The Covid-19 pandemic led to a significant increase in e-commerce and digital adoption in Europe, with online consumer-to-consumer (C2C) marketplaces for second-hand goods experiencing newfold popularity. This trend is primarily driven by Gen-Zers, who are leading the way in buying and selling second-hand goods online, motivated by saving/making money, finding unique items and adopting a more sustainable lifestyle. This research aims to investigate Gen-Zers’ attitudes towards online C2C platforms and their motivations for selling second-hand clothes. In order to investigate this phoenomenon, a qualitative research method has been preferred. The study consists of two parts: the first involves a systematic collection and analysis of users’ reviews of the Apps on Trustpilot and App stores in order to identify the most relevant drivers in determining the Circular Customer Experience (CCE) from the sellers’ point of view, while the second part involves two focus groups to discuss the evidences emerged from the first study. The research perimeter includes the main Italian online C2C platforms for the clothing category (Vinted and Depop). The reviews were collected using web scraping software and a manual content analysis were conducted to identify topics that emerged from the qualitative data. The focus groups were organized in light of the predominant role of the participants (sellers). The results show that among Gen Z, the main motivation to sell is to “empty the closet” but the satisfaction of completing a transaction successfully is also important. Although sustainability is not the primary driving force behind the selling choice, some participants are concerned about sustainability and suggest that C2C platforms increase user awareness and provide solutions to be more responsible. The research highlights personal satisfaction and accomplishment as the key reason for sellers to stand out. Our findings suggest that C2C platforms can retain and attract sellers by improving the mobile experience, developing incentive systems to increase the propensity to leave reviews and equipping sellers with signalling systems to protect against buyers’ opportunistic behaviours. In conclusion, to create a positive perception of second-hand goods, marketers should emphasize their environmental and psychological benefits. If C2C platforms make it easy, rewarding and eco-friendly to sell second-hand goods, they can change people’s attitudes toward used items, so they will no longer be seen as inferior. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to adopt the sellers’ point of view, specifically focusing on the motivations of Gen-Z, as the main users of these platforms.

This paper analyses the tension field between digitalisation, sustainability and knowledge management in the water sector, particularly, in the context of climate change and water stress. The importance of sustainable hybrid drinking water supply and simultaneous flood protection is outlined by a practical case study within a German water association with a total volume of around 100 Mio. EUR. An ongoing evolutionary digitalisation project is presented and research propositions are stated, which are centred on the questions of deployment of sustainable critical success factors (CSFs) based AI-solutions paired with knowledge management systems (KMS) in the context of climate change and water stress. The application of CSFs and the creation of digital and rational decision-making models based on KMS are elaborated on. Additionally, it is elucidated, whether digitalisation, knowledge and sustainability are to be seen as CSFs in themselves, which thereinafter is confirmed. Finally, the possibility of integrating Kingdon’s multiple stream model into an AI-based KMS to provide management decision support is explained. In conclusion, knowledge is seen as a binding key for achieving a sustainable digitalisation strategy within a critical infrastructure organisation.

Sustainability has been extensively studied in different disciplines especially since the publication of the Brundtland commission’s report in 1987. However, in public management as well is knowledge management literature sustainability has gained limited scholarly attention. Especially, there is a lack of understanding of sustainability as an issue that needs managing. Therefore, article approaches sustainability in organizational context and is interested in how sustainability is managed in local government and what knowledge is used to support management. While sustainability can be regarded as a pressing societal challenge, relatively little is known on how sustainability policies and strategies are implemented and managed in public organizations. In order to understand how public managers perceive sustainability as a management issue and define sustainability information, an interview study was carried out. The article analyses the data of 25 semi-structured interviews from branch and financial directors in Finnish municipalities to provide an in-depth knowledge-based view to the practice of managing sustainability in local government. The article contributes by developing new understanding about the different roles knowledge management can have in supporting public organizations and public officials to grasp the complex phenomenon of sustainability.

