- Luca Iandoli is Associate Dean for Global and Online Programs at St. John’s University, College of Professional Studi... moreLuca Iandoli is Associate Dean for Global and Online Programs at St. John’s University, College of Professional Studies, where he has also an associate professor appointment in the division of Computer Science, Mathematics and Science. Before moving to St Johns’ Dr. Iandoli has served as an Associate Professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, and as Visiting Research Professor at the School of Systems and Enterprises, Stevens Institute of Technology (USA).Luca Iandoli was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the Center for Collective Intelligence of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has published over one hundred papers on the analysis of collaborative dynamics in firms, online and offline networks and industrial districts through the use of computational methodologies, serving as a member of the editorial board of several academic journals.Professor Iandoli’s current research focus is on how online interaction and collaboration might be leveraged to help groups, organizations, communities, and companies to aggregate and store dispersed knowledge, to increase creativity, innovation and problem solving, and to support large-scale, collective intelligence.Dr. Iandoli has served as President of the European Council for Small Business and entrepreneurship (ECSB) from 2011 to 2013 and as President of the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) for the 2016-17 termedit
Political Polarization is the divergence of attitudes toward ideological extremes and it is more likely to happen in groups of like-minded individuals. We measured polarization on Twitter during the 2016 United States Presidential... more
Political Polarization is the divergence of attitudes toward ideological extremes and it is more likely to happen in groups of like-minded individuals. We measured polarization on Twitter during the 2016 United States Presidential elections, analyzing Twitter backchanneling conversations occurring during the three Presidential debates. The polarization metric we use is based on an existing metaphor of the electric dipole. In each debate the polarization dynamic followed a U-shaped pattern, with polarization being high at the beginning of the debate, decreasing over time, and finally bouncing back to a value that was higher than the initial one. The temporary decline of polarization is due to the increase in interaction with participants holding opposite opinions, but apparently this interaction is more conducive to confrontation than to revision of existing beliefs. We argue that the characteristics of Twitter are generally conducive to polarized and manipulable online debate.
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Purpose – This paper aims to present a methodology for the mapping and evaluation of suppliers’ competencies and know-how. The authors operationalize the concept of organizational competence and provide companies with a customized... more
Purpose – This paper aims to present a methodology for the mapping and evaluation of suppliers’ competencies and know-how. The authors operationalize the concept of organizational competence and provide companies with a customized management tool to map suppliers’ critical competencies for screening strategic from non-strategic suppliers and providing inputs for suppliers’ development. Design/methodology/approach – Competencies assessment, carried out through a fuzzy knowledge management system (VINCI), is performed through the aggregation of indicators related to the control of critical resources, the degree of implementation of critical processes, the competitive positioning and the financial situation of a supplier. Competencies description and operationalization are based on the bottom-up elicitation of the subjective knowledge managers actually use to assess suppliers’ capability. Such subjective knowledge is then validated and formalized through a top-down approach based on st...
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DESCRIPTION The most successful democratic innovations have been able to promote good deliberation by employing small discussion groups (5 to 15 participants). In this paper we show that it is possible to design online democratic... more
DESCRIPTION The most successful democratic innovations have been able to promote good deliberation by employing small discussion groups (5 to 15 participants). In this paper we show that it is possible to design online democratic innovations that can induce good argumentation in large groups of more than 150 participants. The essay is based on a field experiment implemented in a real life democratic innovation designed to promote good e-deliberation and organized in collaboration with the largest online community of the Italian Democratic Party (Insieme per il PD). The field experiment aims to explore the possibility of improving the quality of e-deliberation by comparing the performance of a traditional forum with the performance of an argument mapping software structured to optimize argumentation (Deliberatorium). With respect to a traditional forum technology the argument mapping software 1) does not significantly reduce participation, 2) reduces the total number of ideas generat...
