La tesi analizza il modo in cui le organizzazioni scolastiche affrontano il disagio giovanile, verificando se e dove si riscontrino caratteri di relazionalità nella sua gestione e nell’orientamento organizzativo, secondo l’approccio relazionale al welfare. Si tratta di una ricerca qualitativa ed esplorativa, condotta nel sistema educativo della Provincia Autonoma di Trento, attraverso interviste semistrutturate a dirigenti, docenti, ma anche altri professionisti, studenti e famiglie. L’analisi, preceduta da un inquadramento teorico e delle indicazioni istituzionali, focalizza il processo di aiuto sul caso secondo l’ottica relazionale e poi si centra sul piano organizzativo, per osservare in tre elementi – finalità, persone e mezzi dell’organizzazione – come l’assunzione di una prospettiva relazionale possa attivare nella scuola pratiche di care in grado di migliorare il benessere degli studenti. L’analisi mostra che, soprattutto nella formazione professionale trentina, il presupposto della care appare abbastanza condiviso ma spesso non si traduce in veri e propri processi relazionali. Un punto critico riguarda l’attivazione di reti riflessive paritarie con le famiglie e gli studenti. Una potenzialità innovativa è invece espressa in alcuni istituti dove l’assetto organizzativo funziona almeno in parte secondo logiche relazionali: ciò sembra sostenere la funzione formativa della scuola, coinvolgendola in una dinamica societaria di care diffusa. / The thesis analyses the way in which school organizations tackle the problem of young people in trouble, verifying if and where relational elements can be found in organizational orientations, following the relational approach to welfare. It is a qualitative and exploring research, conducted within the Province of Trento's educational system, through semistructured interviews with school executives, teachers, other professionals, students and families as well. Beginning with the theoretical framework and the institutional indications, the analysis focuses on individual helping process from the relational perspective; then moving to the organizational level in order to observe in three elements - goals, people and means - how the utilization of a relational approach can activate, in the school, practices of "care" capable of improving students well being. The analysis shows that, mainly in occupational training, the idea of "care" seems to be quite shared but it does not translate into true relational processes. A critical point refers to the activation of reflective networks with families and students. A potential innovation is expressed in certain institutes where the organizational framework reflects, at least partially, the relational approach: it does seam to support the school educational role, involving the school itself in a widespread society of "care".

La ricerca propone un’analisi, in prospettiva pedagogica, del cambiamento organizzativo nella scuola e della professionalità dell’insegnante. L’interesse per la problematica origina da considerazioni attinenti al rapporto tra riforma e innovazione e al ruolo svolto dagli insegnanti nei processi di cambiamento. L’indagine sviluppata si articola secondo due livelli, distinti ma interrelati. Il primo attiene al piano teorico-concettuale e inquadra le problematiche trattate con riferimento ai recenti contributi della letteratura scientifica; il secondo offre in modo complementare i risultati dello studio di caso, condotto in tre istituti scolastici di secondo grado della Lombardia. In ragione dei livelli considerati, i capitoli dedicati all’analisi teorica si alternano a quelli sull’indagine empirica. La ricerca coglie e problematizza la relazione fra cambiamento dell’assetto istituzionale e organizzativo della scuola e rinnovamento della professionalità dell’insegnante, sottolineando l’importanza di sperimentare nella pratica scolastica modelli di organizzazione che avvalorano ruolo e competenze dei docenti. / This research inquires into changes in school organisation and teacher professionalism from a pedagogical point of view. The main purpose is to reflect upon the relationship between school reform and teacher role in this field. The research work consists of two different but strictly intertwind levels. The first one concerns the theoretical standpoint and outlines issues according to the most recent scientific contributions. The other offers data collected during a study of case carried out in three secondary school institutes in Lombardy. The outcomes stress the importance of actual experience of organising models improving teacher specific role and skills.

