Throughout over 15 years at Sant’Anna, I have supervised approximately 40 MS Dissertations. I describe them here.
This page is designed to inspire my future students to join me in this journey to conclude their study and research adventure between Pisa and Trento.
ELISABETTA FLORIO, EDIBLE INNOVATION: SHIFTING BOUNDARIES OF HAUTE CUISINE, AA 2024/2025
Elisabetta’s thesis started from a passion we discovered we shared: haute cuisine. That made the project particularly enjoyable from the beginning, because it gave us the excuse to treat Michelin-starred restaurants not simply as places to eat well, but as fascinating laboratories of innovation, where creativity, identity, reputation and business strategy constantly interact. What impressed me most, however, was Elisabetta’s ability to enter this rather closed world and persuade so many people from the industry to talk to her. She conducted 22 in-depth interviews with chefs, sous-chefs, managers, front-of-house directors, branding professionals and even a former Michelin Guide director, building an unusually rich empirical base for a Master’s thesis. The result is a beautiful exploration of how innovation in haute cuisine happens not only on the plate, but also through teamwork, storytelling, new services, partnerships and business model diversification—showing that behind the mythology of the “hero chef” there is often a much more collective and strategic innovation process.
DIEGO VOLTOLINI, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AS AN ENABLING TECHNOLOGY FOR INNOVATION PROCESSES IN TECHNOLOGICAL POLES, AA 2024/2025
Diego’s thesis started from a very practical ambition: he wanted to apply Artificial Intelligence to real organizational problems, not just study it in the abstract. The idea took shape during a conversation with Andrea Di Benedetto, President of the Polo Tecnologico di Navacchio, and from there things moved very quickly. Diego immersed himself in a period that combined study, fieldwork and actual development, working closely with the Polo and its companies to understand their needs and translate them into concrete AI applications. He did not stop at analysis: he interviewed stakeholders, observed processes, built prototypes and developed the decision-support platforms described in the thesis, testing how AI could help an innovation intermediary monitor companies, analyze data and support strategic decisions. His work was extremely well appreciated at the Polo and is a great example of how a Master’s thesis can be genuinely hands-on, combining academic reflection with the design and implementation of tools that people can actually use.
CARFORA PAOLO, STRATEGIC CONFIGURATIONS IN THE TRANSITION TO ELECTRIC MOBILITY: AN EVIDENCE FROM MAJOR GLOBAL AUTOMOTIVE PLAYERS, AA 2024/25
Paolo took on one of those questions that looks simple until you start digging into it: why are some car manufacturers navigating the transition to electric mobility much better than others? He built an impressively systematic comparison of 13 global automotive players, combining the Resource Based View with Dynamic Capabilities and reconstructing how their starting strengths shaped very different trajectories towards electric mobility. What I particularly liked about Paolo’s work was his attempt to make rather abstract concepts such as sensing, seizing and transforming empirically visible, building his own capability indicators and using them to distinguish different strategic configurations. The result, suprevised together with Giovanni Tolin, was a very ambitious dissertation on how yesterday’s strengths can become either tomorrow’s capabilities—or tomorrow’s rigidities.
LORENZO LA PORTA, DESIGN THINKING IMPLEMENTATION: EXPLORING EMERGING PRACTICES IN DEEP TECH START-UPS, AA 2022/2023
Lorenzo’s thesis developed under the joint supervision of Giovanni Tolin and me, and explored how Design Thinking is actually used inside Italian deep-tech start-ups, where technological ambition constantly has to confront uncertain markets and still-emerging customer needs. What made the project particularly valuable was that Lorenzo was also able to complement the academic work with a very substantial internship experience with Nicola Redi, one of Italy’s leading venture capital investors, who gave him plenty of opportunities to observe start-ups, entrepreneurs and investment decisions directly in the field. This combination of research and practice allowed Lorenzo to look at Design Thinking not as a fashionable managerial toolkit, but as a concrete way for science- and technology-based ventures to question their assumptions, understand users, experiment and search for product-market fit. It was a thesis in which the classroom, academic research and the venture capital world came together particularly well.