In the last thirty years the notion of heritage has deeply changed, and the attention has shifted from the materiality of monuments, as bearers of intrinsic values, to a wider recognition of cultural heritage as a process that increasingly involves the territorial context and its dynamics. UNESCO official preservation tools include the definition of a buffer area surrounding an enlisted property as a non-compulsory added layer of protection to the heritage core, but, without further specific criteria and purpose, this remains as a mere generic “defensive shield” instead of becoming a contact point between heritage and territory. The contribution critically investigates how the implementation of UNESCO buffer zones is conflictual with the more recent compulsory management plans, theoretically fostering the inclusion of local dynamics in valorisation policies. Design and spatial transformations, that are fundamental components of a living cultural environment, are mostly excluded from the development of strategic interconnections between heritage sites and their surroundings, and they are mainly seen as threats to the heritage integrity and authenticity. In this framework, the analysis of case studies highlights the potential of design actions in the heritage-context reconnection. The selected examples – both in and out of the UNESCO system –, are projects able to conjugate the territorial transformation processes with the heritage preservation priorities in a tentative to encompass the idea of architecture as a practice of care of heritage-related territorial fragility. Starting from these examples, the study of how design actions can be integrated both in the process of definition of buffer areas (cognitive framework) and in the drafting of the management plans (interpretation framework), defines a methodology that could activate new forms of preservation policies, that take into account the need for a renewed and shared knowledge of local traditions and for a valorisation that goes beyond the heritage site boundaries. The narrative and activating potential of architectural transformation cannot be excluded from the valorisation policies, and rethinking the role of UNESCO buffer zones can be crucial in a new balancing between preservation instances and territorial development.

The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles outlines a comprehensive approach to promoting sustainability in the industry, including the use of recycled and renewable materials, circular business models, the uptake of sustainable innovations, and the reliability of sustainability knowledge. Literature suggests that promotion of sustainability knowledge spillover within the textile industry can have an impact on the overall textile business in terms of social, financial, and environmental sustainability and its overall competitive advantage. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current research on sustainability knowledge spillover in the textile industry. The research method is a systematic literature review of articles published in the leading KM journals.

In this paper we explore: What are definitions for legal innovation and regulatory innovation? in the context of the whole lifecycle of regulation. We use systematic literature review (SLR) method. The lifecycle of regulation consists of law drafting, law implementation, monitoring, and sanction of law in act. Definitions of legal/regulatory innovations (LRIs) are interpreted and applied in the field of public regulation as well as private regulation. Our paper has two objectives: Provide a holistic account of the literature on legal/regulatory innovations based on current knowledge about a set of key research themes; Identifying an agenda addressing new research directions in this field of study. We found out that only few writers in the selected articles clearly define, what do they mean with the terms legal or regulatory innovation. SLR analyses provided an overview of the topics of legal and regulatory innovations: Topic 1: LRIs in the context of Complex Adaptive Systems; Topic 2: LRIs for social welfare and Topic 3: LRIs in the different levels, networks of actors and phases of the regulatory life cycle. LRIs develop in complex adaptive systems which means that there is a continuous relationship between legal system and society. New kind of LRIs were discussed in the context of public and private regulation: Default design, Sandboxes and Nudge are possible tools of new governance approaches to regulation developed by governments. Process standards compared to traditional product standards are seen more innovative as they allow regulates develop most innovative way to comply the standards. Process-based standards and other standards developed by private actors have a lot to offer for the development of new LRIs. Regulatory knowledge is needed in the dynamic, complex society, in order to understand how LRIs can promote the change towards desired goals.

Global warming and resource depletion lead ports worldwide to define new strategies for reducing their environmental impacts. The paper offers an explorative analysis of three of Europe’s largest and most polluted ports – Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Hamburg – describing how those ports address the sustainable challenge. Particularly, the analysis is beneficial to decline a recurrent concept, i.e., green port. The concept has been developed to increase environmental awareness and refers to a set of actions describing how the port balances the ecological footprint by economic benefits. Key actions to be sustainable often are mainly attributable to green technology adoption. Instead, the paper focuses on how ports act to be green. Is a green port a port that adopts green solutions for improving operational performance, or does it develop green solutions and guide the green strategy with and for the entire local area? Results show that ports, in addition to adopting intelligent and digital solutions that improve ports’ activities, they act as innovation hubs, building an innovation ecosystem that leads their green transition.

