The increasing fluidity of social and business configurations made possible by the opportunities provided by the World Wide Web and the new technologies is questioning the validity of consolidated business models and managerial approaches. New rules are emerging and multiple changes are required to both individuals and organizations engaged in dynamic and unpredictable paths.In such a scenario, the paper aims at describing the potential role of big data and artificial intelligence in the path toward a collective approach to knowledge management. Thanks to the interpretative lens provided by systems thinking, a framework able to explain human-machine interaction is depicted and its contribution to the definition of a collective approach to knowledge management in unpredictable environment is traced.Reflections herein are briefly discussed with reference to the Chinese governmental approach for managing COVID-19 spread to emphasise the support that a technology-based collective approach to knowledge management can provide to decision-making processes in unpredictable environments.
This paper aims to propose a methodological lens to the assessment of technological innovations in healthcare based on the principles of social, economic, and political sustainability. Starting from the consideration of a lack of a unified interpretative framework of health technology assessment, using a content analysis of the relevant literature on the topic, we identified both the scientific perspectives adopted by the scholars and the most widely discussed topics. Consequently, the less explored scientific areas were framed, and, therefore, those more susceptible to further investigation came to light. The result is an overall picture which highlights the absence of unified and generally accepted approaches to evaluation, together with the lack of awareness on the fact that the multiplicity of methods adopted is essentially connected to the multiplicity of innovations, for each of which a method (or a set of methods) of preferable evaluation can be prefigured. Based on these observations, we propose a general reference framework for evaluation, based on the Viable Systems Approach (vSa), and a schematic outline of the connections between the complexity of innovations and the evaluation methodologies.
13 August 2020 in Systems Research and Behavioral Science
In recent years, “gazelles”—a small set of high-growth firms—have attracted considerable interest from researchers for their capacity to contribute significantly to the competitiveness of nations. However, in management literature, the research on this topic is still incomplete, and a broad but focused review is needed to understand the phenomenon fully. Therefore, the paper aims to analyse in depth the literature on “gazelles” published in the Business, Management, and Accounting and Decision Sciences fields, shedding light on opportunities arising from emerging research topics related to the phenomenon. In meeting this aim, the work is built on a systematic literature review, and Elsevier’s Scopus database was selected and scanned to access publications. The analysis identifies in the sample under investigation the quantitative characteristics (temporal distribution of publications, journals included in the sample, and methodological approach adopted by authors), as well as seven main topics resulting from the qualitative coding process (performance, policy and employment, innovation, entrepreneurship, corporate governance and decision-making, human resources, and strategy). Finally, a comprehensive outlook and a critical analysis of the state-of-the-art research on these specific high-growth firms have been provided through the proposal of a conceptual framework. This study also proposes a research agenda for scholars while providing insightful suggestions from a practical point of view.