The purpose of this paper is to address the application of knowledge management (KM) in archaeology, an important subdiscipline of the humanities that studies our past through material culture. Archaeologists increasingly deposit documentation and data from their field and laboratory work in digital repositories. Rapidly growing quantities of digital archaeological data require more effective KM methods and applications for their analysis, presentation and interpretation of their meaning to the audience. To demonstrate such benefits of KM, a case study was carried out to examine the application of two specific KM initiatives: network analysis and graphical visualisation in the context of a UNESCO-listed world heritage site (Bosnian medieval necropolises). The assumption was that these two KM initiatives would jointly facilitate the understanding of the cultural heritage of interest by reducing the complexity of the research space from a 1519-page text (archaeological sites description) to a single visual (network graph of archaeological artefacts). A set of 30 nominated necropolises (Nomination 1504, 2016) known as “stecci“ was used as a sample of the medieval Bosnian tombstone graveyards for the current study. Each of these graveyards was described in the following way. Firstly, basic details of the graveyard (name, location, size and number of tombstones) were identified and entered into a spreadsheet file. Secondly, different types of the existing tombstones’ shapes, decorations and inscriptions were extracted from the text. These were added to the spreadsheet file in the form of keywords. Thirdly, the initial metadata were further transformed into nodes and edges of interest for further network analysis. Finally, such transformed digital data were presented visually with graphs. This paper made two important contributions to research. Firstly, it expanded a line of interdisciplinary research started by Handzic and Dizdar (2016) that should benefit both KM and the humanities. It further reinforced the idea that the increased scale of big data might offer new and exciting possibilities and challenges for future scholarship in KM and different arts and sciences. Secondly, the paper provided new positive evidence of the value of KM for the humanistic research agenda. Specifically, in the case of archaeology, the paper showed how network analysis and graphical visualisation of the relationships between medieval graveyard tombstone sites, shapes, decorations and inscriptions could serve as an indicator of the prevailing Bosnian religious, artistic and poetic character during the Middle Ages. This study implies that KM may change the way archaeologists and other humanities scholars interact with their data and share their insights. In particular, the paper suggests that the network analysis and visuals work well together to picture the past. However, these implications need to be interpreted with caution due to a number of limiting factors. Among these are: specific context of medieval Bosnia, small sample size of archaeological sites and artefacts, as well as subjective choice of KM initiatives. Future research is recommended to address these limitations and extend current research to other KM initiatives and their applications in other scholarly disciplines.

This paper aims at investigating if and how social media data can be integrated into the measurement system of performing arts organizations, and which are benefits and pitfalls for organizations connected with the exploitation of this type of data. The methodological approach is that of the action research, whereby the researchers played an active role inside the organization and the main source of data is constituted by participant observations. The investigated organization is a widely known performing arts organization: Teatro Alla Scala. The phases of the action research project included: interviews with the management of the Opera House to set the problem and define a line of action; a literature review and meetings held at the Opera House to develop a set of indicators for exploiting social media data; a critical discussion of the obtained results with the management of La Scala. The main result is represented by the development of a NET (Network, Engagement, Topic) dashboard that contains a list of indicators to exploit social media data. These indicators are related, not only to the measurement of opinions by social media users (Topic Dimension), but they are also intended to measure the structure of the social network connected with the organization (Network Dimension) and interactions between the organization and its social media users (Engagement Dimension). The novelty of this research is visible at two main levels. On the one hand, this study joins an academic problem (i.e. the role of social media data in performing arts organizations) with a practitioner issue (i.e. how to gain insights from social media conversations) and can therefore provide benefits for both. On the other hand, this investigation, not only proposes a set of indicators to analyse social media data, but it also empirically applied them in a real organization. This is a relevant issue, which allows to detect criticalities and benefits connected to the proposed indicators and move the debate on the role of social media data forward. The main practical implication concerns the identification of a set of indicators that can be adopted by performing arts organizations to exploit their social media data together with a guideline about criticalities and benefits connected to these novel measures.