Research Interests: Participatory Research, Participatory Design, Democratic Theory, Collaboration, Argumentation, and 15 moreDesign of Experiments, Deliberative Democracy, Democracy, Computer-aided argument mapping, Participatory Democracy, Experimental Design, Argumentation Theory and Critical Thinking, e-Democracy, Randomized Controlled Trials, Group Decision Making, Field Experiments, E-Deliberation, E Governance, Planning of Experiments, and Democratic innovations
Research Interests: Information Systems, Discourse Analysis, Computer Science, Distributed Computing, Social Networks, and 15 moreInformation Management, Conversation Analysis, Collective Intelligence, Collaboration, Collective Action, Text Mining, Competitive Intelligence, Content Analysis, Social Media, Marketing Research, Library and Information Studies, Competitive Analysis, Online collaboration, Data mining and Text mining, and Competitor Intelligence
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In today economic environment, innovation is considered the primary source of competitive advantage for companies. The advent of Web 2.0 tools has provided organizations with new models and tools to improve collaboration and co-creation... more
In today economic environment, innovation is considered the primary source of competitive advantage for companies. The advent of Web 2.0 tools has provided organizations with new models and tools to improve collaboration and co-creation of new knowledge assets. In particular, the shift to Open Innovation models has been recognized as a major change in the way companies create and manage innovation. In this paper the authors focus on a particular kind of web-based platforms known as argument mapping tools. Argument mapping tools have proved to be valuable tools to the organization to support collaborative decision making in distributed environments, but the level of adoption of these technologies in common organizational practices remains quite low. To tackle this problem, the authors propose to augment common argumentation mapping features with a Debate Dashboard. The research hypothesis the authors make is that by providing visual conversational feedback the Debate Dashboard improv...
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In today economic environment, innovation is considered the primary source of competitive advantage for companies. The advent of Web 2.0 tools has provided organizations with new models and tools to improve collaboration and co-creation... more
In today economic environment, innovation is considered the primary source of competitive advantage for companies. The advent of Web 2.0 tools has provided organizations with new models and tools to improve collaboration and co-creation of new knowledge assets. In particular, the shift to Open Innovation models has been recognized as a major change in the way companies create and manage innovation. In this paper the authors focus on a particular kind of web-based platforms known as argument mapping tools. Argument mapping tools have proved to be valuable tools to the organization to support collaborative decision making in distributed environments, but the level of adoption of these technologies in common organizational practices remains quite low. To tackle this problem, the authors propose to augment common argumentation mapping features with a Debate Dashboard. The research hypothesis the authors make is that by providing visual conversational feedback the Debate Dashboard improv...
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Knowledge-oriented organizations are bricks for the knowledge-based society construction. Building knowledge-based society and economy suppose challenging transition processes from the classical structure of an organization to new... more
Knowledge-oriented organizations are bricks for the knowledge-based society construction. Building knowledge-based society and economy suppose challenging transition processes from the classical structure of an organization to new organizational forms that help to fill the gap between actual society and the future knowledge-based society and economy. This transition generates new issues in knowledge creation and sharing processes, related to the particularities of the new organizational forms. Therefore, in the last few years, our researches are oriented to developing and testing a number of forms of organization designed to facilitate an efficient and effective transition toward the knowledge-based society, like communities of practice, (virtual) networks of professionals or knowledge ecosystems (KE). Under this general frame, this paper presents the results of our research aiming to capture the necessary changes that a medical organization specialized in rehabilitation (the Nation...
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In this paper, the authors propose a methodology aimed at eliciting small firms' competencies in order to support the small enterprises to manage organizational development through the identification of their training priorities.... more
In this paper, the authors propose a methodology aimed at eliciting small firms' competencies in order to support the small enterprises to manage organizational development through the identification of their training priorities. With small firms' competencies here we essentially ...
This paper presents a methodological approach for the evaluation of innovation capabilities in small software firms. The methodology is based on the assumption of a relationship between specific resources managed by small software firms... more
This paper presents a methodological approach for the evaluation of innovation capabilities in small software firms. The methodology is based on the assumption of a relationship between specific resources managed by small software firms and their innovation capabilities. Within the proposed methodological approach, a model for the quantitative analysis of innovation capabilities is presented. In order to show how the methodology can be applied to concrete situations, three case studies of small firms operating in the software sector and information services are presented and discussed.
