desires. Furthermore, the satisfaction paradigm has been re-examined by considering the entire fruition experience, which include also pre-fruition and post-fruition phases. Results of this study could favour the management and the policy makers, thus allowing their offerings of unique and distinctive activities and experiences, with the purpose of attracting new visitors, create a greater engagement, thus developing the identity and symbolic capital and strengthening the social capital of the local territory.

The aim of this research work is investigate, evaluate and represent the social, cultural and economic values generated by the oeuvre of Imre Makovecz and the group of specialists who collaborated with him – Pál Béke, Tamás Varga and Ferenc Peterfi -, within the faluhazák1 project carried out for local communities, living in small villages disseminated all around Hungary, during the 1970s and 1980s. The research work focuses the Hungarian Organic Architecture of the architect Imre Makovecz and in particular concentrates the analysis on the the Cultural Houses and Village Centres, built, with a specific multidisciplinary approach, in the Hungarian villages of Sárospatak (1972 – 1976), Bak (1985) and Kakasd (1986). The research is based on the multiple case study approach. The research and analysis work concerned architectural data, the investigation of urban and social contexts in which the buildings insist, the governance of buildings. Data have been collected through direct observations, semi-structured interviews, archive research and user-centered perspective surveys. Valuable benchmark data and qualitative data were collected showing as these architectures represent virtuous examples for their peculiar history, architecture and governance. Also, the collected data are an important reference for further studies to investigate architecture which constitutes a fundamental element, in the public building sector, for social purposes and policy development. Furthermore, the uniqueness of contexts, data collected and analysis results within the selected study cases aim to contribute to the theorization, experimentation, verification for future applications of Social Return on Investment to the built environment. The design approach together with specific building governance devoted to social engagement may help to solve conflicts within the communities or contribute to determine virtuous attitudes and it may contribute to creation of good policy based on communities intangible assets/resources. The outcomes of the application of the SROI methodology on the research study cases may show us the effects and tangible evidences of a certain good practices and multidisciplinary approach in architecture, aiming at improving social and spiritual relations amongst people, and between people and places.

The purpose of the paper is to scrutinise citizen participation in co-creating a culture initiative. The active involvement of citizens in the co-creation of public initiatives has been embraced by the European Commission as a relevant topic on its reform agenda. In this line, citizen engagement has become one of the criterion to select the city to be designated as the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) of the year. However, there are still only a few systematic studies aimed at investigating the challenges, problems and difficulties associated with the processes aiming to foster citizen participation and how to make it long lasting. Hence, in this paper, focusing on Matera ECoC 2019, we aim to increase the understanding on what dynamics of participation unfold in the context of the development of an ECoC program. In particular, we address the following research questions: What are the conditions for developing a participatory process in cultural projects? Who is really involved in the decision-making process? What mechanisms are used by the official actors to foster citizen engagement? We propose an exploratory approach by adopting a case study method of analysis (Yin, 1993, 2009) of the Matera ECoC 2019. Data have been collected through both primary (interview with a key actor of the initiative) and secondary (official documents, social media, websites and press releases) sources of evidence. Generally speaking, participation involvement has been deeply scrutinised in political science and public administration literature, but how citizens become participants in a process of co-creation of culture, who benefits from this participation and why it is rarely discussed. Moreover, to our knowledge, this topic has never been investigated by scholars in the field of management and organizational studies. The present paper aims to enrich the literature on the ECoC literature by investigating the case of Matera ECoC 2019. Our study contributes to the debate on ECoC as an opportunity for economic and social development and the renewal of local communities. It can offer suggestions and insights for the EU Legislator to design new rules to make citizen participation more effective and for the regional public administration to define new cultural policies able to engage the local community.