Big Data constitute both a recent technological paradigm and an emerging business opportunity through which the adopters of Big Data solutions can implement and experiment the benefits of the open innovation strategy. In such scenario, the ICT companies have the opportunity to leverage the Big Data paradigm to stimulate their customers to undertake open innovation processes. However, the firms operating in the ICT industry have not often any standard way for implementing Big Data projects, and usually resort to agile approaches or ad-hoc development roadmaps that may generate critical issues related to the delivery strategy, software engineering techniques, and team capability. Drawing inspiration from the Open Innovation paradigm and exploiting the results coming from the analysis of the implementation of several Big Data projects, this paper proposes a roadmap for implementing Big Data initiatives. The roadmap proposed allows to solve the above mentioned critical points, and generate value from four key dimensions such as time efficiency in the solution delivery, cost effectiveness in the resources usage, functional efficacy in the business process execution, and full exploitation of the value embedded into the data sources. Considering the exploratory nature of the research, the complexity and novelty of the topic, the research methodology adopted is based on the grounded theory. The authors analysed ten Big Data initiatives related to several industrial domains, implemented by a multinational company operating in the ICT industry. For each initiative, the authors have examined the technical documentation and made semi-structured interviews to both project managers and technical leaders involved. This paper proposes a roadmap specifically designed for implementing Big Data projects, which draws inspiration from the Open Innovation paradigm. This roadmap allows for overcoming the critical issues characterizing the agile approaches or the ad-hoc development roadmaps currently adopted in Big Data projects, such as delivery strategy, software engineering techniques, and team capability. At the same time, the proposed roadmap may contribute to generate value by ensuring time efficiency, cost effectiveness, functional efficacy and data value exploitation. In such a way, the proposed roadmap is a first methodological contribution that ICT companies can adopt to enhance the success rate of Big Data projects. From a research perspective, the proposed roadmap aims at contributing to the debate on how Open Innovation strategy can fertilise Big Data paradigm. From a practitioner perspective, the results presented represents a first attempt to formalize a structured roadmap for supporting the implementation of Big Data initiatives.

In planning discourse, the relationship between knowledge and power is questioned with an increasing frequency. Planners understand that each actor or a group of actors possess specific knowledge, which modifies due to its interactions with other actors’ knowledge. At the same time, planners are aware that “knowledge is power”, it means that actors use their knowledge to push through their own desires. The core question discussed here is: How do diverse actors involved in planning perceive the relation of their own and others’ knowledge to power? This question is fundamental to understand when knowledge is a tool to create commonly acceptable plan and when it becomes a tool of power. We aim to discuss methods in which the above question might be explored, and what limits would such investigation have. Common way to capture the knowledge of diverse actors in democratic societies is that planners identify “key actors”, who are involved during the entire planning process, and remain open to anybody else who would like to join (“ordinary actors”). Therefore, there are three core perspectives on knowledge and power: the perspective of planners (how they decide about who are key actors), key actors (how they perceive other key and ordinary actors) and ordinary actors (how they understand their own participation). This paper reconsiders how these three groups perceive knowledge and power, and points on the diversity of views which need to be included in investigations. It briefly discusses what methods can be used (i.a. Knowledge Needs Analysis, Knowledge Inventory and Map, Knowledge Process Audit, SECI model), and what crucial limits these methods have. Nevertheless, a detailed description of individual methods is out of the scope of this paper, and will be involved in a forthcoming article. Knowledge, power and their interactions in planning were observed; however, previous researches focused on planning process as a whole. This paper highlights the diversity of perspectives which shape investigations: three actors’ perspectives (mentioned above) and three views on planning process (initiation phase, entire process and meetings). The primary value of our approach lies in a new combination of methods, which can be used according to their relevance to specific perspectives. This paper does not offer any case study. We think that, due to the complexity of the interactions between knowledge and power in planning, methods need to be discussed before a case study can be developed.