The project manager must possess various skills in order to achieve the goals set in the project for which he is responsible. According to the existing literature, these managerial skills possessed by the project manager can be not only of the hard type (technical), but also of the soft type (behavioural or transversal). In order to better understand these dynamics, the aim of this research is to present the discussion about how project managers learn soft skills according to the scientific literature. The purpose, specifically, is to map and group the various articles published, from 2003 to 2022, to have an overall representation of the studies carried out. The methodological approach used was quantitative through a literature review that took place in three phases. The main results showed that the most prominent research areas are knowledge management, the typologies of skills and the learning method and style.

This article investigates the link between technology, digitalization, and knowledge management using digitalization and knowledge management to achieve sustainable development. In addition to the increased interest in knowledge management for implementing sustainability, technology, digitization, and knowledge management have an important influence on promoting sustainable economic systems. Knowledge resources must be exploited and managed, and a knowledge management system must be created to solve sustainability issues. Digital technologies such as Big Data are particularly significant in the context of sustainability since they provide improved decision-making processes. Furthermore, using digital platforms facilitates inter-organizational communication and information exchange by facilitating the exchange of best practices and collaboration. Using bibliometric network data analysis methodologies, we propose exploring the links between technical development, digitalization, and innovation in knowledge management for sustainable growth. The “core” themes covered in the literature will be determined using bibliometric analysis based on network-based methodologies, specifically community-detection algorithms. This information will be optimized using ensemble methods, and any possible bias from the many algorithms will be eliminated. The relevant results of this work emphasize the role of new technology, innovation, and digitalization, all playing a vital role in the applicability of these findings to sustainability. Organizational reforms and internal strategic approaches are required to apply these technologies effectively and sustainably. This study adds to the expanding body of research on sustainability, knowledge management, and digitalization by shedding light on the interrelationships between these factors and emphasizing the significance of adequately managing knowledge resources to address sustainability concerns. Five essential organizational performance and sustainable growth principles have emerged: knowledge management, sustainability, innovation, intellectual capital, and corporate social responsibility. Additionally, the analysis emphasized the significance of leadership in knowledge management processes. Several clusters also highlighted the significance of promoting sustainable growth through collaboration, innovation, and knowledge transfer. Small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) may benefit from intellectual capital and open innovation initiatives to better their knowledge management procedures and support sustainable growth. Growth and competitive advantage can be attained if these concepts are managed effectively. A firm’s success depends on its leadership and ability to share and transfer information. Therefore, the sustainable growth of a business needs a knowledge management process that is backed by a strategic approach and incorporates knowledge exchange and transfer in its design.

This work provides evidence of the impact that Recovery Plans (RPs) have had on the productivity growth of Italian hospitals from 2010 – 2019. Using the Malmquist TFP index, we decompose the hospital’s productivity into technological and efficiency changes. We find that the RPs have resulted in an increase in efficiency change, i.e. hospitals use their resources (physicians, nurses, other hospitals’ employees and the number of beds) more efficiently. In contrast, technological change has dramatically declined because hospitals are not using financial resources to buy innovative tools and learn new techniques that could improve healthcare processes. So, austerity measures have certainly reduced healthcare expenditure by optimising inputs capital, but they have contained investment in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). These results confirm that a lack of innovation and development has a severe longer-term impact on productivity.

