Optimal Logistics Networks: the Case of Italian Exports to Russia

This paper is based on the concept of ‘logistics excellence’. In the first part the parameters that define such excellence in the internationalization process of companies are discussed, with particular attention to its effects on the design of logistics networks. A critical analysis of some Italian case studies of “logistics excellence” is presented, to show how some Italian companies, involved in foreign trade, have changed their network design in order to reach excellent performances. One of the most interesting results of this analysis is that in some cases goals behind decisions were too high (“overperformance”) and generated network designs that were too expensive and complex if set against a balanced needs analysis (of clients and logistics operators). Only those who have borne in mind their clients’ needs as well as the need of limiting network costs and have supported their systems with creative choices have managed to achieve the best results within the Italian logistics system. In the light of these considerations, the second part of the article analyses the logistics situation in commercial relations between Italy and Russia (with specific reference on export from Italy to Russia) and points out how, in the face of some structural problems posed by the logistics distribution in Russia, the network design solutions that can reduce costs the most are those which will turn out being the most suitable in the long run. In the light of this, the steps to be taken in order to support the design of adequate logistics networks connecting Italy and Russia are described; the options offered by intermodal transport when adequately combined with newly designed logistics networks are also highlighted.     

SMEs and Marketing: A Systematic Literature Review

This paper presents a systematic review of recent academic literature analysing the role, organization and management of marketing activities in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). To this end, 310 articles published between 2006 and 2015 in 69 main journals devoted to small firms/entrepreneurship and management/marketing fields were analysed. This review shows that SMEs’ marketing has received great attention in both management and marketing literature in recent years. Findings reveal, on the one hand, the emerging role of networks and information and communication technologies in marketing behaviour by SMEs, and on the other hand a research gap in terms of specific marketing practices. Entrepreneurial marketing has been used as the main conceptual framework in reviewed studies, even if findings overall still point out a distance between the theoretical bases of reviewed contributions and the study of SMEs’ marketing behaviour and practices. Therefore, future research on the role of resources, relationships and networks could benefit from the combination of theories developed within the field of entrepreneurship with other approaches such as the resource‐based view, the dynamic capabilities theory and the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) framework.     

Interlocking directorship across Italian listed companies: evidence from a natural experiment

The financial crisis of 2008 and the introduction of the Interlocking Ban in 2011 (for financial firms) deeply influenced the Italian corporate governance system. The aim of the present study is to investigate to what extent personal ties among the directors of Italian listed companies have changed after these two events. We describe the evolution and dimension of the phenomenon of interlocking directorship (ID) for all the Italian listed companies over the period 1998–2013 using different methodologies. Social network analysis discloses the existence of clusters of companies whose links remain dense after the crisis, while connections to the peripheral units of the system decrease, reducing the overall connectedness. Results reveal that, over the period, there is a reduction in the cumulation ratio which still remains high and mainly due to a high number of directorships for multiple directors. This reduction is more severe after 2008 when both the financial crisis and the Interlocking Ban occur. In disentangling the two effects we observe ID reduction during and after the crisis, also for non-financial firms, confirming the general tendency of a decline in national board interlocking networks.     

Empowering manufacturing personnel through functional understanding

A growing interest in knowledge management and standardisation, has increasingly led organisations to implement employee training programs. For the manufacturing workforce, however, these remain limited to informal ‘On-the-Job’ approaches, administered by peer colleagues – particularly in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) where economic, educational, cognitive and cultural constraints are often deeply embedded. This paper proposes a methodology for training the manufacturing workforce on the functions of products, and presents a case study conducted in a UK-based manufacturing SME – aiming to verify our two research hypotheses: a) Functional Analysis Diagrams of the company’s products and parts would assist in knowledge assimilation; and, b) knowledge assimilation has a positive effect on work quality and productivity levels. By applying statistical inference methods on long-term quantitative data and survey results, we confirmed substantial improvements in work quality (63%) and increased productivity (67%), supporting our hypotheses and suggesting that the proposed methodology can be a promising solution for the industry.     

Assessing income support where no national minimum income scheme exists. Is it possible to apply the model family method to the Italian case?