This paper investigates Participatory Cultural Initiatves (PCIs) and patterns of learning and knowledge sharing among participating actors. We highlight Participatory Cultural Initiatives (PCIs) and their impact on communities, cities, and regions. PCIs create material and immaterial outcomes through the presence of cultural artefacts and the exchange of ideas, thoughts and feelings among participants. In particular, a participatory approach to cultural and creative initiatives entails civic engagement and strong support for creating and sharing cultural projects, highlighting the subjective relevance of individual contributions and strengthening the feeling of being socially connected among each other. Unfolding participation also activates knowledge sharing and learning processes. Hence, we address the following research questions: First: What role does the exchange of knowledge play in PCIs intended as collective learning organizations? Secondly, we look at the knowledge outcome of PCIs relating to individual and collective knowledge components. Both research questions contribute to a better understanding of the general phenomenon of participatory culture as well as the role of culture in society. Based on a sound literature review in the field of PCIs, we propose an inductive approach by conducting two connected case studies: Matera as a European Capital of Culture and Rome as a City of Film (within the UNESCO network of creatives cities). The cases were chosen, as both examples have similar selection criteria (referring to UNESCO programs). We selected primary data through personal semi-structured interviews with the key actors of each initiative, as well as secondary data through the analysis of relevant documents, press releases, websites, social media, etc. concerning the initiatives. More and more, citizens and cultural institutions collaborate to develop cultural projects through a participatory approach. This leads to the stratification of knowledge and of learning processes that further enrich the local communities. Notwithstanding a prolific body of knowledge on cultural initiatives, we need more insights on how PCIs as well as the resulting collective knowledge components can contribute to creating value for individuals and society. We propose a comprehensive framework to analyse these new phenomena, highlighting their impact on different stakeholders. The research fosters a deeper understanding of PCIs and their societal impact. It supports professionals, politicians, institutions and citizens who are involved in developing, funding, managing and measuring cultural and creative projects. Finally, this paper contributes to expanding the literature on knowledge generation and participatory culture.

In the past decades the literature in the nonprofit corner of the arts and cultural sector has proposed numerous approaches to define, measure, and assess the value of arts and cultural activities and its impact on society. Yet, research has been dominated by a strong positivist tradition and has remained prevalently normative and instrumental, rather than advancing the understanding of the specific artistic and broader contexts in which evaluation is practiced. This ongoing study contests the decontextualized approaches found within the positivist research paradigm and explores the evaluation practices embedded in the creative process of nonprofit performing arts organizations. Following the premise that artistic activities and their outcome/impact can only be evaluated within the contexts and processes that give rise to them, the scope of the empirical work focuses on how performance is enacted by the artists themselves, as experts, self-evaluators, and peer-evaluators. Hence, the originality of the research question lies in putting the artistic creative process at the core of the enquiry and considering the intrinsic aspects of the individual and collective experience and the role of human agency in the art production and consumption. I used an ethnographic study design that triangulated qualitative data from (non-)participant observation, semi-structured formal and informal interviews, and document analyses in the context of two in-depth case studies. The chosen methodology aims at capturing the unarticulated assumptions and values of creative processes. The emergent and preliminary findings, such as the value creation for the individual performer or the whole ensemble of working with a particular artist and in a particular piece, enhance the existing body of knowledge about artistic value and achievement in the performing arts. Further, they attempt to minimize the theory-praxis gap by offering a deeper understanding of the context-related uniqueness of (embedded) evaluation practices in the performing arts. Further, they advance the body of knowledge about evaluation and performance measurement in the nonprofit arts and cultural sector. In addition, considering that the arts as an extreme case of creative working environment have emerged as a promising research field for business, the study attempts to offer an alternative to mainstream approaches to (e-)valuation, assessment, and impact analysis that may allow relevant stakeholders to gain deeper insights in how to explore creative, knowledge, and experience-intensive processes.