L’obiettivo di ricerca che si propone questa tesi è l’analisi delle criticità e dei limiti concettuali che sorgono nella fase di progettazione logica all’interno del processo più ampio di implementazione e manutenzione del Balanced Scorecard. La fase di progettazione del Balanced Scorecard è fondamentale per capire l’orientamento della strategia di tutta l’azienda e le priorità che questa si vuole porre ed è proprio lì che sorgono gli aspetti più critici del sistema che poi vengono, dove possibile, migliorati dal suo monitoraggio in maniera dinamica e continua. Molti autori, tra cui Kaplan e Norton (1993, 1996, 2001, 2006), Alberti (2000), Baraldi (2005), Bourne et al. (2000), Falduto e Ruscica (2005), De Marco, Salvo e Lanzani (2004), Marr e Neely (2001), Niven (2002, 2006), Lohman et al. (2004), Simons (2000), si sono focalizzati sulle modalità di implementazione del Balanced Scorecard, però pochi hanno analizzato quali criticità siano nascoste in queste scelte e come vegano gestite per affrontare il dinamismo stesso di un’organizzazione che opera in un contesto spesso fortemente competitivo. L’argomento è considerato rilevante non solo dalla letteratura, ma anche dalla prassi, infatti, di fronte ai fallimenti dei sistemi di misurazione delle performance ci si domanda se ci siano dei punti critici che meritano maggiore attenzione e che siano discriminanti tra un successo e un fallimento e come è meglio gestirli. / The specific purpose of this research is the analysis of critical issues and conceptual limitations that arise in the phase of logical design within the broader process of implementation and maintenance of the Balanced Scorecard. The design phase of the Balanced Scorecard is vital to understand the orientation of the strategy across the enterprise and the priorities that you want to address and it is there that arises the most critical aspects of the system which are, where possible, enhanced by its monitoring in a dynamic and continuous process of improvement. Many authors, including Kaplan and Norton (1993, 1996, 2001, 2006), Alberti (2000), Baraldi (2005), Bourne et al. (2000), Falduto and Ruscica (2005), De Marco, Salvo and Lanzani (2004), Marr and Neely (2001), Niven (2002, 2006), Lohman et al. (2004), Simons (2000), have focused on how to implement the Balanced Scorecard, but few have analyzed which critical issues are hidden in these choices and how are managed to face the dynamism of an organization that often operates in a highly competitive environment. The subject is relevant not only in the literature, but also from the point of view of the enterprise operations; in fact, facing the failures of performance measurement systems, the following questions have arisen: whether there are critical points that need more attention, which are the discriminating factors between a success and a failure and which is the best way to manage them.

I sistemi finanziari si sono sempre contraddistinti per la loro natura fiduciaria e il ruolo di sostegno alla stabilità dei mercati (Bianchi, 2002). Quanto affermato giustifica il verificarsi, in determinati contesti di mercato, di crisi economiche di portata straordinariamente ampia. Il legislatore italiano, quindi, al fine di favorire uno sviluppo controllato del settore, negli ultimi anni ha rivolto il focus della regolamentazione normativa verso l’individuazione e la prevenzione di diversi rischi tipici di settore, soprattutto quelli legati all'operatività e quelli di tipo legale e reputazionale. In questo contesto, la teoria dell’Isomorfismo coercitivo si colloca per comprendere quali siano i motivi di adeguamento delle organizzazioni a normative ai fini della legittimazione nei confronti dell’ambiente in cui operano. La ricerca si pone quindi l’obiettivo di indagare i riflessi organizzativi e di governance delle imprese di assicurazione, legati a un processo di isomorfismo coercitivo attraverso la teoria della dipendenza dalle risorse, in particolare quelle reputazionali. / Financial Services are always being recognized like robustness and trust institutions (Bianchi 2002). In fact they always give a fundamental contribute to the stability of economic and social environment. This fact in some conditions, like the present ones, has often created very large financial crisis. More than in the past Italian laws in the financial services, aim at prevent some risk like operational, compliance and reputational ones. The theory of Coercive Isomorphism aim at explains how the organizations try to legitimate themselves towards their social and economic environment. In this direction the study aim at analyzed how coercive isomorphism had influenced the organizational design in the Italian insurance sector. In order to explain this process I used the RBV (Resource Based View) theory to explain how reputation could be a very strategic resource to gain robustness and trust in financial institutions after the crisis, so I analyzed how organization build reputation trough the processes compliance to the new law.