EMMA DI LIBERTO, EXPLORING BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION FOR LOCAL FOOD ENTERPRISES: ZENZERO CASE STUDY, AA 2022/2023
This thesis started from a very simple shared interest between Emma and me: we both like pizza. From there, we had great fun turning our favorite pizzeria in Pisa, Zenzero, into a research setting and asking a much more serious question: how can a small local food business innovate its business model without losing the authenticity that makes it special? Emma explored Zenzero’s attempt to move beyond the traditional restaurant model, using open innovation, customer interviews and business model tools to understand whether a distinctive low-glycemic-impact pizza dough could support new products, partnerships and distribution channels. What made the project especially enjoyable was precisely this combination of something extremely familiar and everyday — pizza — with a classic innovation-management problem: how to scale, diversify and respond to changing consumer preferences while preserving identity and quality.
D’AGOSTINO FRANCESCA, BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION FOR BIODIVERSITY RESTORATION, AA 2022/2023
Francesca worked on a topic that has since become increasingly central to my own research: how companies can turn biodiversity protection and restoration into a viable business model. With the help of Valentina Cucino, she studied 3Bee as an in-depth case, looking at how a Nature Tech company evolved from smart technologies for beekeepers into a broader platform for biodiversity monitoring, regeneration and corporate engagement. What I particularly enjoyed about Francesca’s thesis was her effort to understand the organizational and managerial mechanisms behind this transformation: entrepreneurial alertness, the value of a highly specialized team, the ability to connect scientific knowledge with markets, and the progressive redesign of the company’s value proposition around biodiversity.
FRANCESCO PETRIGNANI, BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION FOR AN ENABLING TECHNOLOGY START-UP: TRAENT BUSINESS CASE, AA 2021/2022
I guess Francesco’s story shows that you need to pay attention in class and good things happen to you! Francesco took up the Business Model Innovation Journey that I described in the course of my module and applied it in a very original way to the company Traent. And in so doing secured the continuation of his internship with them.
MICHELA ORSO, ECONOMIC AND NON-ECONOMIC EVALUATION METHOD OF OCCUPATIONAL EXOSKELETONS: THE CASE OF MATE-XT, AA 2021/2022
Michela’s thesis was a nice opportunity to bring together the two souls of our Institute of Management: my work on innovation and business models, and Andrea Tenucci’s expertise in measurement and performance evaluation. The result was a very interdisciplinary project on how to assess the economic and non-economic value of occupational exoskeletons, combining innovation, business model analysis, ROI and cost-benefit considerations. The thesis was developed around the case of MATE-XT and was enriched by an excellent internship at IUVO, one of the most successful and appreciated spin-offs of the Scuola Sant’Anna, founded by Nicola Vitiello. Michela distinguished herself enormously during this experience: she managed to deal with a technically complex product, interact effectively with the company team, and translate a highly innovative technology into a rigorous managerial evaluation framework. She left a truly excellent impression, both academically and professionally.
GIANMARIA ONTANO, MCVR (MONITORING, CONSERVING, VALORIZING, RESTORING): A NEW FRAMEWORK TO ASSESS THE RETURN ON BIODIVERSITY (ROB), AA 2021/2022
Gianmaria followed me in the beginning of my adventure on biodiversity. We studied together and reinterpreted the MCRV model to identify how policies can achieve impact on biodiversity. As I am writing this.. Gianmaria is still studying to make the model in the paper publishable. (Update… it has been published!! and now Gianmaria is working on his phd) .
LARISA PENTIUC THE USE OF ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES IN ASSISTING A BIODIVERSITY FRIENDLY AGRICULTURE, AA 2021/2022
Larisa joined me in the study of biodiversity. Specifically, her original analysis identified scenarios for application of technologies in agriculture. She was able to collect so much material and build up a robust narrative. With Gianmaria and Larisa we often enjoyed long conversations and
OTTAVIA MARCHISIO, DIGITAL INTELLIGENCE TOOLS TO THE SERVICE OF INTELLECTUAL, AA 2021/2022
With Ottavia we entered Barbara Politi’s consulting practice. We used original tools to extract relevant intelligence on the application of patents and the use of technologies, starting from marketing data.