This article focuses on the application of a specific comparative methodology, the model family method (MFM), in measuring the income derived from minimum income schemes. The application of the MFM to the analysis of this policy field shows several criticalities such as the difficulty to analyze countries in which no national scheme exists, and in which both the intra-national variations and the discretionary power of street-level bureaucrats are significant. Stemming from the application of the MFM to the Italian case in the framework of an international project, the article analyzes whether and how this method can be developed also in said countries. In particular, it shows that, in order to do so, specific methodological choices and assumptions are necessary, built on a mixed research strategy aimed at complementing the data collected from institutional sources with in-depth interviews with social workers and the use of the vignettes technique.     

A finite mixture approach to joint clustering of individuals and multivariate discrete outcomes

In this work, we modify finite mixtures of factor analysers to provide a method for simultaneous clustering of subjects and multivariate discrete outcomes. The joint clustering is performed through a suitable reparameterization of the outcome (column)-specific parameters. We develop an expectation–maximization-type algorithm for maximum likelihood parameter estimation where the maximization step is divided into orthogonal sub-blocks that refer to row and column-specific parameters, respectively. Model performance is evaluated via a simulation study with varying sample size, number of outcomes and row/column-specific clustering (partitions). We compare the performance of our model with the performance of standard model-based biclustering approaches. The proposed method is also demonstrated on a benchmark data set where a multivariate binary response is considered.     

External audit and goodwill write-off

Building on agency theory, we investigate whether and how salient external auditor characteristics (size, audit fees, non-audit fees, tenure) impact on the reported goodwill write-off. We use a sample of US firms applying SFAS 142. We find that Big-4 auditors are more prone to limit underestimated write-offs rather than overestimated write-offs and that auditors require higher fees from companies underestimating the write-offs. The findings are consistent with the auditors’ preference for more conservative goodwill and earnings values, which reduce their litigation and reputation costs. This preference can converge with the managerial interest to use unnecessary overestimated goodwill write-offs for earnings management purposes (e.g. to smooth the income or take big baths). Our findings do not support the hypotheses that non-audit fees and tenure affect the goodwill write-off. Our paper contributes to prior literature on external audit and financial accounting choices. Our study suggests that leniently audited discretional fair value estimates are likely to compromise the role of auditing (and of financial reporting) as an external control mechanism. Our study can contribute to the current policy debate around goodwill accounting.     

Longevity and concentration in survival times: the log-scale-location family of failure time models

Evidence suggests that the increasing life expectancy levels at birth witnessed over the past centuries are associated with a decreasing concentration of the survival times. The purpose of this work is to study the relationships that exist between longevity and concentration measures for some regression models for the evolution of survival. In particular, we study a family of survival models that can be used to capture the observed trends in longevity and concentration over time. The parametric family of log-scale-location models is shown to allow for modeling different trends of expected value and concentration of survival times. An extension towards mixture models is also described in order to take into account scenarios where a fraction of the population experiences short term survival. Some results are also presented for such framework. The use of both the log-scale-location family and the mixture model is illustrated through an application to period life tables from the Human Mortality Database.     

Superstitions surrounding the choice of wedding date in Italy: What has changed since the beginning of the economic development process to the present?

In Italy, it is believed that Tuesdays and Fridays are particularly unlucky days for weddings as well as the 17th day of each month. Previous studies realized in the aftermath of the Second World War have shown the strong influence that these superstitions had in determining the wedding dates in the entire country. We have used exhaustive data collection of all marriages celebrated in Italy in the years 2007–2009 to investigate whether superstitions are still able to influence the choices of spouses. We find that this influence is still present after the great economic, social and demographic transformation of Italian society. We also show that a wife’s education reduces the influence of superstition on the choice of the date of marriage while those who opt for a religious rite are also those who are more careful in avoiding inauspicious days.     

Muslims Opposing Violent Radicalism and Extremism: Strategies of Swedish Sufi Communities

Europe has seen the development of a new research agenda in response to Islamist terror attacks of recent years. Researchers are not only trying to solve the “radicalization puzzle” in order to understand the reasons why young Muslims in Western countries are attracted to extremism, but they are also making proposals for de-radicalizing extremists and creating relationships of trust with Muslim communities. Directly or indirectly, Europe’s Muslim minorities are the objects of the interventions and preventive work under discussion. This study suggests an alternative approach. Rather than regarding Muslims in Europe as more or less passive objects of various anti-extremism interventions, it directs attention toward the strategies developed by European Muslims themselves in fighting Islamist extremism. Using qualitative interviews with leaders of five Sufi communities in Sweden, the study examines a series of strategies for meeting the challenges posed by extremists.