This study aims to align Action Research (AR) with Lean Management (LM) as a catalyst for enhancing its operationalization. The participatory principles inherent in LM are leveraged to strengthen AR, particularly in overcoming the critical issue of insufficient stakeholder involvement. The study employs a case study approach conducted within an Italian public healthcare organization, particularly addressing the pharmaceutical prescription and distribution process, to integrate AR and LM in practice. Findings reveal that the application of Lean principles and tools fosters consistent and meaningful engagement among practitioners and researchers throughout the AR cycle. Furthermore, the study identifies specific forms of involvement necessary to enhance the effectiveness of each phase of the AR process. These results contribute to both theory and practice by presenting a structured pathway for bridging the gap between academic research and practical implementation. The study concludes with theoretical insights and managerial recommendations, highlighting the transformative potential of integrating AR with Lean methodologies to drive participatory and impactful operational change.

The purpose of this paper is to explore, assuming the service ecosystem perspective, the humanitarian domain, and the multi-level dynamics that ensure service continuity even in emergencies. In doing so, the enhancing role of digital technologies has been investigated, pointing out the way they support actors in enacting specific practices able to make a humanitarian service ecosystem (HSE) resilient over time. The study was based on an exploratory qualitative analysis, conducted by administering some semi-structured interviews to humanitarian service ecosystem key informants. Results were analyzed and presented by implementing an interpretative data analysis process. An HSE was conceptualized by grasping its main characteristics, also pointing out the role that digital technologies play in ensuring service continuity and the main mechanisms that make it resilient and, therefore, able to function and evolve by creating new and renovated value. The research theoretically contributes to the nascent literature on the humanitarian service ecosystem, offering a new understanding of the role that socio-technical actors can have in ensuring the continuity of humanitarian service in emergency contexts. Particularly, the study advances the literature on service ecosystems in the humanitarian domain, providing a multilevel framework that explains the mechanisms linking humanitarian ecosystem emergency management to resilient outcomes. Practically, the study offers interesting insights for humanitarian organizations, policymakers, and technology developers seeking to enhance preparedness and response strategies by leveraging digital innovations.

Purpose This study explores the journey of healthcare organizations towards digital transformation maturity (DTM), focusing on the development and implementation of digital dynamic capabilities. By investigating the microfoundations of these capabilities, this study aims to provide a deeper understanding of the mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach Research reported in this paper employs an abductive approach. Empirically, a qualitative methodology based on a multiple-case study analysis has been conducted on six Italian healthcare organizations through semi-structured interviews and archival data. Findings The findings reveal the microfoundations across digital sensing, seizing and reconfiguring capabilities in healthcare to achieve DTM. The study also identifies three main stages of DTM, demonstrating how different combinations of these capabilities influence the progression towards digital maturity, thereby attaining different innovation outcomes. Research limitations/implications This study offers implications for healthcare managers who want to advance with DT and strategically manage the innovation essential to fully enact it. The research is limited by its focus on Italian healthcare organizations, potentially affecting the generalizability of the findings. Future studies could expand the geographical scope and employ mixed-methods approaches to validate and extend the results achieved in this study. Originality/value The study contributes to the nascent literature on DTM by providing empirical evidence of the microfoundations that enable digital dynamic capabilities, offering practical insights for healthcare managers and policymakers to foster an environment that supports a strategic approach to digital innovation.

The concept of human-centrism in business has gained increasing attention, particularly in response to the rapid advancements in digital technologies and the emergence of Industry 5.0. While recent studies have largely examined human-centrism through the lens of Industry 5.0—emphasizing the role of workers alongside advanced technologies—its origins date back to early management theories, including the human relations movement and human-centered design principles. Despite its growing relevance, the literature has often overlooked the broader historical evolution of human-centrism in favor of a narrower focus on its alignment with Industry 5.0. This study addresses this gap by conducting a bibliometric analysis to systematically assess the development of human-centrism as a research domain. Following the SPAR-4-SLR protocol, the analysis identifies key research trends, influential contributions, and thematic progressions in the field. By mapping its intellectual structure, the study offers a comprehensive perspective on human-centrism’s evolution, providing insights into its conceptual foundations and its relevance to modern business practices. The findings contribute to the literature by broadening the understanding of human-centrism by offering a broad discussion about its relevance in business management literature.

