The increasing use of digital techniques to manage information has inevitably led to a fast devel... more The increasing use of digital techniques to manage information has inevitably led to a fast development of data converters (DCs). Even if much has been published on specific DC architectures, very few studies investigate their evolution in the last decades. This paper analyzes the developments in DCs and DC-based systems over the last 40 years, by adopting an empirical evidence-based approach. The research methodology follows two different paths: an academic literature review, performed through a chronological and a citation/co-citation study, and a patent analysis. The aim of this paper is to answer three specific research questions: 1. What is the relevant academic literature discussing DCs and how has it been evolving over the last 4 decades? 2. How extended is the patenting activity on DCs, and how has it been evolving over the last 4 decades? 3. Is the scientific publication trend corresponding to the patent registration trend? The research results highlight similar exponential...
Business Performance Measurement and Management, 2009
Abstract The capability to manage and control the Business Performances (BPs) of a company is now... more Abstract The capability to manage and control the Business Performances (BPs) of a company is nowadays a leveraging factor for the own competitiveness. One of the most important factors to improve business performance indicators is the devel-opment of a structured Quality ...
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 2010
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss which are the most important critical success fact... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss which are the most important critical success factors (CSFs) to be attained for determining whether a group of companies in a supply chain (SC) is prepared to undergo a qualitative improvement initiative (QII). By answering four critical research questions, the paper focuses on the role of performance measurement systems (PMSs) as a CSF to support QII and discusses which PMS is more appropriate for the different SC context existing in the new economy.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology adopted in this research relies on different approaches. In order to evaluate the readiness of a company in the SC to start a QII, the authors propose a checklist of CSFs defined through a literature review. Further, to evaluate the impact of PMSs to support QII at the SC level, the authors review PMS literature and discuss the characteristics of the various PMS available. Last, in order to select the best PMS to support the QII of companies belong...
Six Sigma (SS) methodology is nowadays one of the most used approaches in the Quality Management ... more Six Sigma (SS) methodology is nowadays one of the most used approaches in the Quality Management field since its benefits coming from the improvement of the process outputs quality by identifying and removing the causes of defects and variability in manufacturing and business processes. Thus, literature on the SS topic is exponentially increased during last decades; the vast number of works on the SS field represents a good opportunity for a structured literature review of the articles, in order to understand the evolutions of the concept, the fields of its application and possible evolution for further studies. The literature review has been carried out by using a chronological review of the main SS approaches developed both for large and small companies, in order to highlight particular aspects of the SS literature and some applications of the SS methodology. The evaluation of the papers found in literature is carried out through a Strengths-Weaknesses criterion. Moreover, for tho...
The study of a complex phenomenon such as innovation, influences and effects of which are tangibl... more The study of a complex phenomenon such as innovation, influences and effects of which are tangible in manifold contexts, traditionally requires the integration of different levels of analysis and the interaction among distant disciplines. The enterprise appears to be the fundamental agent of economic change; in this context, innovation, by intervening in the sphere of technology, constitutes a fundamental dimension also for social change. In addition, it interacts in the circle of a complex matrix of cultural, economic and institutional factors which are the base of social and economical evolution. In this context, the research questions (RQ) investigated by the authors are: “what is innovation?” [RQ 1] and “which are the main evolutions of innovation management models?” [RQ 2]. Literature on this matter has exponentially evolved in recent years. Nevertheless, innovation literature presents a large heterogeneity of results, while the innovation process concept itself is still poorly...
Business performance measurement and management is a topic of increasing interest in both academi... more Business performance measurement and management is a topic of increasing interest in both academic and industrial ambits. While performance indicators and frameworks have been developed for large companies, little research has focused on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). As a consequence of that, different kind of research are needed in order to extend the current body of knowledge. This paper is a contribute forward this direction. Particularly, the paper reports the case study of the implementation of a performance measurement system in a SME. The various stages of the project are highlighted and characteristics of the final system discussed. After two years of system's adoption, feedbacks from user appear positive.
Total quality management is from a decade an important and useful organizational system for incre... more Total quality management is from a decade an important and useful organizational system for increasing companies' competitiveness, by optimizing processes with a particular focus on the customer. Among all the methodologies, ISO 9000 certification is one of the most common and recognized approaches for the benefits of the companies that decide to implement it. Several studies have been conducted in literature, presenting some important impacts of the ISO 9000 on the companies' performances. Due to the vast number of works, a classification of the main impacts of ISO 9000 on the principle business performances is needed. The findings coming from the literature review analysis are therefore validated through a survey extended at 366 companies. The resulting information of the investigation are coherent with those studied in literature, even if some key aspects are extremely focused on a restricted set of impact areas. The investigation allow the author to identify the main imp...
