In August 2019 Alberto participated, with some members of his research group, at the Academy of Management conference in Boston, USA. The group was composed by Nicola, Valentina, Antonio e Giulio, all post doc research fellow at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. Academy of Management conference is one of the most prestigious conference in the management field, every year management scholars meet to exchange ideas discuss about the latest topics. The theme of the AOM 2019 was “Understanding the Inclusive Organization” and was the 79th edition of the conference. At the conference Alberto was involved as author in two papers and as an organizer in a Symphosium. The papers were titled “The relevance of the co-presence of engagement and empowerment among technology transfer managers” and “Technological Discontinuities and Dominant Designs: The Case of Ford, 1896-1914” whereas the Symphosium were titled “Digital Transformation & Firms’ Innovative Strategies: Capabilities, Ecosystems, and Business Models”.
Following a brief description of the studies presented during the Conference.
The relevance of the co-presence of engagement and empowerment among technology transfer managers
Authors: Valentina Cucino, Alberto Di Minin, Irene Martelli and Andrea Piccaluga
The paper is based on the concepts of human capital in the organisation and applies them to the specific context of technology transfer. In particular, the article observes how the concepts of perceived commitment and perceived commitment affect performance in terms of the number of license agreements. In this context, few studies have analysed the theme of human resources of the TTO as a variable for the performance of the TTO. A mixed model is used. Based on data from a study of questionnaires among all technology transfer managers in Italy (N = 220) the study finds a significant relationship between co-existence of empowerment and engagement and licensing agreements: individual perceptions influence the performance variables of technological transfer office.
Link: https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/AMBPP.2019.16804abstract
Technological Discontinuities and Dominant Designs: The Case of Ford, 1896-1914
Authors: Alberto Di Minin, Giulio Ferrigno and Alberto Zordan
The article joins the innovation management debate about intersection between technology and business model through a detailed historical analysis of the strategies pursued by Henry Ford, from 1896 to 1914. The case study suggests that Ford has dynamically managed the succession of technological discontinuities and dominant designs in the automotive industry by purposefully pursuing different strategies and provide theoretical contributions and offering an original historical comparison with Tesla
This paper had been recognized with the Best Student Award from the Business History Division
Link: https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/AMBPP.2019.257
Digital Transformation & Firms’ Innovative Strategies: Capabilities, Ecosystems, and Business Models
Authors: Alberto Di Minin, Gian Luca Gregori, Francesca Spigarelli, Martin Kenney, Gianvito Lanzolla, Dominique Lepore, Satish Nambisan, Christopher L. Tucci, Shaker A. Zahra, Antonio Crupi, Nicola Del Sarto and Luca Marinelli.
The purpose of this symposium was to develop emerging insights on new dimensions and strategies relevant for SMEs to handle more effectively the digital transformation in the light of recent advancement is technology, with a special emphasis on the role of capabilities, ecosystem and business model.
Link: https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/AMBPP.2019.14623symposium