Purpose This study aims to explore the role of dynamic capabilities – i.e. big data analytics capabilities (BDAC) and digital capabilities (DC) – in shaping a data-driven culture (DDC), arguing that these dimensions contribute to digital transformation (DT), using Italian agri-food small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as a case. Design/methodology/approach This study analyzes 300 survey responses on BDAC, DC, DDC, and DT gathered from Italian agri-food SMEs using covariance-based structural equation modeling. Findings This study reveals that dynamic capabilities, particularly BDAC and DC, play a positive role in shaping a DDC, which, in turn, positively supports DT. Upon deeper scrutiny, this study shows that BDAC exhibits a particularly strong effect, implying that investments in analytical competencies can significantly enhance firms’ readiness to leverage digital opportunities, and when complemented by supportive cultural practices oriented toward data-driven decision-making, these capabilities strengthen the pursuit of DT, especially among agri-food SMEs. Originality/value This study makes a novel contribution by shifting the attention toward capabilities and cultures essential for DT, thereby moving beyond the narrow focus on technological adoption that characterizes much of the existing literature. The insights from this study underscore that strong dynamic capabilities and a deliberate emphasis on data-driven mindsets enable agri-food SMEs to navigate DT more effectively.

Digital transformation is a complex and resource-intensive phenomenon that is causing disruptive changes at social, economic, and institutional levels. This has contributed to the mounting need for better assessing digital transformation maturity through reliable models/frameworks. Even though research provides several models, they suffer from a lack of internal and external validity. Thus, this paper aims to contribute to bridging this gap by proposing a tentative model and preliminarily testing it in the healthcare domain. Drawing on the extant literature a tentative digital transformation maturity model has been applied to the Italian National Healthcare System (NHS) to test it and describe through a content analysis the main dimensions of Italian NHS digital transformation and its maturity stage. The analysis underlined that the Italian NHS is still proceeding in the journey toward digital transformation maturity. It emerged that the analyzed sector needs further effort to strategically approach the wide transformative potential of digital technologies, paying greater attention not only to those dimensions strictly related to processes' efficiency, but also to those that imply a deep cultural change, a focus on processes' participation, and their long-term effectiveness. This study offers some interesting implications for enhancing digital transformation maturity models' reliability and for supporting both health managers and policymakers in strategically approaching this phenomenon. However, its exploratory nature and the application to one specific domain somewhat limit it. The originality of this paper lies in the new dimensions attached to previous digital transformation maturity models and in its practical application to specific and complex sectors such as healthcare.

PurposeToday, collaborative consumption platforms support business activities. In particular, the sharing economy (SE) increases social and economic dynamism and reduces environmental impact by conserving resources. Therefore, this paper investigates the sustainable value drivers of sharing economy practices.Design/methodology/approachWe explore multiple case studies as a research approach to answer the research question. Multiple sources of evidence were used to triangulate the data. The SE practices influence several sectors; thus, we conducted a sector analysis investigating the healthcare, food and fashion industries. Analysing different sectors provides valuable theoretical and practical insights, facilitating decision-making and fostering innovation. Sectoral differences emphasize how different sustainable SE models are configured.FindingsThe findings highlight that SE allows for the development of sustainable business models attesting to: (1) value capture in the food industry, (2) value delivery in the healthcare industry and (3) value creation in the fashion industry. The study opens avenues for future research.Originality/valueThe originality of this study is in the new lens from which the phenomenon is observed.