Nel corso degli ultimi anni l'industria finanziaria ha incominciato a identificare nei Big Data una potenziale leva strategica per la relazione banca-cliente. Tuttavia, come evidenziato in vari contributi, le organizzazioni incontrano alcune difficoltà nell’implementare suddette tecnologie poiché il livello di innovazione richiesto si scontra con quelle prassi e norme ben radicate nelle macchine operative degli intermediari finanziari. Il presente lavoro, supportato da una rassegna della letteratura sull'implicazione organizzativa dei Big Data, descrive un progetto realizzato da una banca europea che, nell'ultimo anno, ha introdotto nei propri sistemi informativi i Big Data per supportare l’operatività dei gestori corporate nell'ambito della relazione banca-azienda. Utilizzando “l'ambidestrismo” come framework teorico (basato sul conflitto exploration-exploitation), questa tesi propone alcune soluzioni a livello organizzativo per risolvere le tensioni tra: i soggetti coinvolti in attività di innovazione radicale (exploration activities) e i soggetti coinvolti in attività che mirano alla standardizzazione e all'efficientamento continuo (exploitation activities) delle operation degli intermediari finanziari. Sei mesi di osservazioni dirette e quarantasei interviste condotte trasversalmente su quattro unità della banca costituiscono la base dati principale del contributo empirico di questo lavoro di tesi / In recent years the financial industry has begun to identify Big Data as a potential strategic leverage in the bank-customer relationship. According to different contributions, organizations are generally facing some difficulties in introducing these technologies because the degree of innovation required generally clashes with those standards and practices rooted in the operating machine of the financial intermediaries. This work, supported by a review of the literature on the Big Data organizational implications, describes a project developed by a European bank that, in the last year, introduced these technologies within its information systems to support managers in the bank-corporate relationship. Using the “ambidexterity” as a theoretical framework (based on the tradeoff between exploration and exploitation), this thesis proposes some organizational solutions to resolve tensions between: those subjects involved in activities regarding radical innovations (exploration activities) and those involved in activities aimed at the standardization and at the continuous efficiency (exploitative activities) of the bank’s operations. Six months of direct observations and forty six interviews conducted across four units of the bank represent the main basis of the empirical contribution of this thesis.

This thesis examines the relationship between environmental regulation, innovation, and competitiveness. Specifically, it investigates the impact of regulatory stringency on innovation in the chemical industry by analyzing the evolution of innovative activity in highly regulated technological areas in the European Union from 1976 to 2003. A direct quantitative measure of regulatory impact on innovation was constructed by transforming the economic measurement problem into a technological classification issue. The specific regulation investigated was the EU Council Directive 76/769/EEC, which contains 986 restrictions imposed on the marketing and use of 939 chemical substances. These restrictions were linked to 17 technological fields in the International Patent Classification. The data on patent applications was extracted from the ESPACE Bulletin database maintained by the European Patent Office. Given the increasing regulatory stringency, four questions were investigated: Did regulation spur patenting activity? Has there been a change in the geographical origin of patents? Has there been an increase in patenting concentration? Has there been a change in the direction of the patenting trend? These issues were examined at the aggregated level using descriptive statistics, panel data regressions, and the study of technological trend. Four case studies were conducted to illustrate strategies utilized by European and non-European firms. I found that most restrictions were imposed during the years of 1997 and 2003 and affected mainly technological areas associated with agrochemicals, polymers, and paints and dyes. In overall regulatory stringency impacted positively patenting activity. However, top players were impacted negatively. Consequently, there was a reduction in the concentration of innovative activity in highly regulated technological areas. Ma jor changes occurred in areas in which the largest number of restrictions were imposed. There was an overall increase in innovations associated with new processes and formulations, indicating increased incremental innovation and a shift from patenting in regulated to non-regulated applications. Hence, there was increasing patenting activity in areas that did not depend on novel substances or did not have an opportunity to innovate in non-regulated uses. By contrast, there was a sharp fall in the number of applications in areas in which these conditions did not exist. Two explanations for these results are proposed: “new” technologies benefit from regulatory stringency while “old” technologies are discouraged; regulation spurs the development of substitutes better adapted to the actual regulatory framework. Moreover, this thesis shows that the Porter hypothesis is supported for the chemical industry. Yet, this occurs not because firms innovate under more stringent regulation, but because it stimulates new entrants in the market of innovation.