In Italy, recent normative changes towards accrual accounting have asked universities to measure and disclose their cultural heritage assets. The switch from “pure” financial accounting requirements cash-based, to a more mature accrual accounting system (Agasisti, Catalano, & Erbacci, 2017), posed the challenge of the intellectual capital accounting and measurement (Guthrie, Ricceri, & Dumay, 2012). The current lack of accounting principles to be used in preparing such disclosures have required universities to revaluate or impair their heritage book values (A. Barton, 2005). The study comments the role of accounting in shaping the reality within the context of Italian Public Universities. The paper is designed as an empirical paper that first aims at describing the state of the art of Italian universities’ museums using an accounting perspective. Secondarily, the paper shows through the application of multiple correlations the existence of links between the book value of cultural heritage assets and core features of universities. The sample includes the totality of Italian Public University recognized by MIUR in 2017 (n=67). We included in the analysis the composition of tangible assets and the book value of the amount disclosed in A) II.4 called Book heritage, artworks, antiquities and museum assets, of the scheme provided by the Italian Ministry of Education and Research (MIUR). The study herein reported shows the state of the art of universities’ museums using an accounting perspective. In particular, it evidences the fragmented framework of the Italian universities’ museums between micro and mega institutions, where universities manage an average of 4.6 museums each. Opposite to the logic of valorization of intellectual capital, the ministerial guideline supports the total impairment of “ordinary” books, while for book heritage, artworks, antiquities and museum assets, it supports the idea that such cultural heritage will not lose the value over time. Due to the lack of a clear accounting principles to apply, universities have adopted different behaviors, on one side an extreme revaluation of their heritage assets, on the other side great impairments. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are becoming more aware of the role they might play for the sustainable development and social value creation of societies and countries. The so-called third mission translates in actions the dialogue between universities and societies, and universities and stakeholders. This social value is expressed by teaching, research and third mission activities. The latter are pivotal for a knowledge society, and exogenous pressure are incentivizing the adoption of managerial duties and the institutionalization of performance measurement (Martin-Sardesai & Guthrie, 2018; Martin-Sardesai, Irvine, Tooley, & Guthrie, 2017; L. D. Parker, 2013). The adoption of accrual accounting method has forced universities to translate and give a value to their cultural heritage assets, that are heterogenous by definition and dependent from the historical roots of the university and the number of students. The book value of the heritage assets does not show adequately this “unexpressed” potential that can impact over public engagement and societal outreach.

Cluster initiatives are projects established by local or national governments to foster the competitiveness of organizations and territories through the facilitation of informal and formal ties among firms that may improve knowledge diffusion, innovation, and new product development. Such projects are managed by project managers, or sometimes by organizations, whose main objectives are a) ensuring network development through the facilitation of interfirm linkages and b) envisioning the path for cluster development. The paper represents an attempt to investigate what happens when the agglomeration project terminates and clustered organizations are not anymore subject to the stimuli toward knowledge transfer exerted by cluster managers. We study the knowledge network underlying an Italian high-tech cluster initiative through Social Network Analysis. We coded networks of formal and informal ties with a variety of contents, observed at two points in time, namely 2015 (when the cluster project was terminated) and 2017. We compare the observations of the network at the two points in time in order to assess the changes occurred after the cluster manager’s facilitation activity ceased, particularly focusing on whether clustered firms changed their networking behaviour when “the plug was disconnected”. The original element of this study lies in the analysis of the networking behaviour of the firms after the termination of the cluster initiative. While there exist abundant research and evidence about both geographical clusters and public policies aimed at fostering ties among clustered firms, far less is known about how lasting the effects of these policies are. This study contains evidence that clustered firms did not maintain the same relational behaviour two years after the termination of the facilitation activity of the cluster manager. When designing cluster initiatives due care should be had to ensure that cluster managers adequately support clustered firms in the development of the knowledge network, throughout the whole project life cycle. In this regard, our work suggests that the facilitation activity of cluster managers should be terminated only once cluster members have interiorized a networking attitude, in order for them to continue knowledge-transfer activities when the stimuli by cluster manager have ceased. The sharp interruption of the facilitation activity of the cluster manager is likely to nullify the beneficial effects of the cluster project.

Empirical social network studies on small groups usually aim to identify structural properties that correlate with performance on specific tasks. In recent decades, behavioral economics have shown that, in certain circumstances, individuals can be, in a specific sense, irrational, behaving in predictable ways that don’t maximize their self-interest. One of these circumstances is high stakes – the presence of high level incentives. In fact, it has been demonstrated that in tasks requiring cognitive abilities, large rewards tend to reduce individuals’ performance. Our attention is particularly focused on groups’ cognitive tasks requiring efficient and effective knowledge sharing (KS). Specifically, our study explores how the network structure of groups affects the relationship between incentives and performance. To answer this question, we ran a laboratory experiment on 4-person groups constructed by the researcher on the basis of existing trust relations (both cognitive and affective trust) among 169 individuals who have known each other for some time. One type of group defined by the researcher was centralized (a sociometric star): all trust relations involved one central person. A second type of group was a sociometric clique: everyone trusted everyone. A third type of group was an empty graph: no trust ties within the group at all. The laboratory setting allowed us to randomly assign different incentive levels to the groups, and also allowed us to readily measure performance, both at the individual and at the group level. The results show that for a relatively simple cognitive task requiring KS, cliques were markedly less efficient, except in the presence of external incentives. Whereas other groups were unaffected by incentives, the clique structures benefitted considerably, bringing their efficiency levels in line with the other groups. This outcome constitutes not only a theoretical advancement in knowledge management discipline, but also a practical instrument that companies could use when dealing with human resources allocation for different tasks.