The paper studies performance dialogues as knowledge transfer platforms. Theoretically, performance dialogue enables knowledge transfer but in practice, there are several hindrances for the dialogue and knowledge transfer. This paper aims to map these obstacles as a first step to overcome them and improve performance management in public administration. The paper combines ideas of performance management and knowledge management to study whether and how performance dialogues can support collective learning in the public sector. After composing our theoretical framework, we interviewed 30 managers in three cities in Finland: Tampere, Turku and Espoo. The aim of the interviews was to find out managers perceptions on the existing practices of performance dialogue and the current strengths and challenges of these practices. The performance management literature has recognized various uses for performance information and discussed the factors behind the use of performance information. However, the connection between performance management literature and knowledge management has been mostly ignored and there are very little academic studies recognizing the role of performance information as a catalyst for organizational knowledge transfer and learning taking place in shared discussions. Recognition of knowledge transfer barriers turns the focus on the results of performance dialogues. From the practical viewpoint, it is important to consider whether some knowledge transfer and learning takes place in these dialogues where performance of the actors is discussed. In order to foster individual and organizational learning these obstacles of knowledge transfer should be removed.

The paper studies problems in outcome measurement when the impacts of learning are examined. A literature review utilizing constructivist epistemology and abductive reasoning was conducted. This research paper is the first attempt to describe the problems associated outcome measurement trying to capture the impact of organizational learning in public sector. The theoretical model created in this study demonstrates the complex aspects of learning outcomes which should be taken into consideration by the practitioners when structures and processes for learning are designed.

As the climate is changing, the risk of disastrous floods continuously rises. To minimise the subsequent increasing harms for citizens and their assets the implementation of flood protection systems is essential. To avoid defeats of such important and complex projects, this article researches potential reasons of delay and failures of past projects. Therefore, we complemented an expert interview with a document analysis to identify factors that are critical to the successful implementation of such systems. Using this methodology ensures grounding for the practical relevance and explicate lessons learned from past project. The extracted knowledge can be used to avoid future conflicts and failures. The findings concentrate on 4 factors – a proper planning, finding external experts, demand for protection and ensuring funding – that are fundamentally important to complete these projects successfully.

The present paper analyses the potential relationships among collaboration within different companies for innovation purposes, organizational learning and product innovation. In this vein, we empirically argue that companies need to develop knowledge management procedures in order to transform this inter-organizational collaboration in new products or processes. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the hypotheses in a sample of 451 Spanish companies. Although previous researches have partially provided theoretical models that associate organizational learning with innovation, few empirical studies consider that organizational learning could mediate the relationship between collaboration and product innovation. Results provide strong evidence about the relationship between inter-organizational collaboration and innovation in companies. It also shows that collaboration has a positive impact in the various knowledge management phases and that organizational learning mediates the relationship between collaboration and innovation. These results support the previous literature maintaining the importance of developing external relations for the promotion of innovation in the company, according to open innovation models. Likewise, our results indicate that managers need to reinforce the processes of knowledge management in their companies, since they are key competencies for generating innovations.

The aim of this paper is to empirically investigate antecedents and outcomes of organizational unlearning and forgetting in the process of new product development (NPD) in teams. Through identifying antecedents of knowledge loss, we intend to find indicators and levers of control to successfully manage unlearning and forgetting processes. Our research should also reveal how these control mechanisms then reduce negative consequences and facilitate positive outcomes in the process of new product development. We employed a holistic multiple-case study design to examine our proposed research question. We conducted 30 individual semi-structured interviews in 10 different new product development teams (10 cases á 3 team members). Gathering additional data allowed us to triangulate our findings and propose a path model with unlearning and forgetting elements in the product development process. Our results indicate that managing unlearning and forgetting can increase a team’s performance, whereas disregarding the management of knowledge loss can lead to a decrease in group performance. The inability to unlearn (resistance to unlearning, stress, daily routines, or fear of making mistakes) and involuntary forgetting (faulty documentation and communication, key employees leaving the company, or information overload) are main drivers of knowledge loss in new product development. Organizations try to counteract negative consequences of knowledge loss by trying to encourage unlearning and diminish forgetting. Depending on the desired outcomes of an innovation, companies should promote unlearning and specifying degrees of freedom for individuals in NPD teams. Being attentive to unlearning and forgetting processes allows teams to be more flexible and receptive to change. Organizations should free team members from the shackles of daily routines to provide more time for identifying outdated and obsolete knowledge, which then can be actively unlearned. Also, companies should find ways to regulate knowledge inflows to protect their employees from information overload.

