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Crowdfunding (CF) is a digital-financial innovation that, bypassing credit crisis, bank system rigidities and constraints of the capital market, is allowing new ventures and established companies to get the needed funds to support innovations. After one decade of research, mainly focused on relations between variables and outcomes of the CF campaign, the literature shows methodological lacks about the study of its overall behavior. These reflect into a weak theoretical understanding and inconsistent managerial guidance, leading to a 27% success ratio of campaigns. To bridge this gap, this paper embraces a “complex system” perspective of the CF campaign, able to explore the system's behavior of a campaign over time, in light of its causal loop structure.

By adopting and following the document model building (DMB) methodology, a set of 26 variables and mutual causal relations modeled the system “Crowdfunding campaign” and a data set based on them and crafted to model the “Crowdfunding campaign” with a causal loop diagram. Finally, system archetypes have been used to link the causal loop structure with qualitative trends of CF's behavior (i.e. the raised capital over time).

The research brought to 26 variables making the system a “Crowdfunding campaign.” The variables influence each other, thus showing a set of feedback loops, whose structure determines the behavior of the CF campaign. The causal loop structure is traced back to three system archetypes, presiding the behavior in three stages of the campaign.

The value of this paper is both methodological and theoretical. First, the DMB methodology has been expanded and reinforced concerning previous applications; second, we carried out a causation analysis, unlike the common correlation analysis; further, we created a theoretical model of a “Crowdfunding Campaign” unlike the common empirical models built on CF platform's data.

Digitalization had a relevant impact on the cultural tourism sector, both demand and supply. If, on the one hand, advances in digital technologies provided tourists with new mobile services able to amplify the cultural experience, on the other hand, they catalyzed the development of new business models by digital enterprises. This paper has a twofold purpose: to detect business models and key characteristics of mobile apps for cultural tourism and to analyze the offering of app-based services in this sector.

The authors defined a methodology to identify, characterize and analyze a particular category of digital products for cultural tourism: app-based services. They are studied in terms of value creation, proposition and capture with the aim to identify the distinctive features of business models. As a result, the authors identified a classification framework on three main dimensions, namely “how to exploit mobile app features to create value for cultural tourists” (value creation), “which valuable services are delivered to cultural tourists” (value proposition) and “how companies are rewarded for the value they offered” (value capture). The authors apply the framework to perform a situation analysis of app-based services in the cultural tourism market.

The analysis highlights that digital enterprises offering app-based services do not fully exploit advances in technologies about users' value requirements. Hence, the results of our work suggest some directions that digital enterprises may follow to better exploit mobile app technology.

To date, little research has been devoted to investigating cultural tourism business models involving the exploitation of mobile app-based services. This research provides a useful framework to analyze fundamental aspects of business models in this sector. Such a framework represents a practical tool that provides fruitful insights for the design of a new generation of app-based services within the so-called “Internet of things” domain.

Digital platforms for the provision of food information-based services (FISs) represent a consolidated business with increasing revenue streams for entrepreneurs. Such platforms have transformed and clarified the nature of uncertainty and ambiguity inherent in the traditional food sector entrepreneurial processes. Anyway, a clear understanding of the value of digital platforms for FISs is not yet consolidated in the literature. With this paper, the authors try to fill this gap through a critical literature review of scientific research that combines knowledge on food consumer's behavior and user's knowledge behavior.

The authors carried out a critical literature review of scientific research combining knowledge of food consumer's and food information user's behavior. This allowed the identification of the main value components of FISs.

The authors propose a multidimensional framework for modelling the value proposition of digital platforms for FISs. Three main value dimensions have been identified: relevance, credibility, and accessibility. These dimensions concur with the consumer's perceived value of consumers in terms of benefits increase and cost reduction.

The research was intended to shed light on aspects characterizing consumers' perception of food information value. The authors put in evidence that the informational perspective of food communication is under-investigated. This study attempts to provide a holistic overview of the dimensions impacting on consumers' perception of the value of information for food consumers, opening new research perspectives.

The framework represents a tool for positioning food information offerings on the market, with the objective to analyze the value proposition of FISs according to a consumer perspective and to understand gaps of current offering of FISs. Moreover, it may support the design of a new generation of digital platform for food information provision, which would respond to consumers' expectations and information needs, highlighting emerging business opportunities for digital entrepreneurs.

Few research works provide a characterization of value proposition of digital platforms providing food information to consumers. In particular, to date, literature lacks of a holistic overview of the dimensions influencing consumer's perception of the information value of food communications.

Large scale research infrastructures (LSRIs) are rising in the competitive and globalized research environment, since they offer to external researchers-users, inputs and services for cutting-edge, large scale researches. Such researches would not be possible with usual infrastructures and budgets of single universities and research institutions. However, despite the strategic relevance acknowledged to LSRI by the nascent literature and by national policymakers, there is a lack of understanding of configurations and key performances of a LSRI. This paper aims to bridge this gap by identifying key morphologies of LSRIs and analysing their performances.

The research is carried out adopting a mixed research methodology, merging a literature review with a survey conducted on a sample of 11 LSRIs; they provided the data set for the parametrization of a morphological matrix.

The research led to the identification of seven LSRIs morphologies, with different performance linked to their structure.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper originally proposes the data set needed to develop a morphological analysis of LSRIs.

The innovation of business model (BM) is a strategic process for many firms, from which depends competitiveness and sustainability. Despite its theoretical relevance in management sciences, research on business model innovation is in its infancy and lacks of research consistency and theoretical connections to the theme of “performance”. With the aim to contribute in bridging this gap, this paper aims to identify and analyse drivers of business model innovation performance.

This research is based on an integrative literature review methodology.

