This article proposes an agent-based model to support the development of self-sustaining regional innovation systems (RIS). The model is the base of a computational laboratory, CARIS (Complex Adaptive Regional Innovation System), which aims at evaluating the self-sustainability of RIS and at investigating what are the resources, competencies and mechanisms able to trigger powerful innovation and economic growth processes. Such a topic is particularly interesting for the so-called lagging regions, which, notwithstanding noticeable policy interventions, have been unable to significantly improve their innovation performances. Results of this study show that the exploration capacity, the propensity to cooperation, and the endowed competencies of actors belonging to a region could be considered as key aspects in affecting the regional innovation performance. This means that policy-makers should (i) incentivize investments in research and development activities both at the public and private levels; (ii) support public-private partnerships; (iii) enhance national and regional university systems; and (iv) increase the number of researchers employed both in the public and private sectors. In the next future, the CARIS laboratory could be adopted as policy support instrument to evaluate how much effective are current innovation policies and what are the most effective ones to reassess the current patterns.

Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to set out a methodological framework to investigate how the integration of an activity-based costing (ABC) logic into the pre-existent accounting system supports healthcare organizations in identifying the inefficiencies related to their diagnostic therapeutic pathways (DTP) and related reengineering interventions.Design/methodology/approach: – The BPM-ABC methodological framework has been applied to the case of a specific surgery pathway, at the Orthopaedic Division of a University Hospital in Italy.Findings: – The case-study described in the paper points out: first, how the Business Process Management (BPM)-ABC methodology is able to produce significant information about consumed resources and the costs of the activities, useful to highlight opportunities for DTPs improvement; second, the barriers related to a pre-existing accounting system based on cost centres that can hinder the implementation of the BPM-ABC model.Practical implications: – The case study points out the role of the ABC as a management tool for supporting decision-making processes. The ABC allows inferring information for two purposes. First, ABC supports a cost containment process as it allows highlighting the most cost-consuming activities and resources. Second, the ABC allows identifying reengineering paths, distinguishing between incremental and radical ones.Originality/value: – This study represents a remarkable reference raising the awareness of the pivotal role accounting systems play in the management of the organizational processes.

The paper explores the usage of agent-based modeling in the context of large event halls evacuation during music festivals and cultural events. An agent-based model is created in NetLogo 6.2.2 for better representing the human behavior when involved in such situations. A series of characteristics have been set for the agents in order to preserve their heterogeneity in terms of speed, age, locomotion impairment, familiarity with the environment, evacuating with another person, choosing the closest exit or not, selecting the closest path to the exits. An “adapted cone exit” approach has been proposed in the paper in order to facilitate the guidance of the agents in the agent-based model to the closest exit and its advantages have been proved in comparison with the classical “cone exit” approach. Different evacuation scenarios have been simulated and analyzed for better observing the capabilities of evacuation modeling in the case of evacuation emergencies. Besides the overall evacuation time, an average evacuation time has been determined for the agents based on the individual evacuation time, which can be easily connected with a risk indicator associated to each situation. Due to the visual interface offered by the agent-based model, coupled with the evacuation indicators, the proposed model can allow the identification of the main factors that may contribute to a prolonged evacuation process (e.g. overcrowding at one of the exits, not choosing the appropriate door, evacuating with a friend/parent) and the potential measures to be considered for insuring a safe evacuation process.