the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This paper analyzes the connection between innovation activities of companies – implemented before crisis – and their performance – measured at time of crisis. The companies listed in the STAR Market Segment of the Italian Stock Exchange are analyzed. Innovation is measured through the level of investments in total tangible and intangible fixed assets in 2006–2007, while performance is captured through growth – expressed by variations of sales, total assets and employees – profitability – through ROI or ROS – and productivity – through asset turnover or sales per employee in the period 2008–2010. The variables of interest are analyzed and compared through statistical techniques and by adopting cluster analysis. In particular, a Voronoi tessellation is also implemented in a varying centroids framework. In accord with a large part of the literature, we find that the behaviour of the performance of the companies is not univocal when they innovate.This paper analyzes the connection between innovation activities of companies â\u80\u93 implemented before crisis â\u80\u93 and their performance â\u80\u93 measured at time of crisis. The companies listed in the STAR Market Segment of the Italian Stock Exchange are analyzed. Innovation is measured through the level of investments in total tangible and intangible fixed assets in 2006â\u80\u932007, while performance is captured through growth â\u80\u93 expressed by variations of sales, total assets and employees â\u80\u93 profitability â\u80\u93 through ROI or ROS â\u80\u93 and productivity â\u80\u93 through asset turnover or sales per employee in the period 2008â\u80\u932010. The variables of interest are analyzed and compared through statistical techniques and by adopting cluster analysis. In particular, a Voronoi tessellation is also implemented in a varying centroids framework. In accord with a large part of the literature, we find that the behaviour of the performance of the companies is not univocal when they innovate

This paper analyzes the links between innovation pre-crisis and performance during crisis for firms listed in the STAR market segment of the Italian Stock Exchange. The aim is to shed light on the relevant parameters for explaining the relationship between innovation and performance (in terms of growth, profitability and productivity), with special focus on innovation type, innovation level and business size. An empirical analysis based on the perspective of information theory is carried out by introducing suitable classes of entropy measures on aggregated quantities. In so doing, results are not biased by the probability estimates of the empirical data, in that entropy-type measures involve directly empirical distributions, so no hypothesis test is required and no best fit of known probability distribution of data is considered. The study shows that the type of innovation is significantly linked with the performance: there is evidence that process innovation initiatives imply better performance.

the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study how the design of a strategy map can be supported by measures expressing the customers’ perceptions about strategic factors and their related determinants. In particular, managers are provided with a fact-based test useful to revise prior knowledge and beliefs. Design/methodology/approach A case study is used to describe the adoption of the partial least squares path modelling (PLS-PM) approach to structural equation modelling in order to compare competing strategy maps and select the one that best fits customer perceptions. A focus group was organised to design the strategy maps, which were tested through a survey of 600 randomly selected resellers. Findings The empirical-based validation of a causal map by using PLS-PM may effectively stimulate a revision of managers’ collective perceptions about a phenomenon characterised by implicit knowledge, as in the case of customer needs. Research limitations/implications The case-study company operates in a business-to-business environment, and thus only the needs of direct customers have been included in the analysis. Final users’ needs should also be considered, even if different solutions are required for data collection. Practical implications The proposed approach provides a set of indicators which allow managers to identify strategic priorities, thus facilitating decision making and strategic planning. Originality/value In the strategic management literature, few attempts have been made to operationalise the complex and multidimensional latent constructs of a strategy map combining managers’ implicit knowledge and empirical validation in a “holistic” manner. The adoption of PLS-PM is relatively new in testing the accuracy of causal maps.