MARIUZZO ASIA, DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND THE ROLE OF PLATFORMS IN FOSTERING CO-CREATION: THE CASE OF OPEN ITALY PROGRAM BY ELIS CONSORTIUM, Rel. DI MININ ALBERTO, AA 2020/2021
Asia helped me explore the model of Open Italy. It was wonderful to be joint-researchers and to guide each other in the understanding of this unique experience of open innovation.
PANCANI ANNALISA, TRIPLE HELIX DYNAMICS IN THE FIELD OF AI: THE CASE OF CHONGQING INNOVATION SYSTEM, AA 2020/2021
Annalisa came to me because of her cursiosity on China. The was supposed to spend a semester at the Galilei institute in Chongqing. Covid made this impossible, but she did a great work with secondary resources and through the help of the Galilei staff in Chongqing that collected material and shared it with her.
ACERBI BENEDETTA. BATTERY PRODUCTION FOR THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE REVOLUTION: EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS ON TRADE FAIRS IN GERMANY AND USA 2019-2021, AA 2020/2021
Benedetta reinvented her dissertation as Covid hit and prevented us to go to China. Still this led to the collaboration with Prof Margherita Russo, and to an original analysis based on trade fairs in the automotive industry.
PORTA LAURA, THE EFFECT OF LOCALISATION ON SMES’ INNOVATION: THE CASE OF ITALIAN AND SPANISH INDUSTRIAL DISTRICTS, AA 2020/2021
Laura joined me and Alessandra Costa in a comparative analysis of data showing different innovation dynamics in Italian and Spanish industrial clusters. Results were intriguing and I think in the process Laura leant a lot about statistics!
DE BORTOLI LAURA, ITALY MEETS ISRAEL: AN ANALYSIS OF UNIVERSITY’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM, Rel. PICCALUGA ANDREA MARIO CUORE, AA 2020/2021
As we were trying to identify the topic of Laura’s dissertation this strange idea came by. The comparative analysis between the networking and professional dynamics of Technion and University of Pisa Alumni was quite an original project. Laura’s entrepreneurial spirit and patience made things possible.
MARCHESIN ALESSANDRO, KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND NETWORK DYNAMICS IN AN EUROPEAN RESEARCH PROJECT SETTING: THE CASE OF SOBIGDATA++, AA 2019/2020
Alessandro found himself in the network dynamics of a complex EU Project, Nicola Del Sarto and myself were starting to work on at the time. Alessandro mapped out the interaction dynamics of computer scientists and innovators through out Europe… and enhanced his knowledge on statistics in the process.
REGINATO ELISA, KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER BARRIERS IN UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY INTERACTIONS, AA 2019/2020
Elisa’s dissertation took off where Alberto Caviglia ended. Indeed this was the second year that Antonio Crupi and myself assigned a thesis focused on the STIM case study. Elisa’s interviews and rigorous insights were deeply appreciated.
TENSEN RIK, EUROPE’S INNOVATIVE SMES IN TIMES OF COVID-19: QUALITATIVE STUDY TO FIND COMMONALITIES IN THEIR RESPONSE, AA 2019/2020
Rik’s dissertation had been an unpredictable adventure. We started off with a project that was going to take him in Germany with Frank Piller to work on mass-customization. Covid hit.. and we were stuck in Pisa. So were many other companies around Europe, with their businesses stuck in the lockdown. Rik started to make phonecalls and interviews, the result? A remarkable work with Alfredo De Massis, Cristina Marullo, and Emanuela Rondi that we used in a research published by the Joint Research Center of the European Commission.
BEDIN ILARIA, MEASURING THE UNPREDICTABLE: INNOVATIVE PROJECT PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT, A 2018/2019
“What are the most consistent criteria and indicators that should be utilized to determine the selection and success of an innovative project?” Not an easy question to address, right? Ilaria did a great job with the help of Valentina Cucino, gathering experiences, interviews, relevant literature.
MONTEMAGNI GHERARDO, FROM COMPETITIVE DISADVANTAGE TO COMPETETITIVE ADVANTAGE: THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, A CASE STUDY FROM THE BANKING INDUSTRY IN ITALY, AA 2018/2019
Gherardo’s dissertation was the result of his internship with The European House Ambrosetti. We carefully selected the case he could focus to both be useful to the consulting firm and come up with something publishable. Definitely a nice story, as this ended up being only the first experience of Gherardo in the consulting world.