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The data have been used to test the following research hypotheses H1: Perceived Elegance is inversely correlated to expected effort; H2: Perceived Elegance is positively correlated with the EC of a product interface. H3: Elegance is... more
The data have been used to test the following research hypotheses H1: Perceived Elegance is inversely correlated to expected effort; H2: Perceived Elegance is positively correlated with the EC of a product interface. H3: Elegance is positively correlated to the actual effort of using a new product. Perceived was elegance was measured through an online survey (see survey) in which participants were asked to rank several models of an appliance control panel in order of perceived elegance using a one to 5 scale (1 most elegant, 5 least elegant) Expected effort was measured through an online survey (see survey) in which participants were asked to rank several models of an appliance control panel in order of perceived elegance using a one to 5 scale (the easiest to use) to 5 ( the hardest to use) Effective complexity is a metric described in the file Microwave EC.ppt. The EC value is computed based on the spatial organization of control elements on the panel (knobs, buttons, screens, etc...
and other research outputs A debate dashboard to enhance on-line knowledge sharing
Negative impacts and unintended dysfunctions of AI are increasingly under scrutiny, and AI designers are often accused of not being considerate enough of the depth and consequences of the innovation they create. In this paper, we present... more
Negative impacts and unintended dysfunctions of AI are increasingly under scrutiny, and AI designers are often accused of not being considerate enough of the depth and consequences of the innovation they create. In this paper, we present a framework to assess the impact of AI solutions on their users, society, and environment to help designers to anticipate potential issues and create solutions that are not harmful and support individuals and society's betterment. Humanistic approaches to digital design inspire the proposed framework, including Positive and Inclusive design. The originality of the proposed approach derives from assessing the consequences of using computing solutions as they propagate across individual, social and environmental layers centered around the task the solution is supposed to perform. This paper presents an initial version of the framework and outlines the next steps for its full development.
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Literature about Industrial Districts has largely emphasized the importance of both economic and social factors in determining the competitiveness of these particular firms' clusters. For thirty years, the Industrial District... more
Literature about Industrial Districts has largely emphasized the importance of both economic and social factors in determining the competitiveness of these particular firms' clusters. For thirty years, the Industrial District productive and organizational model represented an alternative to the integrated model of fordist enterprise. Nowadays, the district model suffers from competitive gaps, largely due to the increase of competitive pressure of globalization. This work aims to analyze, through an agent-based simulation model, the influence of informal socio-cognitive coordination mechanisms on district's performances, in relation to different competitive scenarios. The agent-based simulation approach is particularly fit for this purpose as it is able to represent the Industrial District's complexity. Furthermore, it permits to develop dynamic analysis of district's performances according to different types of environment evolution. The results of this work question...
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In previous authors' researches (Capaldo et al., 2006, 2007, 2008) a model aimed at providing IT management with an effective instrument to reduce the risk of failure of implementation process was presented. The model is based on the... more
In previous authors' researches (Capaldo et al., 2006, 2007, 2008) a model aimed at providing IT management with an effective instrument to reduce the risk of failure of implementation process was presented. The model is based on the analysis of technical and organizational issues that may affect a successful implementation process. This model will be the methodological assumption to develop a tool to plan change management activities in ERP implementation process. To overview some criticalities of the model, a survey based on Analytic Hierarchy Process was carried out. Two sets of expert were selected: academician and professional. On the basis of the results obtained, variables will be reduced and ranked in order to obtain a final set of indicators to put in to the tool.
This paper explores how structural properties of small firms’ networks emerge from the ways firms exchange knowledge. In particular we are interested in analysing if and under which conditions the need for knowledge exchange within a set... more
This paper explores how structural properties of small firms’ networks emerge from the ways firms exchange knowledge. In particular we are interested in analysing if and under which conditions the need for knowledge exchange within a set of co-located small firms is able to generate a more or less stable structure of links among fi rms. We focus on a specific kind of small firms’ networks called Industrial Districts (IDs). One of the peculiar characteristics of IDs is flexible specialization: small firms specialize in given phases of the production processes and join up production chains in a flexible and dynamic way depending on market opportunities. Consequently, knowledge exchange is mainly related to the matching of complementary knowhow and competencies. To explore the relationship between the exchange of complementary knowledge assets and network structure we developed a computational model of an ID. The results obtained through computer simulations of the model show that the ...
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The aim of the paper is to propose a methodology to compute the cost of competencies involved in critical organizational processes. We present a costing model for the assessment of competencies integrating a cost technique, Activity... more
The aim of the paper is to propose a methodology to compute the cost of competencies involved in critical organizational processes. We present a costing model for the assessment of competencies integrating a cost technique, Activity Based-Costing (ABC), with a Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The proposed model has been tested in a small manufacturing firm operating in the packaging sector and the first results are reported. The main contribution of the work concerns the development of a costing model useful for managers to acquire awareness about the role of competencies in the activation of critical processes, and consequently, triggering learning processes. Furthermore, the evaluation of the costs of competencies can be used to make a more careful analysis of the cost/benefits ratio associated to an investment in intangible assets than the ones performed by other methods available in the literature that are unbalanced toward the evaluation of benefits.
