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Standards are normative specifications for the steering of education policy and practice. They aim to clarify educational objectives, means and practice, by giving a shape to the worlds of education. They raise criticisms of oversimplification often splitting the discussion in unnecessary oppositions between pro and con standardisation. To escape from a fruitless antagonism, this chapter proposes the concept of waves of standardisation. Standards are essential characteristics of any organisation, including schools. Historically, standardisation of education increases with the emergence of modernity, and in particular with the unfolding and consolidation of mass schooling. Since then, however, waves of standardisation develop into diverse political scenarios and are oriented by different rationales. More than a standard world of education, a world of standards sustained by several circuits of expertise where competing logics of justifications are embedded in various political rationalities is illustrated.

The Covid-19 pandemic represents an extraordinary and unpredictable event influencing the whole economy and society. Using a case study approach, the authors explored how big companies operating in Italy were able to respond to the crisis to ensure business continuity. Therefore, the authors discussed different business disruptions caused by Covid-19; in addition, they developed an integrated policy framework in which they proposed specific strategic responses for increasing the level of organizational resilience. The aim of the paper is to discuss and reflect on the ability of specific companies to increase their level of organizational resilience when unexpected events happen.

The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with target CEOs of four major companies operating in Italy in different industries. Especially, the authors focused on multiutilities, media and communications, investment banking and mobile telecommunications. The interviews were based on questions dealing with Covid-19 implications and strategic responses to navigate this complex scenario.

Based on the CEOs' contributions, the authors presented short-term actions and long-term strategies planned and implemented by each Italian company. In particular, the authors emphasized similarities and dissimilarities in terms of strategic responses and future business development.

The analysis of practical cases was helpful for increasing their knowledge on organizational resilience and for providing the managerial community with a policy framework to navigate unexpected events like the Covid-19 pandemic.

The visualization of ranking information in global public policy is moving away from traditional “league table” formats and toward dashboards and interactive data displays. This paper explores the rhetoric underpinning the visualization of ranking information in such interactive formats, the purpose of which is to encourage country participation in reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals. The paper unpacks the strategies that the visualization experts adopt in the measurement of global poverty and wellbeing, focusing on a variety of interactive ranking visualizations produced by the OECD, the World Bank, the Gates Foundation and the ‘Our World in Data’ group at the University of Oxford. Building on visual and discourse analysis, the study details how the politically and ethically sensitive nature of global public policy, coupled with the pressures for “decolonizing” development, influence how rankings are visualized. The study makes two contributions to the literature on rankings. First, it details the move away from league table formats toward multivocal interactive layouts that seek to mitigate the competitive and potentially dysfunctional pressures of the display of “winners and losers.” Second, it theorizes ranking visualizations in global public policy as “alignment devices” that entice country buy-in and seek to align actors around common global agendas.

The Italian system of education is characterised by weak school autonomy, strong teacher autonomy, and lack of collegial cultures. From the point of the cohesion/regulation matrix, the Italian case is rather of an individualist type with some fatalist notes, given a widespread culture of pedagogical egalitarianism and the existence of formal collegial bodies. There are many barriers to the introduction of evidence-based practice in Italian teaching. At the same time, some major enablers at the school level are as a self-evaluation school rapport and a school improvement plan. At the school system level, the Institute for school evaluation is as a key player contributing to the advancement of a culture of EIP. We argue that an enduring centralization model with weak coordination mechanisms at the school level is not suitable to mobilize academic research knowledge across the Italian system. A new governance mechanism based on widely disseminated policies would be of critical importance in the Italian case, in order to improve the use of EIP in schools and to enhance the skills of teachers and school leaders through professional development.

This chapter examines three Italian cities that have experienced a transition from “Fordism to tourism”: Genoa, Turin, and Milan. After an industrial crisis, they have invested in culture and tourism as alternative ways of development. This transition is examined using the theoretical framework of urban regimes highlighting five development trends: the city as a growth machine, the Fordist city, the creative city, the city as entertainment machine, and the blue-green city. By adopting this theoretical framework, the evidence shows how academic institutions, tour operators, and public authorities may or may not work together for the tourism development of their cities.

The purpose of this paper is to present the latest innovations in the drug distribution processes of hospital companies, which are currently dealing with high inventory and storage costs and fragmented organizational responsibilities.

The literature review and the in-depth analysis of a case study support the understanding of the unit dose drug distribution system and the subsequent definition of the practical implications for hospital companies.

Starting from the insights offered by the case study, the analysis shows that the unit dose system allows hospitals to improve the patient care quality and reduce costs.

The limitations of the research are those related to the theoretical and exploratory nature of the study, but from a practical point of view, the work provides important indications to the management of healthcare companies, which have to innovate their drug distribution systems.

This paper analyzes a new and highly topical issue and provides several insights for the competitive development of a fundamental sector.

This paper seeks to define a new construct, salesperson opportunity recognition, which contributes to solutions selling effectiveness and efficiency.

A framework for the composition of salesperson opportunity recognition as well as antecedents and outcomes is constructed from an analysis and synthesis of the extant literature on entrepreneurial cognition and creativity.

The paper identifies salesperson opportunity recognition as a distinct, multi‐dimensional construct that mediates the relationship between key organizational variables and solutions selling outcomes.

The paper is conceptual and requires empirical development.

This paper describes key cognitive processes necessary for salespeople to succeed in today's solutions‐oriented, customer‐centric environment. The discussion should help sales scholars embark on new research into salesperson cognition.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the general reasons for the crisis in Italy ' s contemporary public library institution. This crisis is complicated by the historical origins of the public library in Italy and, more broadly, by the difficult relationship between the Italian culture and today ' s world.

A conceptual discussion on the role of public library in Italy.

The paper finds that the continuing delay in the acquisition of literacy, the tendency for points of view to become divided and to go to extremes and the development of a form of politics in the country suspended between centralised government and the claims of the local self-governments are all factors that have influenced the establishment of the public library in Italy.

Understanding the conditions of the controversial origins of the public library in Italy can be of help when deciding which model to use in the future. A suitable model for this institution must not neglect but, on the contrary, must enhance the role of the library as a social institution of the history of a specific community.