Sustainability
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Sustainability
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Sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability

30 Ottobre 2025

Art and Science of Managing Paradox of Open Innovation

Autore: Prem Sagar Menghwar                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Abstract: In April 2021, Edward Robb, an entrepreneur, who has been running the family business for the past twenty years, looked back at the last decade’s performance of their companies Applied Medical Coatings and Robb Surgical. Applied Medical Coatings was born as a spinoff company from Metal Cladding in 2003. However, Metal Cladding was established in 1943 by Edward Hupt Robb’ great uncle of Edward Robb. In the last 75 years, Metal Cladding has been an industry leader in providing applied coating technologies that enhance products’ performance while increasing market sustainability at the optimum cost. Metal Cladding has mainly provided products and services to United States Federal Agencies and Armed Service Branches for nearly six decades. In comparison, Applied Medical Coatings (AMC) was established to provide services to the medical industry. The core capability of AMC is that it has the potential to design and develop multiple coating solutions according to the needs of its customers. The company values and uses feedback from its two main stakeholders- corporations and healthcare surgeons- to develop, design, and refine the products. Using a multiple-step iterative process, the company collaborates with stakeholders on developing a range of products manufactured in the USA. However, deliver at the same or lower price developed outside the USA, where production costs are much lower. To achieve this goal, the company collaborates, putting its core knowledge at risk. Each time it collaborates with partners, the company faces the classical paradox of open innovation – how to protect its knowledge while benefiting from external knowledge. So far, it has managed to preserve its internal knowledge and capabilities while collaborating with external stakeholders. However, a new partner has brought colossal business but has asked for complete information about the product development process. It has demanded that it inspects each step in order to ensure that the products meet the criteria. Edward doesn’t want to lose this big customer; however, he can’t also take the risk of sharing the core knowledge. Second, in 2013, another company, Rob surgical, was established as a spinoff company of applied medical coatings. This company works in collaboration with doctors and people who work at universities and has an idea about developing a new product. This company manufactures new medical devices and sells them directly in the market. This collaboration brings other communication challenges because doctors and engineers speak different languages. Besides this, the Covid-19 crisis has disrupted supply chain issues due to the lockdown and closing of elective hospital units. These challenges are critical and pose a risk to the sustainability of the companies; hence, Edward is thinking of approaching his father and engineering team, who has vast experience, and trying to find a way to address these issues to ensure the survival of his family business. Download Case Study Richiedi Teaching Notes

Case Studies

30 Ottobre 2025

Digital Enablers for new Decision Journeys: creating and adopting digital touch points – Sorgenia

Autore: Marco Francesco MazzùIn cooperation with Sorgenia management and Ludovica Serafini                                                                                                                                              Abstract: Gianfilippo Mancini, Sorgenia’s CEO, was looking out of the window of his office in the new sustainable and digital headquarter of the company: he was incredibly proud of Sorgenia’s achievements after the crisis period. Sorgenia had gone far in only three years, but it wasn’t still enough. The goal was to stand out in the market. The CEO was trying to figure out which would be the ideal direction to steer the company in the next years, which actions were needed to impose Sorgenia on the Italian market as the first non-incumbent energy company, and if new trends (production of cleaner energy, longterm sustainability, digital) should be among his priority going forward. A constant thought was also recurring in the management’s agenda: how to transform the perception of energy from being a mere commodity to something that customers consider as a relevant part of their ordinary life. The enhanced-protection regime, in the overcrowded Italian energy retail market, was about to be abolished – as of July 1st, 2020 -, and energy retailers need to develop their strategy to capture the new opportunity. In addition, approximately 25 million energy meters would have to rely on new suppliers in ways not yet codified by the regulation. The goal was radically changing the perception customers have about energy. The keyword was “choice”: let customer have the chance to actively choose an energy offer suitable for their needs. By blending its new positioning with its pioneering attitude in exploiting technology, Sorgenia re-thought all the customer experience in order to give them exactly that: the chance of comparing offers and evaluating the most suitable. A new era was starting: an energy sustainable, shared, easy and full digital. Download Case Study Richiesta Teaching Notes

Case Studies

30 Ottobre 2025

Driving the Change: Chiesi Farmaceutici’s Evolution as Benefit Corporation and B Corp