The increasing connectivity and digitization of organizations have made cybersecurity a top priority. Organizations have become highly dependent on integrated systems and data, exposing them to cyber threats that can lead to economic and reputational losses. The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted vulnerabilities in cybersecurity systems across sectors. In particular, there has been a recent focus on the role humans play in this scenario by turning out to be both a possible source of vulnerability and a mitigating factor. To manage this, organizations must focus on establishing a culture of cyber security awareness by promoting policies, standards, and users’ behaviors from an organizational learning perspective. Employees’ education is one of the components needed to create such a culture, hence training programs on cybersecurity have a crucial role. However, the effectiveness and sustainability of training programs depend on including a variety of stakeholder groups to identify and mitigate cost and efficacy concerns, adopt accessible training techniques, employ trainers with relevant expertise, and address psychological obstacles like trainee guilt and shame. A balanced human-machine approach is needed to maximize the benefits of connectivity while minimizing cyber risks. Overall, cybersecurity training requires an ongoing, collaborative, and flexible process tailored to each organization’s context. Today, there is no consensus on the most effective and appropriate cybersecurity training methods. This research investigates available cybersecurity awareness types of training and provides guidelines for developing good organizational training programs in increasingly digital environments.

The study aims to assess the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) for improving the customer experience in the banking sector by designing and developing a digital human sustaining the customer care. Digital humans are conversational robots that have transformed traditional human-human interactions into new disruptive machine-human interactions that are more reliable and exceptional, but also fragile. The study analyses Algho, a virtual assistant platform developed by QuestIT company, to automate the banking customer care service, and in particular the loan request. The key aspect of this process was creating and consolidating an effective Knowledge Base, the indispensable basis for a successful performance of the digital human. The research evaluates the performance of the virtual assistant, equipped with a digital human interface, through the creation of an Algho tester that can verify the effectiveness of the knowledge base. The results show that AI-based technologies can have a positive impact on business processes. The originality of the study lies in the training of a digital human according to business needs with a perspective of creating an optimised customer experience.

Resilience is a widely accepted concept to which scholars and policymakers refer to address the complexity of urban systems. Many frameworks to measure urban resilience already exist. In this paper, the main urban resilience frameworks (i.e., City Resilience Index, Resilience Maturity Model, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction) are analysed to shed light on the common dimensions they present. Additionally, the relationship between (i) resilience and (ii) sustainability and well-being in the urban context is investigated. To do so, Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, scaled at city level, and the Equitable and Sustainable Territorial well-being framework are compared with the urban resilience frameworks. In the urban domain, the concepts of resilience, sustainability and well-being partially overlap. Many dimensions (e.g., health, economic prosperity, environmental protection) are considered in the resilience as well as in sustainability and well-being frameworks. Such dimensions are indeed measured with the same or very similar metrics. However, an in-depth analysis of dimensions and indicators showed some interesting differences. The paper provides knowledge advancement on the topic of resilience in the urban context and highlights those aspects that policymakers should consider so as to pursue resilience as well as sustainability and well-being goals in the initiatives they implement to face emerging urban challenges.

Made in Italy, in its entrepreneurship, constitutes an invaluable cultural and economic heritage for our country and too is worldwide considered as a synonym of art, quality, uniqueness and craftsmanship. In fact, this sector contrasts “knowing how to do well” against mass production, often poor of quality in materials and finishes, as well as certainly lacking an artistic and innovative dimension. The analysis of the literature highlights that the craftsmanship dimension, in fact, imposes flexibility and adaptability to particular needs, according to a slower pace of production, as well as shorter production lines at the local level, also making use of local craft, skills and traditions, fitting them into regional and national culture and heritage (Murzyn-Kupisz & Hołuj, 2021). In order to avoid making our analysis generic and too vague, it is important to specify that our theoretical background will refer to a specific type of company, i.e. craftsmanship. Our research objective, in the context just described, will be to observe how these realities are moving towards the rapidly expanding race for sustainability, not only as a new sales opportunity, but also, as a necessary condition to guarantee their survival over time. The call to sustainability, especially at the European level with the transposition of the new European Directive 2022/2464/EU approved in November 2022, will lead to an obligation of sustainable reporting to a larger group of companies (Ottenstein et al., 2021). Made in Italy, typically made up of SMEs, will therefore certainly be directly affected by this new scenario, for which it will be appropriate to take the right measures and understand the new logic. In addition to the above, based on an empirical analysis carried out on a sample of companies referring to the blown glass sector, we have analyzed quantitative data in order to bring evidence to our study. The blown glass sector, in fact, corresponds to Italian excellence of craftsmanship, and also, to fine art (Bialek, 2022). In this sector, it is also true, that there is evidence of numerous polluting residues, making the issue of sustainability very relevant and crucial (Hamada et al., 2022). Our empirical research, thanks to the data provided by the association “AssoVetro,” the National Association of Glass Industrialists adherent to “Confindustria”, will therefore propose to analyze how in a group of sample companies sustainability is managed, valued and reported. In accordance with what has been stated, the purpose of our empirical analysis is to answer the question: “How the glass sector has grown in relation to the impact of sustainability?”.