CAVIGLIA ALBERTO, A NEW WAY TO ENGAGE: UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY COLLABORATIONS IN THE STIM CONSORTIUM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, AA 2018/2019
Mr. Caviglia was definitely thrown in the deepest part of the pool as we suggested him to develop his dissertation in Cambridge as part of a research project we just started with the Institute of Manufacturing. It ended up being a success and the foundation of a strong partnership between Sant’Anna and Cambridge University.
GIOVANNINI FEDERICO, EMERGING MODELS OF VALUE-ADDED INVESTMENTS IN STARTUPS: THE CASE OF GELLIFY AND THE GELLIFICATION, AA 2018/2019
Federico came to me with two ideas: he REALLY wanted to focus on innovation and he REALLY wanted to conclude his Master with an internship. As my friend Lucia Chierchia told me she was looking for a new thesis project with Gellify… perfect match!
FAVILLI MATTEO, HOW CORPORATE ACCELERATORS EVOLVE OVER TIME: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PLUG & PLAY TECH CENTER AND MIND THE BRIDGE, AA 2018/2019
Matteo loved accelerators! He was able to get for himself a Fulbright BEST fellowship and that was it! Off to Silicon Valley I created some connections for Matteo to conduct interviews with some of the most remarkable experiences of tech development in the SF Bay Area.
LANDI ALLEGRA, WHAT MAKES AN ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM? A TALE OF TWO KOREAN CITIES, AA 2018/2019
Allegra’s dissertation started as an adventure. The splendid support and contacts of my friend Joonmo Ahn allowed us to engage in a great field research in Korea. A unique experience for Allegra, Antonio Crupi and myself.
CALURI LUISA (2018). CORPORATE OPEN SOCIAL INNOVATION: L’OPEN INNOVATION A SERVIZIO DELLA CREAZIONE DI VALORE CONDIVISO
Luisa’s work with me was part of her requirements as an Honor Student at Sant’Anna. So.. she was technically not to be listed here. But still, the collaboration with Luisa had been a special one. She worked with me on a book and various pieces for Fuoriclasse. We chose to give together new light to the concept of Open Social Innovation which I did coin as I was working on one of my first thesis supervisions, back in 2011, with Barbara Gilicze. Luisa did VERY well with her internship in Ambrosetti and I am proudly seeing Luisa claim her place in the corporate world.
ZORDAN ALBERTO, A CENTURY OF TECHNOLOGY BATTLES AND NEW DOMINANT DESIGNS IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY: TESLA AND FORD CASE STUDIES , AA 2017/2018
This is a story of a passion turned into a dissertation. Alberto was getting into my office with the latest news on Tesla. You could tell Alberto’s future was going to be in the car industry: he had such an incredible competence on technical and business details. He knew everything of Tesla. I know nothing about cars. But I needed to find common ground ASAP. We sent an email to the Henry Ford Foundation.. and in a few days Alberto was invited to spend a period of study in Dearborn Michigan. The comparative analysis between innovation in Ford and Tesla, ended up being recognized by the AOM with a best paper award and a publication with Giulio Ferrigno. Alberto made his passion turn into a career, as he started to work for Ferrari!
IDONE GIUSEPPE, OPEN AND DYNAMIC APPROACHES FOR THE RADICAL INNOVATION PURSUIT: A NEW FRAMEWORK ANALYSED THROUGH THE COMAU CASE STUDY , AA 2017/2018
I will never forget the long chats with Cristina Marullo and Giuseppe to make sure we were clear on the definition of “radical innovation”. We worked on this thesis within the context of a project financed by the European Investment Bank that today remains one of the most challenging and interesting grants I have ever received.