This paper adopts a multi-framework analysis to explore the value creation (Amit, Zott, 2001) in the biotech industry and identifies specific attributes of the value creation process. This paper takes an inductive approach as it investigates the cases of five companies. Checklist matrixes and meta-matrixes have both been designed for within-case and cross-case analysis (Miles and Huberman 1994). Entrepreneurs’ past experiences as scientists develop the knowledge that enables identification of business opportunities and designing of their development. Partnerships with universities and sharing mechanisms such as royalties allow collection of valuable resources, especially in the common situation of financial slack. Scientists are the main element driving continued trading and research leaders are central figures to apply the business ideas. On one hand, the biotech industry needs extremely experienced scientists to sense valuable opportunities and manage complex processes, otherwise a company might fail. On the other hand, scientists should try to have an entrepreneurial approach and rely on their scientific background to start a business. The scientist-hiring process, especially with research leaders, and the sharing mechanisms, such as royalties, seem to be key processes. They can be used to receive central resources and survive in the biotech industry.

The aim of this paper is to empirically analyse the mediator effect of innovative work behaviour between a HPWS and product innovation. Using PLS, this paper tests in a sample of 225 Spanish manufacture companies the relationships among HRM, IWB and product innovations. Our results provide strong evidence about the effect of the system of HRM practices on innovative work behaviour and new products. Specially, this paper has found support for the mediation. Although the study counts with the limitations of cross-sectional studies, it provides support for the necessity to develop innovative behaviours that allow the creation of innovations. For this purpose, companies should develop a set of HRM practices that promote these behaviours. This paper show what kind of HRM practices and behaviour should be promote in those companies that follow innovative strategies for obtaining radical and original innovations. The most relevant finding of the paper is the evidence about the mediation effect of IWB on the relationship between HRM practices and innovation. Although literature has demanded attention to this point, only few studies have been focused empirically on this topic. This paper attends to this gap and supports the necessity of paying more attention to IWB in innovative companies.

The goal of this investigation is to explore what are the key HR practices and dynamics that, in knowledge-intensive contexts, best support skunkworks projects aimed at boosting employee creativity and radical innovation. Skunkworks projects have special characteristics and organizational requirements, such as high secrecy, cross-functional and diverse teams, no bureaucracy, generous funding, low hierarchy, emphasis on employee creativity, and location away from the rest of the company. Skunkworks projects need appropriate human resource (HR) practices, specifically adapted to their idiosyncrasies. Research connecting skunkworks projects and HR practices is almost non-existent. Hence, we tackle an under-investigated and timely research gap. We develop a qualitative, case study based investigation of a recent skunkworks project (‘Hybrid Air’ engine radical innovation) at PSA Peugeot Citroën – a leading multinational company in the automobile industry. We collected data from primary sources, such as recordings and note-taking at conferences and seminars, and from semi-structured and informal interviews; and also from secondary sources, such as press articles, and specialist automobile blogs. Our main contribution with this research is a proposal of a number of skunkworks-boosting HR practices and dynamics. Our evidence suggests that such HR practices and dynamics did help the skunkworks project meet its goals. As a result of our case study exploration, we identify and develop a proposal of a number of HR practices and dynamics that support skunkworks project development and success: extreme empowerment and autonomy in job design and task development, extensive team-based training, creativity-based performance appraisal, participative decision making systems, ultra-open (almost ‘blank sheet’) job descriptions, ‘undercover’ (extremely discreet) recruitment and selection processes, and turbulence-oriented employee flexibility. These practices carry implications beyond current, mainstream proposals of innovation-boosting HR practices, and inspire questions for future inquiry. Managers should be aware of important issues related to skunkworks projects. First, the preferential treatment to the ‘select few’ is potentially a huge problem in the long run for any organization, and especially for large companies with high internal diversity – and therefore potentially increased perceptions of unfairness. Second, there is the problem of reintegrating skunkworks project members and products into the ‘regular’ organization. Third, proper fulfilment of innovation – in its strict meaning of industrial and commercial success – remains a key challenge for practice and also stimulates further research.