Since James G. March introduced the concepts of exploration and exploitation in 1991, they have become ubiquitous in research on organizations and management. According to March (1991), exploration and exploitation are two sets of activities that allow systems (i.e., agents, either organizations or individuals) to adapt to their environment. On the one hand, exploitation activities are based on pre-existing knowledge, and consist of its implementation and/or refinement (e.g., production). On the other hand, exploration is based on knowledge that is not currently possessed by the system and, hence, refers to those activities that allow to acquire such new knowledge (e.g., search and experimentation). Scholars have produced a large number of contributions that have expanded our knowledge of exploration and exploitation even going beyond the initial boundaries of the field of organizational learning. Today, this large body of contributions that has developed over 30 years appears complex and divided into a plethora of research subfields (e.g., Almahendra and Ambos, 2015). Thus, research on exploration and exploitation has reached a level of conceptual and methodological sophistication that demands a high level of effort from researchers wishing to approach it. Among the multiple strands of emerging research, some scholars (such as Wilden et al., 2018) have recently begun to propose a return to the adoption of a behavioral approach to the study of exploration and exploitation. The earliest behavioral approach adopted in organizational studies is that of the "Carnegie School", which included Herbert Simon, Richard Cyert, and James March himself. Such an approach focuses the investigation of organizations on human behavior. In other words, adopting a behavioral approach involves studying organizations from the attitudes of their members, cognition, rationality, motivation, relationships, conflicts, and many other instances of psychological, economic, and social factors that influence human behavior (see, for example, March and Simon, 1958; Cyert and March, 1963). Today, this return to the behavioral approach is also associated with the "micro-foundations of strategy" movement (e.g., Felin et al., 2015) and so-called behavioral strategy (Powell et al., 2011). In essence, while the former is based on the importance of studying organizations and strategy by adopting a level of analysis below the collective/systemic (i.e., organizational) level, the latter includes all the elements that already characterized the behavioral approach (i.e., psychological, and social factors), reinforced by insights from the behavioral economics literature and the adoption of multiple methods, including experiments. This Doctoral dissertation enters this discussion and aims to investigate exploration and exploitation by adopting a behavioral approach, a "micro-foundational" perspective, and research methods that include laboratory experiments and computer simulations. The first study is a literature review paper with three purposes, each pursued in one of its three sections. First, it addresses the conceptual development of the exploration-exploitation literature that led to the emergence of the complex body of contributions mentioned above, providing a kind of "road map" of the research field based on the major literature reviews published over the past three decades. This is intended as a contribution towards researchers who want to take the first steps in the study of exploration-exploitation research. At the end of this road map, the paper by Wilden et al. (2018) is presented, linking the entire field of research to an emerging stream of research directed toward a return to James March's behavioral approach, enhanced by contributions in the areas of "micro-foundations" (e.g., Felin et al., 2015) and behavioral strategy (Powell et al., 2011). Second, based on the approach promoted in such research stream, a review of the literature on experimental studies of exploration and exploitation is provided. Laboratory experiments are considered key methods for advancing the study of exploration and exploitation by adopting a behavioral approach. Finally, the first essay is concluded with three suggested directions for further research: the improvement of existing conceptualizations through modeling, the further sophistication of existing experimental designs to capture features of managerial decision making that are currently beyond the scope of the state-of-the-art models underlying the mainly adopted experimental investigations, and the consideration of a multilevel approach to the study of individual exploration and exploitation, which consists of examining the variables that influence individual behavior at different organizational levels. The second study consists of an experimental investigation of the role of different sources of uncertainty on individual exploration-exploitation. It is based on the rationale underlying the third further research path proposed in the first study. Although an increasing adoption of laboratory experiments can be acknowledged in the research field, it is here argued that scholars have not experimentally disentangled the effects of two different types of uncertainty that emerge in the managerial and psychological literature, namely internal uncertainty, and external uncertainty. The former consists in the inability of individuals to predict future performance; while the latter results from the external environment and consists of unknown information about phenomena that may affect the final outcomes of a decision. The experimental design deployed in the study exposes a group of participants to the presence of the sole internal uncertainty, and a treatment group to the combined presence of the two sources. Findings show that the combined presence of these two sources of uncertainty may lead to the over-exploitation of initial routines, and, consequently, to the inability of individuals to exploit new opportunities stemming by alternatives discovered over time. Finally, the third study focuses on imitation, and exploration and exploitation, and builds on an agent-based model and computer simulations. This essay follows the first research trajectory suggested in the first study. While prominent research has defined imitation as a less costly alternative to experimentation (i.e., exploration), the possible role of imitation in the exploration-exploitation trade-off appears to be under-investigated. The interplay between imitation and exploration is rendered by the modeling of two types of agents: imitators and explorers. Differently from previous studies based on modeling, agent types are explicitly modeled as Simonian "satisficers". Experimentation is modeled as random search, whereas imitation builds on research on imitative heuristics. When engaging in adaptation in a competitive environment, both the types of agent experience "over-crowding" effects depending on the characteristics of their type. The paper concludes with the acknowledgement of limitations of the adopted model and proposes further investigation paths that include the calibration through experimental data.