Recent environmental changes and socio-economic issues, required companies to adopt sustainability practices in order to safeguard the ecosystem on which insist and, at the same time, guarantying their profitability. In this scenario, the agri-food industry is particularly concerned, as food production and delivery have high impact on environment and society. Companies are investing in a digitization journey, surfing the flow of the transition from the actual technocentric vision of technology to a synergistic one involving social and environmental sustainability. Starting from these assumptions, the aim of this paper is to provide an overview of how the scientific literature explored the relationship between sustainability, Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and the agri-food sector, as well as delving into the role of the I4.0 pillars in driving sustainability moving toward Industry 5.0 (I5.0). A rigorous methodology guided the study toward a double-layers scientometric, performed with Bibliometrix. The sample was identified, using PRISMA methodology, in Scopus and WoS, leading to a database of 1114 papers and a further 9 sub-datasets, one for each I4.0 pillar. These datasets were analyzed in depth in order to recognize i) the main characteristics of the investigated research field; ii) the main research routes addressed in the investigated research field; iii) the current capability of each I4.0 pillar to drive sustainability in the investigated research field. The results reveal that the topic is recently and internationally debated; there is a strong interest in searching for sustainable solutions that safeguard natural resources with the help of data-driven technologies; among the I4.0 pillars, the simulation is the most recognized pillar in driving agri-food toward sustainability; the main topics addressed are linked to environmental and social domains. The study provides research and practical implications consisting of understanding the field concepts multiplicity, laying groundwork for future researchers, encouraging in the study replication, understanding how pursue sustainability issue, supporting the adoption of technology-based sustainable practices toward I5.0, stimulating in the exploration of new sustainability topics leveraging on technology application.

The New VUCA entrepreneurial environment (Millar et al., 2018) asks new entrepreneurs to quickly respond to the ever-changing needs they are targeting with their business ideas. Entrepreneurs may answer by adopting a lean startup approach (Ries, 2011; Blank and Dorf, 2012; Blank, 2013) that, according to Wang et al. (2022) suggests entrepreneurs to test their assumptions through business experiments (Bocken and Snihur, 2020). In particular, adopting an experimental approach, action-oriented, nimble, and in some case even low-cost, can help get ideas off the ground quicker than usual. Moreover, these processes may be useful in identifying and engaging the first customers (McDonald and Eisenhardt, 2020) and in tackling those grand challenges for which there are no simple and obvious solutions (Yunus, et al. 2010). According to Furr and Dyer (2014), theoretical and virtual prototypes may help this approach, helping entrepreneurs to get a minimum viable prototype that later may, eventually, evolve into a full-fledged product. The Fablabs – short form for Fabrication Laboratories – are shared spaces open to the public that offer both tools and services for digital manufacturing (Manzo and Ramella, 2015). These spaces give access to sophisticated technologies, so that their users can explore, learn and, obviously, make new things (Rayna and Striukova, 2021). The possibility of “sharing technology tools in social spaces” is a distinctive trait of the so-called “maker movement”, which is based on the interaction, even internet-based ones (Howard et al., 2014), between subjects who use shared resources (technology, spaces, knowledge) to create artefacts (Browder et al., 2019). In particular, the technologies and the tools that the startuppers and the entrepreneurs may get access to in the Fablab may help them to exploit digital prototypes as a way to reduce the start-up costs, to test and optimise their products in a better and faster way. Furthermore the digital nature of these products may help the would-be entrepreneurs to create an entrepreneurial team that is not limited by the need to be geographically co-located (Capdevila, 2018). In this work in progress research, we will study a sample of Italian Fablabs, both private ones and university-based ones, to understand how they do participate in helping both the “makers”, and the local entrepreneurs, in developing the competencies needed to access to the digital technologies, and to exploit them to implement a Lean Startup Process.