The concept of environmental protection has gained attention in the management agenda since, in last decades has been a dramatic increase of importance of green innovation firms must innovate to mitigate or avoid environmental damage. In this sense, companies that are proactive on green innovation strategies might be able to encompass competitive advantages (Buhl et al., 2016). Current research suggests developing absorptive capacity (ACAP) as the fundamental dynamic capability for improving innovation in organizations. Specifially, absorptive capacity is an important driver of green innovation adoption (Hashim et al., 2015) because it allow have the ability to comprehend, connect, combine, identify and apply environmental knowledge. Organizational absorptive capacity (ACAP), or the ability of organizations to create knowledge, is frequently cited as a requirement for innovation (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990). ACAP has two dimensions: organization’s potential absorptive capacity (PACAP) and an organization’s realized absorptive capacity (RACAP). Therefore, PACAP represents the creation of knowledge; and RACAP represents the utilization of knowledge (Lane et al., 2006). We wish to understand the influential relations of RACAP, PACAP, GIPr, GIPc. Therefore, our aim is make a conceptual and empirical contribution to the literature on the conceptualization and measurement of these variables. The analysis is based on an ad-hoc original dataset on Spanish innovating firms specialized in the automotive components manufacturing (ACM) industry, controlling for possible selection bias due to exclusion from the analysis of non-innovative firms, being a sector in which environmental concerns are getting particularly relevant. In order to investigate the relationship between PACAP and RACAP with GIPr and GIPc, we adopt a Partial Least Squared (PLS) model, based on measures of this variables already developed in the literature. The empirical results of this study suggest that potential and realized absorptive capacity were positively related to both green product innovation performance and green process innovation performance. Moreover, realized absorptive capacity plays a mediator role between potential absorptive capacity and green process and product innovation performance. It explains that organizations cannot exploit external knowledge without previously acquired and assimilated it, which suggests that PACAP precedes RACAP (Zahra and George, 2002). The outcomes of the application give important insights to firms interested to improve their green process and product innovation. Indeed, the main results of the analysis emphases the importance to develop adequate competences, internal to the firm, to effectively adsorb and adopt knowledge from external partners.

This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework of an integrated knowledge management system, in which several knowledge management strategies are nested. Specifically, the paper focuses on possible strategies to localise and transfer different types of knowledge resources in project-based organisations, including expertise embedded in talented people, in order to pursue new emerging business opportunities and improve the whole organisation’s effectiveness. This paper is theoretical in nature. Drawing on the literature on the management of tacit knowledge in project-based organisations and on internal knowledge markets we introduce the conceptual framework for an internal knowledge market which may suit the context of project-based organisations. We also briefly discuss some organisational and managerial issues potentially connected to internal knowledge market development. The originality of the paper lies in assuming different motivational drivers, currencies and market structures for the different kinds of knowledge goods that can be exchanged in a complex organisational structure, such as a large project-based organisation. By focussing on the internal trade of knowledge-intensive human resources, i.e. a strategic knowledge good for project-based organisations, we aim to address a specific gap in the management literature. In fact, the literature, while recognising that managing knowledge-intensive resources is a critical issue in project-based organisations, largely neglects the market-based approach to deal with it. Although this paper is theoretical in nature, it provides some guidelines for the development of internal markets for knowledge intensive resources, defining contexts of application, roles of the different actors, working mechanisms as well as organizational and managerial tools to mitigate possible risks and enhance benefits.