GRASSO CRISTOFORO MARCO, THE FAMILY FIRMS’ WAY TO OPEN INNOVATION: TOWARDS A NEW FRAMEWORK. THE ZAMBON CASE STUDY, AA 2017/2018
Great Open Innovation in family firm story, and wonderful hospitality offered by the company. Cristoforo’s interviewing strategy had been unique. Long story short, he literally followed my advice to chase down the hallways and elevators, any manager of Zambon he was able to find and interview. The result was a dissertation which ended up in a paper for Harvard Business Review Italia.
FERRANTE GIOVANNI, EXPLORING THE OPEN INNOVATION IN TUSCANY SMES: UNDERSTANDING THE CEO COMPETENCIES, AA 2017/2018
We pushed. we pushed and we pushed! Finally we were able to understand these Tuscan CEOs! Wonderful assistance by Cristina Marullo, and so much commitment for a case study by Giovanni.
FRIGO GIACOMO, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS INCUBATORS: A SOURCE OF FOREIGN MARKET KNOWLEDGE, AA 2017/2018
This has been for Giacomo the beginning of a fantastic journey of exploration of the business incubators. I can definitely see him as one of my next case study to interview!
SCHWARZ VERENA, DETERMINING CHARACTERISTICS OF UNICORNS IN LIGHT OF DIFFERENT PROFILES OF ‘MONEY BURNT’: INTRODUCTION TO A NEW MATRIX, AA 2016/2017
In a very empirical and quantitative analysis we were able to make the most of a unique dataset designed by Verena. It is now a gold standard on how my students and research assistant should collect data.
FENG FAN, A COMPARATIVE VIEW OF INDUSTRIE 4.0 AND “MADE IN CHINA 2025”, AA 2015/2016
Very timely work, and a very ambitious comparison. Obviously having access to first hand information in Chinese made the difference for a piece of work that is very informative.. even today!
KOZHIN ANDREY, OPEN SERVICE INNOVATION TOOLBOX: ANALYSIS OF INSTRUMENTS IN SUPPORT OF OPEN INNOVATION MODEL AND OPEN SERVICE INNOVATION MODEL, AA 2013/2014
An exploration of the service side of open innovation as the idea was becoming more and more fashionable.
GAMBILLARA GIACOMO. INNOVATION AND INTERNATIONALIZATION: A PRATICAL ANALYSIS OF DYNAMICS AFFECTING SMES, MNCS AND POLICYMAKERS FOR COMPETITIVE LEVERAGE. AA 2013/2014
Giacomo showed incredible independence and commitment in getting this data and making the most of it through his dissertation and subsequent publication.
GOLIKOVA LIUBOV, DESIGN THINKING: ANALYSIS OF CONTRIBUTION INTO OPEN INNOVATION PROCESS IN THE CONTEXT OF OPEN INNOVATION TOOLBOX, AA 2013/2014
I think that most dissertations should be a two ways street. It is not only the student but also the supervisor that learns and deepens his knowledge on a topic. This was the case here: we studied together and became design thinking experts!
ZELLEKE BITSEAT DEBREWORK, SOCIAL INNOVATION – ANALYSIS OF IMPLEMENTATION FOR DIFFERENT ECONOMIES, AA 2013/2014
A comparative analysis is always challenging. This qualitative study explored social innovation through a variety of examples gathered from developed and emerging economies.
GOGRICHIANI MARIA, INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS IN EMERGING ECONOMIES: PROSPECTS OF RUSSIAN INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM, AA 2012/2013
Maria helped me understand the Russian ecosystem through my first experience of “long distance” tutoring.
KOKINA ZANE, THE PREDICTORS OF SUCCESSFUL START-UP TEAMS: THE CASE OF INTEL GLOBAL CHALLENGE, AA 2012/2013
Such an incredible project, a wonderful database. We made the most out of it, and I was thrilled when we were selected to analyze the impact of one of the first (or maybe the first?) global business plan competitions. Too bad that the Intel Global Challenge was discontinued (..but it was not our fault!).
GILICZE BARBARA, CREATING AND RECOMBINING VALUE THROUGH OPEN INNOVATION IN THE NON-PROFIT SECTOR, AA 2011/2012
With the help of Barbara we worked on the analysis of cases that inspired me with the idea and concept of “Open Social Innovation”. Barbara had been one of my first (if not the first) thesis I supervised. I knew I was off to a great start!