Organizational resilience enables the firm to thrive in an increasingly turbulent environment, paving the way for sustainability. Although the implications of organizational resilience on sustainability have been widely discussed in the literature, scholarly knowledge examining the interplay between these two phenomena is fragmented. The article addresses this gap through a hybrid domain-based literature review falling at the intersection of organizational resilience and sustainability. Drawing on a knowledge core of 51 scientific contributions, we identified four research streams established on five conceptual foundations. The study findings guide us toward an eco-social interpretation of organizational resilience, whose implications on the firm's viability should be assessed by acknowledging spillovers on environmental sustainability. Management actions to build organizational resilience should follow an ecosystem sustainability orientation. This involves embedding the firm in the eco-social setting in which it operates, emphasizing its homeostatic exchanges with the environment.

International knowledge plays a crucial role for firms willing to internationalize. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often try to graft it from external sources, such as advisers, consultants, etc. Among them, Temporary Export Managers (TEMs) are becoming a viable solution among SMEs to access readily available international experience at a relatively low cost. However, it is unclear how SMEs graft knowledge from TEMs and how SME-TEM interactions translate into impacts on the firm's internationalization strategy. To address this gap, we examined 20 cases of the TEM-SME collaboration, conducting 48 semi-structured interviews in Italy. The results show that three main knowledge mechanisms are activated through TEM-SME interactions: mobilization, integration, and recombination. A grounded interpretative framework is proposed to show how these mechanisms affect strategic international knowledge, encompassing differentiated-to-differentiated, differentiated-to-integrated, and integrated-to-integrated knowledge trajectories. The study offers insights to both TEMs and SMEs to enhance knowledge grafting processes to impact SMEs' international development.

Purpose - Lean Six Sigma in public and private healthcare organisations has received considerable attention over the last decade. Nevertheless, such process improvement methodologies are not generalizable, and their effective implementation relies on contextual variables. The purpose of this study is to explore the readiness of Italian hospitals for Lean Six Sigma and Quality Performance Improvement (LSS&QPI), with a focus on gender differences. Design/methodology/approach - A survey comprising 441 healthcare professionals from public and private hospitals was conducted. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to determine the mean scores on the LSS&QPI dimensions based on hospital type, gender and their interaction. Findings - The results showed that public healthcare professional are more aware of quality performance improvement initiatives than private healthcare professionals. Moreover, gender differences emerged according to the type of hospital, with higher awareness for men than women in public hospitals, whereas for private hospitals the opposite was true. Research limitations/implications - This study contributes to the Lean Six Sigma literature by focusing on the holistic assessment of LSS&QPI implementation. Practical implications - This study informs healthcare managers about the revolution within healthcare organisations, especially public ones. Healthcaremanagers should spend time understanding Lean Six Sigma as a strategic orientation to promote the "lean hospital", improving processes and fostering patient-centredness. Originality/value - This is a preliminary study focussing on analysing inter-relationship between perceived importance of soft readiness factors such as gender dynamics as a missing jigsaw in the current literature. In addition, the research advances a holistic assessment of LSS&QPI, which sets it apart from the studies on single initiatives that have been documented to date.

This paper discusses digitalization as a megatrend that gave rise to a deeper discontinuity with previous social, economic, and environmental patterns. In line with this perspective, managerial literature largely framed the fifth industrial revolution as a new paradigm able to break down barriers, thanks to digital technology, between the real and virtual world. Firm, institutions, and decision-makers are key actors in triggering or resisting the ongoing transformation. In this direction, the paper aims to look beyond economic and technological aspects of the fifth industrial revolution and to consider it as part of a wider socio-ecological adjustment, by adopting a socio-ecological perspective. The study is rooted on theoretical concepts and it provides a conceptual study, through which the fifth industrial revolution appears as a 4.0-based adjustment. In this perspective, Industry 5.0 could present both implications and challenges for societies and firms. On one hand, it contributes to the improvement of sustainability and the increase of customization; on the other hand, it requires particular attention to data management and security.

Digitalisation, servitization, and sustainability are key levers for the current and future development of the manufacturing industry. While digitalization involves adopting technologies from the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) to transform manufacturing business processes, servitization focuses on shifting from producing physical products to providing integrated solutions in response to customer demands for higher-quality services. Accordingly, digital servitization involves providing solutions through the adoption of digital technologies, requiring a radical transformation of manufacturers’ business models. Simultaneously, there is a call for organizations to reshape their business models, embracing sustainability. While scholars recognize the importance of explaining how digital servitization leads to sustainability, a lack of studies in exploring their interconnections arises. The present research undertakes a literature review performing Scientific Procedures and Rationales for Systematic Literature Reviews (SPAR-4-SLR) and using a bibliometric technique to systematize the corpus of knowledge about sustainable digital servitization and suggesting future research avenues.