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Before moving on to a more rigorous and systematic discussion in the following chapters, through diverse suggestions and references, this chapter intends to offer the reader a key to the theme of learning in organizations. We consider... more
Before moving on to a more rigorous and systematic discussion in the following chapters, through diverse suggestions and references, this chapter intends to offer the reader a key to the theme of learning in organizations. We consider learning in organizations as an individual and collective response to the complexity that comes out of the encounter between the organization and its environment. We show that in this perspective, learning cannot be governed through the usual managerial logic based on control, standardization and planning, but requires new approaches and instruments. It is found in sense-making, meaning the capacity of individuals to reduce the ambiguity through the construction of plausible hypotheses and the production of convincing explanatory discourses, the starting point for the analysis of the process of organizational learning and the construction of new managerial tools.
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Abstract: Current open-source/peer-production technologies, such as forums, wikis and blogs, have enabled an unprecedented explosion of global knowledge sharing, but appear to be less successful at enabling collaborative deliberation (ie... more
Abstract: Current open-source/peer-production technologies, such as forums, wikis and blogs, have enabled an unprecedented explosion of global knowledge sharing, but appear to be less successful at enabling collaborative deliberation (ie the systematic enumeration, analysis, and selection of solution alternatives) around the complex systemic challenges, such as climate change, now facing humankind. In this paper, we present a new kind of collaboration platform, based on the large-scale application of argumentation theory, ...
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Elegance is often invoked as a characteristic of good design, but it cannot be pursued as a design objective because of the absence of actionable definitions that can be translated into design strategies and metrics. In this work, we... more
Elegance is often invoked as a characteristic of good design, but it cannot be pursued as a design objective because of the absence of actionable definitions that can be translated into design strategies and metrics. In this work, we analyze elegance in the context of systems engineering using a perspective that integrates visual art, Gestalt psychology, neuroscience, and complexity theory. In particular, we measure elegance as effective complexity and theorize that it can be achieved by a process of complexity resolution based on the adoption of eight visual heuristics. We present an empirical study in which a sample of systems engineers were asked to assess alternative representations of a same system and show that effective complexity is strongly correlated to perceived elegance and systems effectiveness. Our results are consistent with independent findings obtained in other fields including design and psychology of perception showing that good design must embed an effective leve...
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explain the emergence of collaboration networks in entrepreneurial clusters as determined by the way entrepreneurs exchange knowledge and learn through business transactions needed to implement... more
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explain the emergence of collaboration networks in entrepreneurial clusters as determined by the way entrepreneurs exchange knowledge and learn through business transactions needed to implement temporary supply chains in networks of co-located firms. Design/methodology/approach A socio-computational approach is adopted to model business transactions and supply chain formation in Marshallian industrial districts (IDs). An agent-based model is presented and used as a virtual lab to test the hypotheses between the firms’ behaviour and the emergence of structural properties at the system level. Findings The simulation findings and their validation based on the comparison with a real world cluster show that the topological properties of the emerging network are influenced by the learning strategies and decision-making criteria firms use when choosing partners. With reference to the specific case of Marshallian IDs it is shown that inertial learning...
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... teoriche si propone la seguente definizione di memoria collettiva del DI: insieme di pratiche socialicondivise e di valori che influenzano il comportamento sociale attraverso processi di apprendimen-to di lungo periodo, basati... more
... teoriche si propone la seguente definizione di memoria collettiva del DI: insieme di pratiche socialicondivise e di valori che influenzano il comportamento sociale attraverso processi di apprendimen-to di lungo periodo, basati sull'interazione ripetuta e sulla condivisione di un ...
In this paper we present a model based on activity based costing and analytic hierarchy process to assess the impact of individual competencies on value creation and its application to a case study of a small manufacturing firm. Namely,... more
In this paper we present a model based on activity based costing and analytic hierarchy process to assess the impact of individual competencies on value creation and its application to a case study of a small manufacturing firm. Namely, our model is designed to support managers to deal with the following concrete situation: suppose that a company has decided to
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In this paper the authors present a framework for supplier evaluation in a global environment. Global supply chains may involve very different relationships, from strategic/long term to tactical/short term relationships in which data... more
In this paper the authors present a framework for supplier evaluation in a global environment. Global supply chains may involve very different relationships, from strategic/long term to tactical/short term relationships in which data necessary for evaluation are often ...