Serendipity – the notion of making unexpected and valuable discoveries – and knowledge arbitrage have played a significant role in the debate about innovation and innovation effectiveness, opening a considerable discussion about the feasibility of R&D investments. The chance to detect serendipitous events and the mechanisms triggering it may attract the attention of those seeking greater efficiency in research and those aiming to sustain basic research. Depending on the above, our research focuses on the serendipitous events and knowledge arbitrage in the R&D of rare diseases and orphan drugs to detail the market opportunities and the economic value arising from the untargeted discoveries. The Tigem research center in Pozzuoli (Italy) is engaged as a case study to achieve this purpose. Since no previous researches are available about the serendipity in R&D of rare disease, this paper provides new knowledge in a still underexplored field, offering new insights at both theoretical and practical levels.

Waste management in touristic areas and the hospitality industry is a significant concern, with the problem exacerbated during large events. This research paper aims to explore the main problems of waste management in these sectors and propose the implementation of smart waste bins as a solution. The study includes an in-depth analysis of current waste management practices and the potential benefits and challenges associated with smart waste bins. We examine their effectiveness, cost-efficiency, and potential for integration with existing waste management infrastructure, as well as their potential environmental and social benefits.The results show that smart waste bins, when strategically deployed and integrated into a comprehensive waste management plan, can significantly improve waste management efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and support sustainable tourism and hospitality operations.

Large Scale Research Infrastructures are rising in the competitive and globalized research environment, since they offer to external researchers-users, inputs and services for cutting-edge, large scale research. Such researches would not be possible with normal infrastructures and budgets of single Universities and Research institutions. However, despite the strategic relevance acknowledged to LSRI by the nascent literature and by national policymakers, there is a lack of comprehensive frameworks capturing both strategic dimensions and inherent options a LSRI may have. Given the infancy of this topic, and the empirical nature of the literature to date, a holistic framework on LSRI would increase the sense of existing studies and provide the ground for future advancement. This paper aims to bridge this gap, by identifying strategic dimensions and relative options, a Large Scale Research Infrastructure can assume. The research is carried out adopting a mixed research methodology merging a literature review with a survey conducted on a sample of 11 LSRIs; they provided the dataset for the parametrization of a Morphological Matrix. The research led to the identification of the strategic dimensions and the solutions (i.e. the spectrum of strategic options) defining the LSRI’s morphology. These findings represent, on another side, the starting point for a future and hopeful Morphological Analysis of LSRIs. This paper originally proposes the dataset needed to develop a morphological analysis of Large Scale Research Infrastructures.

The objective of this article is to present the analysis of a case study regarding a small-medium enterprise Italian-owned company in the start-up phase, which produces consumer goods such as playful learning products for 0-24 months children. The Company is unlisted and is fully held by a family-controlled group. It meets the basic requirements of a ‘Made in Italy’ brand and its products are manufactured using production processes that reflect the concept of sustainability. The term ‘sustainability’ of a company refers to an organisation’s concrete commitment to promoting a business model that not only enables the company’s long-term profitability, but is also attentive to the environment, social welfare and long-term governance. The research is conducted through a qualitative method and intends to analyse implemented processes and results of the case study, obtained interviewing Company’s management. In particular, the research focuses on commercial, financial, and social strategies. The Company was founded in 2020 and, after establishing itself in the Italian market, it started a process of internationalisation, promoting itself as a ‘Made in Italy’ company.