The study sheds light on the role of controversy in co-creation processes in service innovation projects that are characterized by project team members from different organisations or from different disciplines. Controversy , in this study defined as different interpretations of information, and differences in opinions and interests among project members, is of essence in order to create new knowledge, but simultaneously controversial situations hamper the development process of new services. Although current literature contributes to our understanding of the development of new services, questions pertaining to successfully creating new services in highly complex collaboration processes are still little understood. The purpose of this study is to gain insights in the role of controversy within interorganisational service innovation projects by identifying different theoretical lenses and thereby creating a broader perspective in explaining success in new service development. This study provides a systematic literature review by combining insights from several literature streams. The search resulted in a set of most influential studies of equivocality, controversy, ambiguity and conflict in co-creation processes. We classified the studies into different perspectives of controversy in new service development. This research shows three perspectives of the role of controversy within interorganisational service innovation projects. The information processing view explains difficulties in combining different types of knowledge and acknowledges the importance of developing coordination mechanisms to overcome information processing challenges. Studies from a value-based perspective emphasise the fact that knowledge is based on personal and professional values. This research draws attention to emotions and motivation of project members and emphasise the role of collective sensemaking, reflexivity and responsibility as affective mechanisms in guiding co-creation processes. The stakeholder perspective deepens our understanding of interaction processes among different stakeholders, placing particular emphasis on the role of power and interdependencies as a source of controversy and conflict and, through this, influencing project success. This perspective draws attention to negotiation and defining common interest in the development of new services. This research shows the need for handling mechanisms in interorganisational service innovation projects to make controversy constructive and to cope with conflicting situations resulting from controversy.

To react to the current competitive scenario, organizations must be equipped to deal with the most valuable resource of the currently management: knowledge. It is a resource whose management and exploitation contribute directly to the success desired by the organization. Knowledge Structuring inside an organization is one of the preponderant assets to achieve its goal as well as to keep its leader position in the market. This work presents a framework including different management tools of knowledge management, currently applied inside organizations, and how each of them can be related to each phase of the Knowledge Spiral. It is presented a literature review about themes of this work and, then, a framework of structured knowledge is proposed. It includes Focus Methodology to correlate organizational strategies to knowledge management; the tools currently used by the organizations and the role of organizations in creating favourable environment for the generation and dissemination of knowledge. Secondly, it is presented a questionnaire sent to managers and researchers of Knowledge Management. It has the aim to cross the purpose of this work with the practices of organizations and with the view of researchers. The new management directions aim to incorporate knowledge in their business strategies. In this direction, this paper will elucidate how the factors of knowledge management can be positively present on the competitive strategies of organizations. Kunioshi , defines this new management model as a view based on resources and among the strategic resources, he highlights Knowledge as the most precise one. It will be shown a knowledge management framework considering organizational aspects, individual values and competitiveness. It will also be established a correlation between Organizational Strategies and Knowledge Management characteristics. All the interviewed researchers agreed that competitiveness attributes must be clearly defined inside organizations and that there must be strongly incentives to the knowledge creation and dissemination. The researcher’s view shows there must be a strong correlation between the role of the organization to provide conditions favourable to knowledge (creation and dissemination) and the following topics: Infrastructure of Informatics; Infrastructure to storage and disseminate the information; Politics of knowledge dissemination; Integration of Knowledge to the administrative practices The view of the researchers was not reflected on the actual practices of the evaluated organizations. Most of the results showed no convergence between the researchers view about organizational practices and the actual practices in organizations according to their own managers’ view. Summarizing there are plenty of information to help the organizations but there is still a considerable distance between the managerial theories and tool and what was seen in some organizations.