Six Sigma (SS) methodology is nowadays one of the most used approaches in the Quality Management ... more Six Sigma (SS) methodology is nowadays one of the most used approaches in the Quality Management field since its benefits, coming from the improvement of the process outputs quality by identifying and removing the causes of defects and variability in manufacturing and business processes. Thus, literature on the SS topic is exponentially increased during last decades; the vast number of works on the SS field represents a good opportunity for a structured literature review of the articles, in order to understand the evolutions of the concept, the fields of its application and possible evolution for further studies. The literature review has been carried out by using a chronological review of the main SS approaches developed both for large and small companies, in order to highlight particular aspects of the SS literature and some applications of the SS methodology. The evaluation of the papers found in literature is carried out through a Strengths-Weaknesses criterion. Moreover, for th...
In recent years, performance measurement and management (PMM) has received much attention from re... more In recent years, performance measurement and management (PMM) has received much attention from researchers and practitioners. Despite the growing use of PMM systems, different problems cause companies to experience difficulty in implementing such systems, with consequent risk of partial benefits or total goal failure. The literature on PMM is nowadays quite vast, but only a ten of models addresses the problem in its entirety and relatively little research addresses to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Based on a structured literature review of PMM models, factors influencing PMM initiatives in SMEs and milestones for PMM design, the authors provide an evaluation of frameworks today available. Based on the identification of strengths and weakness of these frameworks, the authors propose a new integrated framework for PMM design, which fulfills the identified lacks and optimizes strengths. The framework proposed is a significant contribute to enhance SME application of such a systems.
In recent years, performance measurement and management (PMM) has received much attention from re... more In recent years, performance measurement and management (PMM) has received much attention from researchers and practitioners. Despite the growing use of PMM systems, different problems cause companies to experience difficulty in implementing such systems, with consequent risk of partial benefits or total goal failure. The literature on PMM is nowadays quite vast, but only a ten of models addresses the problem in its entirety and relatively little research addresses to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Based on a structured literature review of PMM models, factors influencing PMM initiatives in SMEs and milestones for PMM design, the authors provide an evaluation of frameworks today available. Based on the identification of strengths and weakness of these frameworks, the authors propose a new integrated framework for PMM design, which fulfills the identified lacks and optimizes strengths. The framework proposed is a significant contribute to enhance SME application of such a systems.
The increasing use of digital techniques to manage information has inevitably led to a fast devel... more The increasing use of digital techniques to manage information has inevitably led to a fast development of data converters (DCs). Even if much has been published on specific DC architectures, very few studies investigate their evolution in the last decades. This paper analyzes the developments in DCs and DC-based systems over the last 40 years, by adopting an empirical evidence-based approach. The research methodology follows two different paths: an academic literature review, performed through a chronological and a citation/co-citation study, and a patent analysis. The aim of this paper is to answer three specific research questions: 1. What is the relevant academic literature discussing DCs and how has it been evolving over the last 4 decades? 2. How extended is the patenting activity on DCs, and how has it been evolving over the last 4 decades? 3. Is the scientific publication trend corresponding to the patent registration trend? The research results highlight similar exponential...
Business Performance Measurement and Management, 2009
Abstract The capability to manage and control the Business Performances (BPs) of a company is now... more Abstract The capability to manage and control the Business Performances (BPs) of a company is nowadays a leveraging factor for the own competitiveness. One of the most important factors to improve business performance indicators is the devel-opment of a structured Quality ...
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 2010
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss which are the most important critical success fact... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss which are the most important critical success factors (CSFs) to be attained for determining whether a group of companies in a supply chain (SC) is prepared to undergo a qualitative improvement initiative (QII). By answering four critical research questions, the paper focuses on the role of performance measurement systems (PMSs) as a CSF to support QII and discusses which PMS is more appropriate for the different SC context existing in the new economy.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology adopted in this research relies on different approaches. In order to evaluate the readiness of a company in the SC to start a QII, the authors propose a checklist of CSFs defined through a literature review. Further, to evaluate the impact of PMSs to support QII at the SC level, the authors review PMS literature and discuss the characteristics of the various PMS available. Last, in order to select the best PMS to support the QII of companies belong...
Six Sigma (SS) methodology is nowadays one of the most used approaches in the Quality Management ... more Six Sigma (SS) methodology is nowadays one of the most used approaches in the Quality Management field since its benefits coming from the improvement of the process outputs quality by identifying and removing the causes of defects and variability in manufacturing and business processes. Thus, literature on the SS topic is exponentially increased during last decades; the vast number of works on the SS field represents a good opportunity for a structured literature review of the articles, in order to understand the evolutions of the concept, the fields of its application and possible evolution for further studies. The literature review has been carried out by using a chronological review of the main SS approaches developed both for large and small companies, in order to highlight particular aspects of the SS literature and some applications of the SS methodology. The evaluation of the papers found in literature is carried out through a Strengths-Weaknesses criterion. Moreover, for tho...
