Research Lines

The increasing pressure from grand societal and environmental challenges, and the difficulty to undertake a sustainable development push companies, new ventures, hybrid and no-profit organizations, as well as public institutions to unprecedented changes. The research line aims to investigate transformative strategies and approaches, such as sustainability-oriented systemic innovation; collaboration for sustainable development, including cross-sector and multi-stakeholder initiatives; the ecosystem of social impact finance and social businesses; entrepreneurship and innovation for impact; data for good; new governance models and new policies for impact. We also develop instruments and methods for planning, measuring and reporting sustainability and impact performance. We study how to integrate deep-purpose into strategy, leadership, organizations and management models in order to craft new business and corporate models inspired by the intent of blending profit and purpose objectives preserving integrity. We orient our research to deepen specific sustainable development challenges such as the sustainability of the agri-food system, labour conditions, health and safety, sustainable investment and impact finance, social innovation, innovation in developing countries.

Research projects in this line aim to better understand the effects on countries, firms and workers of the recent changes in international trade patterns and multinational firms’ competitiveness and strategies – including off-shoring and re-shoring dynamics. In this context, macroeconomic policies for economic and financial stability, microeconomic policies on industrial sectors, local competitiveness, digitalization and sustainability are evaluated balancing the necessity of a deep theoretical grounding with the added value of a strong applied econometric focus.

We carry out cutting-edge research at the intersection of technology, medicine, and management to tackle grand challenges in health and social care. We aim at contributing to the transition towards a sustainable and responsible healthcare ecosystem and the humanization of both care delivery and technology development and diffusion. Research topics include Value-Based Health Care (VBHC) & Health Technology Assessment (HTA); Digital Transformation & Telemedicine; Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Real-World Evidence (RWE); Service & Operations Redesign & Lean Management; Co-production & Chronic Care models; Foresight & Future Health.

Research mostly focuses on the main waves of innovation who have affected the energy industry in the last decade, and specifically on the transition towards a decarbonized economy and a more sustainable energy generation and resources consumption, that triggered dramatic changes in the industry (among the others, for example, renewables, energy efficiency, smart mobility, circular economy). It includes research on projects and infrastructure provision for decarbonizing socio-technical systems, their wider implications for societal value and policy definition, as well as the modelling of their management and economic underpinnings and impacts.

The research line studies customer-centric management, i.e., those cultural, organizational, strategic and marketing practices aimed at reinforcing the ability of companies to create value for the customer and for itself in the long term. This implies several challenges. First and foremost, the development of the so-called customer intimacy, which in turns raises the need to complement the (traditional) demand analysis with applied neuroscience. A second area refers to omnichannel strategy, i.e., to the decisions about the bundle of (physical and digital) channels and immersive contents allowing to pursue customer centricity at sustainable conditions. Third, the studies about the role of data in establishing customer centricity are deployed; a specific focus on quantitative (and multimodal) methods for Customer Relationship Management, marketing mix modelling, attribution modelling and attention metrics is devoted. These topics and areas are explored and analyzed both in B2C and in B2B contexts, and with an attention not only to economic returns but to the triple bottom-line.

The research line aims to tackle the challenges pertaining to public service providers and cultural institutions. These entities share a willingness to contribute to better citizenship, community development and Public Value. The projects embedded in this research line tackle management, regulation and innovation of public interest sectors, performance measurement and management in public organizations, service provision choices, transformation trends, such as digital innovation, service co-planning and co-design, cross—sector partnerships and networked governance, and evaluation of public sector policies and activities.

Innovation has a profound impact on people, society, and business ecosystems. This research line examines how to design technologies and innovations that are not only effective and profitable, but also meaningful to people, society, and organizations. It enables innovators, leaders, policymakers, citizens, and students to frame and lead innovation challenges in a rapidly changing world that is characterized by distributed knowledge, creativity, and blended human and artificial intelligence. This research line investigates topics such as community engagement, crowd-based innovation, innovation alliances, the role of creativity in (re)framing innovation and transformation, human and machines creativity, imagination of desirable futures, nonlinear and platform-based business mechanisms to enable ecosystem innovation, collaborative and open innovation.

Businesses are facing an era of deep and rapid changes, ranging from the opportunities offered by new technologies to the threats posed by climate change and unprecedented geopolitical tensions. Their impact on the complexity of global supply chains challenges the role of all supply chain actors and influences their key decisions on innovation, sustainability and circularity, resilience, and financial performance. All these elements are investigated at both strategic and tactical level by exploring new frontiers in all the key supply chain areas: sourcing, operations planning, risk management, logistics and distribution.

The research line investigates how digital technologies and related innovations hold a transformative impact on all sectors, on policy making, on society and, ultimately, on human beings, with a focus on how digitalization and deep tech can allow to tackle the “grand challenges” ahead of us. The research specifically targets: (i) emerging trends in digital technologies, infrastructures and applications; (ii) sector-specific and process-specific impacts of digital innovation; and (iii) new strategic, entrepreneurial, organizational and innovation models and approaches enabled and/or required by digital innovation.

The research line investigates how entrepreneurship is evolving and reshaping its locus and purpose, building on the traditional role new ventures, startups, and small medium enterprises (SMEs) play as an engine of economic development and job creation, to embrace broader and multidimensional impacts related to sustainability, diversity, and inclusion. The research specifically targets: entrepreneurial finance (venture capital, business angels, crowdfunding, IPOs and other alternative financing channels); entrepreneurial strategies and policies to design, innovate and experimentally validate original business models, and later support growth and scaling; incumbent-startup strategic collaborations; technological and digital entrepreneurship; social entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial ecosystem dynamics; entrepreneurial teams; behavioural and psychological aspect of entrepreneurship; and innovation, growth and financing of family firms.

Manufacturing is fundamental for job and wealth creation. The line aims to research advanced manufacturing, operations, and logistics paradigms as ways to foster industry competitiveness. These paradigms include digitalization, sustainability, energy efficiency, lean, social & human-centricity. Product life-cycle practices – including product-service systems approaches, operations excellence, quality and asset management methodologies, new distributed manufacturing models – are explored. Finally, the research also addresses the new skills, competences and work organization practices in Industry 4.0 and 5.0.