The purpose of this paper is explore if the use of a high-performance work system (HPWS) facilitates the development of organizational ambidexterity directly (OA) or through a mediating variable such as human resource flexibility (HRF). We propose a quantitative approach. The theoretical model and the hypotheses proposed were tested using a sample of 100 Spanish hotels. The data analysis method used was that of Partial Least Squares (PLS). This paper represents a valuable contribution to the literature in several ways. Firstly, this research advances in the understanding of the ambidexterity antecedent’s factors. Especially in the role that human capital plays and in ambidextrous learning. Thus, this research expands the scarce empirical evidence about the role of human resources in the achievement of simultaneity in exploration and exploitation learning. Secondly, the present paper has incorporated a mediator variable (human resource flexibility) between HPWS and organizational ambidexterity which so far never been treated in studies linking human resources and organizational ambidexterity. And finally, our findings demonstrate that the relation between human resources and ambidexterity is partially mediated by human resource flexibility. The present research is likely to provide managers with some evidence on how and what can be achieved with a suitable human resource management in hotel firms. Firstly, the utilization of HPWS (i.e. comprehensive staffing, extensive training, development performance appraisal, and an equitable reward system) can facilitate organizational ambidexterity. This is so because human resource management system can improve employees’ ability to efficiently exploit existing knowledge and effectively explore new knowledge. Secondly, the utilization of HPWS can facilitate human resource flexibility. This capability plays a very important role in organizations, since it allows them to quickly adapt to the changes operated in the environment, and the present research work has served to verify that this capability is equally an antecedent factor in organizational ambidexterity development. Considering the context in which the present study has taken place ‒Spanish hotels‒ this outcome presents highly interesting practical implications due to the fact that the Spanish model for flexibility in the tourism sector has almost exclusively focused on temporary employment which, despite the possibility for this type of work to generate improvements in productivity via labor cost reductions in the short term. Therefore, the present research can actually help managers to look for alternative labor flexibility formats –i.e. behavioral flexibility (develop employee’s ability to adapt their responses and actions to any new circumstances which eventually arise in the workplace), skill flexibility (develop employee’s versatility in order to perform different tasks and/or functions), and human resource practice flexibility (implement people management practices which can easily adapt to any organizational contingencies– .

This study aims to analyze the characteristics of car-sharing and present the relevant factors to provide reasonable service locations in public apartment houses. In order to analyze the viability and usage of the service, we have considered 10 potential variables. On the basis of the regression analysis result, the adopted significant variables are the number of households, the percentage of residents in the 40’s age group, and the number of households with registered vehicles.This study uses nine months data from 39 apartments for location analysis in public apartment houses. LH is a company to provide public houses and to develop for land uses in Korea.The Happy Car is a closed car sharing service in public apartment houses, uses by people residing within approximately 50public apartment houses in LH. Since closed car-sharing is unfavorable in comparison to other car-sharing services, it is important to demonstrate that the service can succeed in securing a sufficient amount of users. This closed car-sharing service differs from typical services in that, after use, the users return the vehicle to the same parking location. If the closed car-sharing service is cancelled, there is no other alternative for existing users. Therefore, the site selection for the initial introduction of the public apartment houses in a closed car-sharing service is a very important issue. The Happy Car-sharing service was predominantly used by members in the 40’s and 50’s age groups, accounting for 52.3% of the overall rate. The average travel radius suggests that users are preliminarily planning vehicle use, as the average distance travel is short (23.2km) and there is an average of 3.86 transit points per use.The number of the household can be utilized as a major factor, capable of the estimate of usage rate in selecting the location to additionally introduce the Happy Car-sharing services in the future.

In the last decade, technological innovations have impacted the cultural industries in unprecedented ways. It is common knowledge that technology has a positive impact on demand; its impact on supply, however, is less clear. Cultural organizations are not always ready to adopt technological innovations, as personnel may lack the required competencies. For example, tour guides are a category that may face the biggest challenge. This challenge may result in a better definition of their roles or, on the other hand, tour guides may not be able to position themselves in the new technology-driven competitive scenario. What would the impact of these opposite outcomes be, in the cultural industry, in terms of audience engagement and performances? Our paper addresses this question by analysing the self-perceptions of a panel of tour guides who are challenged by technological innovations. Results show that different clusters of tour guides can be detected and that different scenarios may be envisioned.

The purpose of this study is to deepen our understanding of digital disruption in media ecosystems and explore how media ecosystem actors can innovate their boundary-spanning business models. We propose a qualitative case study approach in order to understand the studied phenomenon, digital disruption in Finnish media ecosystems, from the inside rather than the outside. This case study methodology demonstrates that the traditional media ecosystem is changing dramatically. Digitalisation is disrupting the current business models in media ecosystem and new actors and roles are emerging. We present with a value map that business model innovations in media ecosystems include possibilities in all three key areas, i.e. value creation, proposition and capture. The outcomes of the study highlight that most of the business model innovations require interaction with key players, as the roles and offerings of ecosystem actors are interconnected. Thus, media ecosystem actors should build the transformation to their own strengths, such as qualitative content production and brand name.