The study of a complex phenomenon such as innovation, influences and effects of which are tangibl... more The study of a complex phenomenon such as innovation, influences and effects of which are tangible in manifold contexts, traditionally requires the integration of different levels of analysis and the interaction among distant disciplines. The enterprise appears to be the fundamental agent of economic change; in this context, innovation, by intervening in the sphere of technology, constitutes a fundamental dimension also for social change. In addition, it interacts in the circle of a complex matrix of cultural, economic and institutional factors which are the base of social and economical evolution. In this context, the research questions (RQ) investigated by the authors are: “what is innovation?” [RQ 1] and “which are the main evolutions of innovation management models?” [RQ 2]. Literature on this matter has exponentially evolved in recent years. Nevertheless, innovation literature presents a large heterogeneity of results, while the innovation process concept itself is still poorly...
Business performance measurement and management is a topic of increasing interest in both academi... more Business performance measurement and management is a topic of increasing interest in both academic and industrial ambits. While performance indicators and frameworks have been developed for large companies, little research has focused on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). As a consequence of that, different kind of research are needed in order to extend the current body of knowledge. This paper is a contribute forward this direction. Particularly, the paper reports the case study of the implementation of a performance measurement system in a SME. The various stages of the project are highlighted and characteristics of the final system discussed. After two years of system's adoption, feedbacks from user appear positive.
Total quality management is from a decade an important and useful organizational system for incre... more Total quality management is from a decade an important and useful organizational system for increasing companies' competitiveness, by optimizing processes with a particular focus on the customer. Among all the methodologies, ISO 9000 certification is one of the most common and recognized approaches for the benefits of the companies that decide to implement it. Several studies have been conducted in literature, presenting some important impacts of the ISO 9000 on the companies' performances. Due to the vast number of works, a classification of the main impacts of ISO 9000 on the principle business performances is needed. The findings coming from the literature review analysis are therefore validated through a survey extended at 366 companies. The resulting information of the investigation are coherent with those studied in literature, even if some key aspects are extremely focused on a restricted set of impact areas. The investigation allow the author to identify the main imp...
Six Sigma (SS) methodology is nowadays one of the most used approaches in the Quality Management ... more Six Sigma (SS) methodology is nowadays one of the most used approaches in the Quality Management field since its benefits, coming from the improvement of the process outputs quality by identifying and removing the causes of defects and variability in manufacturing and business processes. Thus, literature on the SS topic is exponentially increased during last decades; the vast number of works on the SS field represents a good opportunity for a structured literature review of the articles, in order to understand the evolutions of the concept, the fields of its application and possible evolution for further studies. The literature review has been carried out by using a chronological review of the main SS approaches developed both for large and small companies, in order to highlight particular aspects of the SS literature and some applications of the SS methodology. The evaluation of the papers found in literature is carried out through a Strengths-Weaknesses criterion. Moreover, for th...
In recent years, performance measurement and management (PMM) has received much attention from re... more In recent years, performance measurement and management (PMM) has received much attention from researchers and practitioners. Despite the growing use of PMM systems, different problems cause companies to experience difficulty in implementing such systems, with consequent risk of partial benefits or total goal failure. The literature on PMM is nowadays quite vast, but only a ten of models addresses the problem in its entirety and relatively little research addresses to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Based on a structured literature review of PMM models, factors influencing PMM initiatives in SMEs and milestones for PMM design, the authors provide an evaluation of frameworks today available. Based on the identification of strengths and weakness of these frameworks, the authors propose a new integrated framework for PMM design, which fulfills the identified lacks and optimizes strengths. The framework proposed is a significant contribute to enhance SME application of such a systems.
In recent years, performance measurement and management (PMM) has received much attention from re... more In recent years, performance measurement and management (PMM) has received much attention from researchers and practitioners. Despite the growing use of PMM systems, different problems cause companies to experience difficulty in implementing such systems, with consequent risk of partial benefits or total goal failure. The literature on PMM is nowadays quite vast, but only a ten of models addresses the problem in its entirety and relatively little research addresses to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Based on a structured literature review of PMM models, factors influencing PMM initiatives in SMEs and milestones for PMM design, the authors provide an evaluation of frameworks today available. Based on the identification of strengths and weakness of these frameworks, the authors propose a new integrated framework for PMM design, which fulfills the identified lacks and optimizes strengths. The framework proposed is a significant contribute to enhance SME application of such a systems.
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Papers by Luca Cagnazzo