Purpose: The literature mainly concentrates on the relationships between externally oriented digital transformation (ExtDT), big data analytics capability (BDAC) and business model innovation (BMI) from an intra-organizational perspective. However, it is acknowledged that the external environment shapes the firm's strategy and affects innovation outcomes. Embracing an external environment perspective, the authors aim to fill this gap. The authors develop and test a moderated mediation model linking ExtDT to BMI. Drawing on the dynamic capabilities view, the authors' model posits that the effect of ExtDT on BMI is mediated by BDAC, while environmental hostility (EH) moderates these relationships.Design/methodology/approach: The authors adopt a quantitative approach based on bootstrapped partial least square-path modeling (PLS-PM) to analyze a sample of 200 Italian data-driven SMEs.Findings: The results highlight that ExtDT and BDAC positively affect BMI. The findings also indicate that ExtDT is an antecedent of BMI that is less disruptive than BDAC. The authors also obtain that ExtDT solely does not lead to BDAC. Interestingly, the effect of BDAC on BMI increases when EH moderates the relationship.Originality/value: Analyzing the relationships between ExtDT, BDAC and BMI from an external environment perspective is an underexplored area of research. The authors contribute to this topic by evaluating how EH interacts with ExtDT and BDAC toward BMI.

The rise of digital technologies poses new organizational challenges, redesigning organizational structures, paving the way for new opportunities. Despite the growing body of research on digital transformation, there has been relatively little research on the microfoundational mechanisms that contribute to the successful digital transformation of workplaces. Drawing from the microfoundational perspective, this study examines managers' cognition regarding the digital transformation of the workplace, with a particular focus on how generational differences among managers influence such cognitions. To explore this topic, a case study was conducted using 25 semistructured interviews and field observations at a Dutch multinational enterprise. The findings identify key mechanisms related to digital transformation processes, highlighting how generational differences between managers belonging to Generation X and Generation Y necessitate efficient coordination to cope with organizational tensions and successfully pursue the digital transformation of workplaces. This coordination can be supported by orchestrating managers, a shared vision, and the development of a flexible paradigm. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications, limitations, and avenues for future research.

A smart sustainable city (SSC) is a paradigm that encapsulates the latest lines of development in multiple fields of research. The attempt to converge towards a model of sustainable urban life, made difficult by increasing anthropic pressure and polluting activities conducted by man, is also reflected in the intentions of public institutions to take measures of environmental risk mitigation. The change towards more liveable cities must also include the adoption of more far-reaching measures in various sectors. The objective of our work was to provide an analysis in order to assess which of the Italian provincial municipalities were most closely related to the paradigm of SSCs. This aim was pursued through a comparison based on the results of a partially non-compensatory quantitative method, known as the Pena’s Distance method (DP2). The smartest and most sustainable cities, such as Siena, Milan and Padua, were not identified on the basis of common urban characteristics but rather derived from the combination of distinctive and functional elements in the pursuit of a strategic approach aimed at fully exploiting the resources of each area. Moreover, at a macro-geographical level, from the analysis emerged the presence of contiguous clusters, i.e., areas in which a major concentration of smart sustainable municipalities tended to form.

Purpose: The study analyses the role that open social innovation (OSI) perspective played for Fondazione Banco Alimentare Onlus (FBAO), a food bank in Italy, in responding to the COVID-19 crisis. It answers the following research question: how does a crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, stimulate the adoption of OSI practices to revamp the activities of FBAO and facilitate appropriate solutions to carry out its social mission?Design/methodology/approach: This study employs a qualitative approach. It is based on a single case study.Findings: The study shows how COVID-19 has stimulated the adoption of OSI practices to continue to meet the social mission, creating innovative projects or finding new ways to do the same things.Research limitations/implications: The study is based on a single case study.Practical implications: The paper contributes insights into the literature on OSI, examining how inbound and outbound OSI mechanisms can modify business models and increase the adaptation capacity of food banks and their effectiveness. In addition, it provides a rich context in which the social value drivers provided by OSI are studied.Originality/value: This paper applies the OSI to a food bank to evaluate what this action mode produces for the food bank during a health crisis. Specifically, this is the first paper that studies the COVID-19 crisis response of a food bank from the OSI perspective, focusing on the inbound and outbound OSI processes that characterized the entire network of relationships.

The increasing integration of digital technologies in business processes calls for a deeper understanding of their impact on business model efficiency. This study explores how digital alignment, composed by strategic decision support and operational support, affects business model efficiency, while also examining the extent to which strategic flexibility moderates this relationship. To test the proposed hypotheses, we adopt a quantitative approach on a sample of Italian small and medium-sized enterprises in the manufacturing industry. In particular, a regression analysis, complemented by a necessary condition analysis, is performed. We find that digital alignment, both in terms of strategic decision support and operational support, fosters business model efficiency. Strategic flexibility strengthens the relationship between strategic decision support and business model efficiency. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to operationalise digital alignment as composed of strategic decision support and operational support. Accordingly, this study contributes to the extant literature on digital alignment and business models.