BMI performance drivers are conditions related to various dimensions (i.e. processes, resources, market, BM structure, etc). that, when fulfilled, allow the BMI to have higher performance. BMI performance drivers are antecedents of BMI performance, and their identification is of both theoretical and practical value. The authors find and report a set of 35 BMI performance drivers.

The value of this research is both theoretical and practical. From a theoretical point of view, the identified “Business Model Innovation performance drivers” define and identify a variable of BMI performance, from a practical perspective, and they provide a comprehensive set of key conditions whose attainment should be planned, pursued and monitored by managers.

This paper proposes an in-depth and complete literature review of the revenue management (RM) issue in the passenger transportation industry. The purpose of this paper is to investigate structural elements and characteristics that help to make sense of the current body of RM literature under a managerial perspective.

The RM literature landscape is analysed according to a systematic literature review approach to point out the main topics around which the scientific literature has grown in the past 30 years. Topics are further categorized in themes by means of an agglomerative hierarchical clustering procedure.

First, the scientific literature of the past 30 years has been categorized into ten topics and four themes. Second, topics and themes are put in contrast with stages of the RM business process to highlight research areas still unaddressed by the literature. Third, the paper suggests research lines for future-related works that could positively contribute to the elevation of RM from a system of techniques to a “strategic management” theory.

Available literature reviews of RM in passenger transportation are focused on quantitative aspects and poorly structured in the systemic view of the RM. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first of its kind, as it aims to assess the whole body of literature, rather than specific themes, and to do it under a management/business perspective.

System dynamics (SD) is emerging as a powerful approach to understand, analyse, simulate and predict complex and dynamic business processes. In particular, it is true in the process of business model innovation (BMI) and not only as a computational approach. Due to the visual and diagrammatic tools employed by SD, innovation managers overcome humans' mental limitations and improve knowledge management in the BMI. This paper discloses the value of SD's visual tools, i.e. causal loop diagrams and stock and flow diagrams, to contribute to the “Knowldege Visualization” research line, and promote the application of SD as a powerful approach to support decisions in BMI.

Given the explorative nature and the “how” question driving the research, the methodology involved is a single, holistic case study. In particular, the case is about a business model (BM) diversification, in which an information and communication technology service provider has added to its existing business model a new BM based on a digital multi-sided platform, for passengers transportation.

The diagrammatic tools of SD, that is causal loop diagrams and stock and flow diagrams, allowed entrepreneurs to overcome the complexity of the business parameters concurring in the design of the BM.

The value of this research is in the exploratory approach and in the originality of the perspective by which SD is analysed: the visual knowledge perspective.

Strong agreement in the extant business literature emphasizes that digital developments are key to economic growth internationally. This is in spite of the recorded high levels (up to 50 percent) of failure among digital companies and entrepreneurs. The purpose of this paper is to identify the digital debates in Italy, explore current policies and develop a typology that characterizes digital entrepreneurs (DEs) and their start-up companies in Italy.

The digital debates and policies are explored through an extensive telephone survey of the self-perceptions and identified supports required by 348 Italian active DEs. Quantitative statistical techniques were used including factor analysis, cluster analysis and ANOVA, to identify motivations, profiles and critical success factors relevant to the sample.

The study identifies three main clusters among the DEs: emerging very young; emerging business focused and experienced. These clusters vary with the entrepreneurs’ background and competence base, motivation and satisfaction factors. The different kinds of profiles require specific kinds of supporting policies identified by the sample that focus on financial, educational and/or networking provision.

The paper affirms the central role of digital entities in modern economies expressed in the current literature and increases knowledge of the perceived success factors identified by DEs. The identification and classification of self-reported characteristics of Italian DEs and to what extent these characterizations might be useful for tailored interventions to support their success are the main contributions of this study. Accordingly, an authentic, original and self-reported portrayal has been constructed of the self-perceptions of Italian DEs. Finally, the study explores the implications for actions and new policies considering self-perceived profiles, needs and expectations of DEs.

The paper examines the conditions under which the adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) innovation is justified by business purposes. The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology capable of guiding prudent and successful investment in the IoT. The paper identifies enabling conditions to maximize the success of IoT security innovation adoption projects in Italian banks.

The methodology proposed is constructed from two key sources: first a literature review and second through impressions gleaned from an informal survey and in-depth interviews with a sample of convenience of six managers of Italian bank security systems. A key purpose of the literature review is to identify enabling conditions for a successful IT innovation adoption project which is then synthesized into an “innovation adoption model” capable of illustrating an IoT adoption decision. Second, the authors identify business process reengineering (BPR) steps required to establishing an appropriate organizational and technical framework to successfully undertake the adoption of the IoT for bank physical security purposes. The resulting methodology refers to a typical BPR project approached from an information system development perspective capable of fusing IoT services with human-based services at best performance values.

The literature review and proposed BPR framework give indications of possible support for the conclusion that the banking sector is ready for the IoT innovations and transformation of traditional bank branch worksites into smart environments. The tentative nature of these findings give sufficient justification for trialing the IoT for banking physical security by introducing an Intelligent Protection System to manage security management processes. Although the authors do not generalize the findings from examining the Italian banking security system, the literature review and the paucity of studies available encourages us to investigate the use of the IoT for bank physical security more broadly.

Adoption of the IoT represents the third wave of IT-driven competition and introduces a methodology applicable to the security domain which represents, globally, an area that is becoming a domain of major economic and social concern. The IoT adoption model proposed reflects the current state of knowledge in the field and could be extended to other organizational at-risk areas requiring continuity of highly effective protection. The authors are encouraged by the results that indicate a high likelihood of success to trial an IoT introduction to banking security.