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Purpose – In this paper the aim is to present Debate Dashboard, an online collaborative platform designed to support distributed knowledge management and decision making. The platform integrates an argument mapping tool with visual... more
Purpose – In this paper the aim is to present Debate Dashboard, an online collaborative platform designed to support distributed knowledge management and decision making. The platform integrates an argument mapping tool with visual widgets with the objective of enhancing collective sense-making and mutual understanding as well as to compensate for the costs of mediated communication in virtual collaborative environments. Design/methodology/approach – The design of Debate Dashboard is based on the theory of common ground according to which participants involved in a conversation build mutual understanding thanks to the exchange of different types of feedback. Using the concept of grounding cost, the authors identified several features of the Dashboard supposed to favour mutual understanding and knowledge sharing. Such features have been implemented through six visual widgets selected through a benchmarking of currently available visualization tools. Findings – The paper discusses the limitations and advantages of online argumentation to support online discussions and presents a review of current visualization tools. The design of a new platform able to integrate online argumentation and visualization technologies is described and it is argued that Debate Dashboard will improve online collaboration in many respects especially in terms of supporting the construction of shared knowledge representations for geographically distributed collaborative teams. Originality/value – First, the work adds to the debate on the development of online argumentation platforms by offering an alternative theoretical perspective based on language and conversational studies. Second, it proposes for the first time to integrate argumentation and visualization technologies in the same tool to create an augmented collaborative platform able to overcome the limitations of both traditional online collaboration technologies, such as forums and wikis, as well as the criticalities associated with the use of argumentation technologies.
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Collaborative Computer-Supported Argument Visualization (CCSAV) is a technical methodology that offers support for online collective deliberation over complex dilemmas. As compared with more traditional conversational technologies, like... more
Collaborative Computer-Supported Argument Visualization (CCSAV) is a technical methodology that offers support for online collective deliberation over complex dilemmas. As
compared with more traditional conversational technologies, like wikis and forums, CCSAV is designed to promote more critical thinking and evidence-based reasoning, by using representations that highlight conceptual relationships between contributions, and through computational analytics that assess the structural integrity of the network. However, to date, CCSAV tools have achieved adoption primarily in small-scale educational contexts, and only to a limited degree in real world applications. We hypothesise that by reifying conversations as logical maps to address the shortcomings of chronological streams, CCSAV tools underestimate the importance of participation and interaction in enhancing collaborative knowledge-building. We argue, therefore, that CCSAV platforms should be socially augmented in order to improve their mediation capability. Drawing on Clark and Brennan’s influential Common Ground theory, we designed a Debate Dashboard, which augmented a CCSAV tool with a set of widgets that deliver meta-information about participants and the interaction process. An empirical study simulating a moderately sized collective deliberation scenario provides evidence that this experimental version outperformed the control version on a range of indicators, including usability, mutual understanding, quality of perceived collaboration, and accuracy of individual decisions. No evidence was found that the addition of the Debate Dashboard impeded the quality of the argumentation or the richness of content.
compared with more traditional conversational technologies, like wikis and forums, CCSAV is designed to promote more critical thinking and evidence-based reasoning, by using representations that highlight conceptual relationships between contributions, and through computational analytics that assess the structural integrity of the network. However, to date, CCSAV tools have achieved adoption primarily in small-scale educational contexts, and only to a limited degree in real world applications. We hypothesise that by reifying conversations as logical maps to address the shortcomings of chronological streams, CCSAV tools underestimate the importance of participation and interaction in enhancing collaborative knowledge-building. We argue, therefore, that CCSAV platforms should be socially augmented in order to improve their mediation capability. Drawing on Clark and Brennan’s influential Common Ground theory, we designed a Debate Dashboard, which augmented a CCSAV tool with a set of widgets that deliver meta-information about participants and the interaction process. An empirical study simulating a moderately sized collective deliberation scenario provides evidence that this experimental version outperformed the control version on a range of indicators, including usability, mutual understanding, quality of perceived collaboration, and accuracy of individual decisions. No evidence was found that the addition of the Debate Dashboard impeded the quality of the argumentation or the richness of content.