Innovare verso un modello per Intensità delle Cure (IdC) offre agli ospedali importanti potenzialità di miglioramento, tanto a livello di qualità delle cure quanto sul piano organizzativo e gestionale. L’introduzione del modello IdC può tuttavia implicare sostanziali modifiche nell’organizzazione sociale del lavoro clinico, modificando relazioni, confini e identità professionali. La tesi esamina i reciproci effetti tra il modello IdC e l’organizzazione sociale del lavoro ospedaliero. Il disegno di ricerca è organizzato in tre fasi: una estensiva analisi documentale, uno studio esplorativo basato su interviste qualitative semi-strutturate, uno caso di studio etnografico in profondità condotto in un ospedale recentemente organizzato secondo il modello IdC. I risultati sono organizzati in tre studi. Il primo mostra come il cambiamento IdC sia stato diversamente interpretato dai manager ospedalieri e dai clinici in prima linea con i pazienti, costituendo così due discordanti ‘narrative di cambiamento’. Il secondo studio si focalizza sugli ostacoli alla creazione di team multidisciplinari negli ospedali IdC. Il terzo studio esamina l’impatto del modello IdC su relazioni e confini professionali tra medici e infermieri. Oltre a contribuire alle teorie socio-psicologiche riguardo a confini e identità professionali, la tesi propone riflessioni concrete su come colmare il divario tra programmi innovativi formali e pratiche di cura quotidiane. / The Patient-Centred Model (PCM) is described as an attempt to redesign the hospitals around the needs of the patients, thus contributing to costs reduction, increased efficiency, and improved care. However, the introduction of the PCM may have a profound impact on the social organisation of work, changing lines of demarcation, challenging well established inter-/intra-professional relationships, and prompting the development of new roles and modes of working. This thesis explores the mutual effects between the new organisational model and the pre-existent social organisation of hospital work. The research design is organised in three phases: an extensive document analysis; an interview study; an in-depth ethnographic case study conducted for over one year in a PCM hospital. The findings are organised in three studies. The first shows that the PCM was interpreted differently by hospital managers and by frontline clinicians, thus giving rise to two divergent narratives of change. The second study focuses on the boundaries to collaboration and care integration in newly created hospital teams within PCM hospitals. The third study looks at the impact of the PCM on the medical-nursing boundary. The thesis contributes to management learning and practice by providing recommendations on how to accompany complex innovations, comprising of both their expected and unexpected consequences. It also enriches academic debates on professional boundaries, relations, and identities in healthcare.