The purpose of this study is to explore the interrelationship between digital transformation of life cycle assessment (LCA) and operational excellence. Adopting the socio-technical systems theory and the resource-based view, the study examines the mediating role of big data analytics capability at the individual level and the moderating role of data-driven culture at the organizational level in that relationship. A quantitative methodology was adopted using structural equation modeling (SEM). Data were collected through an online survey administered to 300 Italian agri-food firms identified through the AIDA database. Two hundred twenty-nine valid responses were gathered from such firms adopting LCA, resulting in a usable response rate of 76

Purpose - The goal of this article is to provide an overview of healthcare entrepreneurship, both in terms of its current trends and future directions. Design/methodology/approach - The article engages in a systematic review of extant research on healthcare entrepreneurship using the scientific procedures and rationales for systematic literature reviews (SPAR-4-SLR) as the review protocol and bibliometrics or scientometrics analysis as the review method. Findings - Healthcare entrepreneurship research has fared reasonably well in terms of publication productivity and impact, with diverse contributions coming from authors, institutions and countries, as well as a range of monetary and non-monetary support from funders and journals. The (eight) major themes of healthcare entrepreneurship research revolve around innovation and leadership, disruption and technology, entrepreneurship models, education and empowerment, systems and services, orientations and opportunities, choices and freedom and policy and impact. Research limitations/implications - The article establishes healthcare entrepreneurship as a promising field of academic research and professional practice that leverages the power of entrepreneurship to advance the state of healthcare. Originality/value - The article offers a seminal state of the art of healthcare entrepreneurship research.

Purpose Rooting in the literature on training and laying on Kirkpatrick model, this paper aims to explore key drivers of corporate training to identify how they can be combined into an integrated framework of learning for human capital development. Design/methodology/approach By adopting the constructivist grounded theory, this contribution analyzes the experience carried out in the last ten years by Virvelle, an Italian corporate training firm. Findings Results show the rise of five core categories, g1iving rise to an integrated model of Kirkpatrick. Their dynamic interplay led to a new orientation of Kirkpatrick model giving rise to a metalearning ecosystem. Research limitations/implications Managerial implications have identified key factors on which building and implementing appropriate corporate training programmes capable of triggering co-generative processes of value creation. Particularly, the essential role of learning quality culture, digital technology and personalization are detected in integrating not only hard but furthermore soft shades of learning. Concerning theoretical implications, the emergence of key structural and systems enabling dimensions for learning, and contextual mechanisms involved in reshaping training effectiveness and achieving integrated learning outcomes are detected. The main limitation of this study lies in the need to generalize results: the conceptualized framework needs to be empirically tested. Originality/value The value of this research is built along three main points. The first is the integration among the core categories that an integrated learning system can be built on, promoting learning quality culture through positive feedback loops. The second is represented by the chance to enhance an integrated mutual knowledge development among engaged actors, thereby shaping a more holistic and multidimensional learning model. The third is related to the transversal role that digital technology plays in all phases of the training process as it integrates and enriches them.

The paper aims to provide an overview of the state-of- the-art interplay between digital readiness (DR), business model innovation (BMI), and organizational resilience (OR), by analysing how digital technology-enabled BMI influences the achievement of OR at a different intensity of DR. A qualitative study was conducted on three digitally servitized manufacturers of different industries. Research findings demonstrate that a heterogenous DR's intensity of the firms implies that different BMI's components are affected, entailing the achievement of a distinct form of OR. The investigation serves as pilot study which deeps the link between BMI and OR at the light of the role played by digital technologies. The investment in factory-integrated level of DR innovates all BM's components by increasing the possibility to reach a transformative OR.