The aim of this paper is to find answers to two research questions: RQ1: in what way Transition, as a new theoretical approach, can contribute to define a new paradigm for collaboration through the observation of its new modes, processes and practices happening within community organisations. RQ2: How could the Transition model apply to developing contexts while leveraging on two key aspects, resilience and economic localisation. The paper uses a case study method (Yin R.K. 2005, 2013) which is a valuable tool for understanding the complexities of governing systems in the perspective of Community Governance and for suggesting criteria for actions in creating a shared, integrated, networked-based and systemic public value. The case under investigation is the City of Rijeka and uses a deductive and inductive approach for describing the phenomena and dynamics of the development processes entailed. The paper contributes to the discussion over the development of a scientific paradigm that would enable academics to analyse the concepts of collaboration, its unfolding processes, dimensions and challenges. The paper fills the gap in the literature since the investigations made in the City of Rijeka represents a guide to support and accelerate Transition while removing obstacles in its path by engaging people, enthusiasm and commitment in a way that conventional politics is failing to do. The paper analyses what socio-economic and community-related structures as well as organisational systems are necessary to implement modes and places of collaboration in the attempt to deliver public services in a resilient/developing country. In particular, the focus will be on the obstacles resulting from building resilience and setting up relocalisation. The paper, in fact, finds that problems relate to governance-related issues and to the need for increased collaborative and social entrepreneurship. From here it comes the necessity to: increase local democracy by enhancing community’s ability to self-organise and make decisions sustainably; foster community’s attitude to learn and adapt since being resilient means having the necessary skills; enhance the intentional aspect of building resilience. Provided that the Transition approach is characterised by a high level of generability, the key challenge for collaborative and resilient transition initiatives, which are (by definition) context specific, is to become a viable and transferable model, with a broad appeal to engagement. Evidence would show that the Transition’s approach towards relocalisation could be effective in setting up strategies influencing collaborative attitudes.

The purpose of the research is to identify and categorize value co-creation projects carried out by three main stakeholder groups of the coffee supply chain (large corporation, Non Governmental Organizations and dependent stakeholders alias farmers) and provide a management model for the value co-creation project implementation. Secondly, we seek to gather dependent stakeholders’ perception on value co-creation projects and understand if there is consistency of value creation objectives among Lavazza, NGOs and dependent stakeholders and if projects actually contribute to overcome the vulnerability factors as identified in the literature (Pettit et al., 2010) and make the supply chain more resilient. We propose an approach based on the elaboration of multiple exemplifying case studies (20) respecting data triangulation by considering value co-creation projects carried out by the Italian coffee roaster Lavazza (market leader in Italy and seventh worldwide by market share – Statista 2014) together with 3 NGOs with a cross-country logic in 13 developing and emerging countries. Moreover, we have designed and conducted 3 focus groups (15 individuals per each) among farmers located in the coffee extraction area of Brazil in order to gather their perception on value co-creation projects. This methodology puts in evidence the main best practices of value co-creation projects activated in developing and emerging countries, in which dependent stakeholders of the upper end of the supply chain sit. We adopt a theoretical framework of vulnerability factors and apply it to the coffee industry to empirically demonstrate how co-creation is possible through empowering of farmers that can support supply chain resilience. Moreover, by providing a qualitative perception of value creation, we underline the need of understanding perceptions as pre-condition to design effective value co-creation projects. We aim at enriching managerial and academic debates over clarification of value creation for dependent stakeholders. The outcomes of the application are developed around two mainstreams. The first suggests a management model for value co-creation processes to work as catalyst for resilient supply chains (based on empirical results of existing projects) that can be replicated to similar complex supply chains. We underline that engagement of dependent stakeholders for co-creating value is obtained only through specific empowerment actions aiming at increasing farmers’ social inclusion, business mentality and awareness. By describing such empowerment actions we aim at favouring replication of co-creation projects.