La tesi ha l’obiettivo di analizzare il cambiamento organizzativo in una prospettiva di social network analysis, sfruttando dati longitudinali raccolti a seguito della modifica della struttura organizzativa in un Policlinico Universitario italiano. Il manoscritto è organizzativo in tre paper. Il primo paper si focalizza sul tema del rapporto tra network formali e network informali, analizzando come la modifica del primo comporti una corrispondente variazione nel secondo. Il paper dimostra come, in assenza di strutture organizzative ben formalizzate, gli individui tendono ad allacciare nuovi legami con colleghi che appartengono alla stessa specializzazione. Il secondo paper, invece, attingendo prettamente alla letteratura di comportamento organizzativo, analizza il tema della dinamicità del network, fornendo evidenze in relazione alla stabilità del network stesso a seguito del cambiamento. Particolare attenzione, è inoltre, dedicata alle dinamiche intra – team e al ruolo di quest’ultime nell’accettazione o meno del cambiamento. Infine, il terzo paper sviluppa il tema della network density e di come quest’ultima possa essere correlato al cambiamento organizzativo, in termini di reazione al cambiamento. Inoltre, si dimostra come la formalizzazione abbia un impatto positivo sulla densità del network, specie in contesti organizzativi caratterizzati da una bassa gerarchia e coordinamento orizzontale. / This thesis aims to analyze organizational change in a social network analysis perspective, exploiting longitudinal data collected after a modification of the organizational structure in an Italian Teaching Hospital The manuscript is organized into three papers. The first paper focuses on the theme of the relationship between formal networks and informal networks, analyzing how the modification of the first involves a corresponding variation in the second. The paper demonstrates how, in the absence of formalized organizational structures, individuals tend to establish new ties with colleagues who belong to the same specialization. The second paper, drawing purely from the organizational behavior literature, analyzes the issue of the network dynamics , providing evidence and antecedents for network stability in response to organizational change. Particular attention is also given to the intra - team dynamics and the impact of individual perception of collective properties in driving employees in accepting or not the organizational change. Finally, the third paper develops the theme of network density and how the latter can be related to organizational change, in terms of reaction to change. Furthermore, it is shown how formalization has a positive impact on network density, especially in organizational contexts characterized by a low hierarchy and horizontal coordination.

Questa tesi presenta un’indagine sugli attivisti del Partito Democratico, condotta tra il 2009 e il 2010 nei circoli di quattro città italiane (Milano, Perugia, Roma e Napoli) attraverso etnografie e interviste biografiche. L’identità degli attivisti è studiata attraverso il metodo dello storytelling, ampiamente utilizzato negli studi dei fenomeni politici. Partendo dal presupposto teorico che ogni attivista possiede tante identità quanti sono i suoi flussi stabili di relazioni verso altri attori (individuali o collettivi), ne vengono individuati essenzialmente due: il primo verso l’interno dell’organizzazione e il secondo verso l’esterno. Nel primo caso, l’identità degli attivisti viene studiata attraverso le relazioni che essi intrattengono all’interno del partito (con leader, dirigenti e altri attivisti). Nel secondo caso, vengono analizzate le relazioni che gli attivisti intrattengono con elettori e realtà associative dei territori. Infine, si presenteranno gli aspetti dinamici delle identità degli attivisti, le scintille del mutamento che attraversano le loro storie. Il quadro generale che emerge dalla ricerca è un attivismo che viene definito, con una metafora informatica, “1.5”: un attivismo contemporaneo che sta esperendo un mutamento dalla militanza tradizionale dei partiti elettorali di massa, in una direzione che però è ancora per molti aspetti nebulosa. Un mutamento incompiuto: una rivoluzione “1.5”. / This work presents field research on the activists of the Italian Democratic Party, developed between 2009 and 2010 in four Italian cities (Milan, Perugia, Rome and Naples) through ethnographies and in-depth interviews. The identity of the activists is studied through the method of storytelling, widely used within the field of political studies. Starting from the theoretical assumption that social identities are stable steams of relations between actors, this work identifies two relevant steams for party activists: the first is toward the organization itself, and the second is toward the territory. In the first case, the identity of the activists is examined through the relationships with party leaders, managers and other activists. In the second case, it is analyzed the relation that activists maintain with the territory: voters, associations, and other political organizations. Finally, it is presented the dynamic aspect of the activists’ identities, the spark of change that run through their stories. The overall picture that emerges from the research is a “1.5 activism”: a contemporary form of activism that is experiencing a shift from traditional electoral mass parties, yet still remaining unfinished. A “1.5” revolution.