Autori: Francesca Romana Arduino, Alessandro Zattoni                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Abstract: Chiesi Group is a global Italian private pharmaceutical company owned by Chiesi family. In 2024, the Group operates through 31 global affiliated companies, has 4 production plants located in Europe (Italy, France, Germany) and in Brazil, and 7 Research & Developmentcenters situated in various countries (i.e., Italy, Canada, UK, USA, France, China, Sweden). The company has over 7,000 employees, more than half are females, and its revenues exceeded €3 billion in 2023. The consolidated revenues of the Chiesi Group have shown a steady growth over the last ten years, in particular since 2019, when the company embarked on an incredible sustainability journey. Particularly, in 2018 Chiesi adopted the legal form of Benefit Corporation in Italy and in the US and in the following year achieved the B Corp certification at Group level. In 2022 the Group went through its first re-certification process, that was successfully completed with a higher score which meant an improved social and environmental performance and impact management practices. Notwithstanding its remarkable results and a steadily increasing performance, Chiesi, as many other companies, is going to face new challenges in both the near and long-term future. On 28th November 2022, the European Union, in fact, approved the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) that requires companies to disclose information - about the social and environmental impacts of their own operations as well as along their supply chain. As a result of this new directive, an increasing number of companies will submit in 2025 their CSRD-compliant report for the 2024 financial year. The Chiesi Group will be subject to the new reporting requirements by CSRD for the 2025 financial year, with the report that will be published in 2026. This law will increase the sustainability disclosure and probably also strategic approach to sustainability by large European companies. Also, in response to the evolving ESG regulatory framework as well as increasingly complex global environmental and societal challenges that threaten the world we live in, B Lab has launched stakeholders’ consultations in order to evolve the B Corp standards in alignment with the current revolution sustainability realm is facing. Chiesi has contributed to these consultations and it is looking with attention to the evolving moment that also the B Corpcommunity is undergoing, being committed to continue to measure and improve its social and environmental impacts by adopting standards that can push the company beyond compliance requirements, using business as a force for good to foster an inclusive andregenerative economy. Download Case Study Richiedi Teaching Notes

Case Studies

30 Ottobre 2025

Reimagining Mobility: ASPI’s Data-Driven Approach to Organizational Agility

Autori: Paolo Boccardelli, Chiara Bartoli, Lorenza Gerardi, Stefano Coiro                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Abstract: In recent years, Autostrade per l’Italia, one of Europe’s leading concessionaires in the construction and management of toll motorways, has undergone significant transformations. The global macro-trends of the “twin transition” – namely digitalization and sustainability – have gained momentum in reshaping the industrial landscape, while the reconfiguration of organizational and mobility market dynamics, accelerated by the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, has imposed new challenges. This has been compounded by escalating geopolitical tensions and the volatility of the energy market. In this complex and rapidly changing context, Autostrade per l’Italia has embarked on a profound organizational transformation. Driven by a complete overhaul of its operational and strategic procedures, the company has placed people and data at the center of its model, seeking to respond to new external transformations with a new organizational structure that fosters business agility. In this case study, we retrace the history of Autostrade per l’Italia and the current market context, highlighting its key drivers of change. Finally, this analysis explores the core pillars of Autostrade’s organizational transformation by investigating its strategic shifts. Download Case Study Richiedi Teaching Notes

Case Studies

30 Ottobre 2025

Social Circular Economy: the case of Alpha e-waste collection program

Autore: Pietro De Giovanni                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Abstract: Alpha Electronics makes and sells electronics all over the world. Considering the rigidity of its production systems, the company faces important operational challenges when aiming at becoming more sustainable. Hence, rather than modifying the core business, the company has set a partnership with an association of e-waste collectors and implemented the Alpha e-waste collection programs. Accordingly, Alpha Electronics has been able to initiate a social circular economy business according to which people having old electronics home can return them to the e-waste collectors’ locations and have an incentive for contributing to such an initiative. At the same time, the e-waste collectors activate a set of operations to resell, refurbish, or recycled the returned goods. This gives the option the create new and green jobs, reduce the amount of e-waste in the eco-system, and allow Alpha Electronics to increase the reputation of socially-oriented company. Download Case Study Richiesta Teaching Notes

Case Studies

30 Ottobre 2025

Sustainable Value Chain Management in the Diamond Industry – The Case of Samarth Diamond

Autori: Maria Jell-Ojobor, Sriteja Reddy Wudaru                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Abstract: The diamond industry produces sophisticated luxury products through a global value chain with a wide variety of players, benefitting a demanding customer base but also causing several ethical issues in indigenous countries. From being formed in and mined from the deeper layers of our planet, the journey of a diamond is fascinating. It comprises many steps and involves different types of organizations. It is also a cyclical industry prone to global events such as financial crises or the ongoing pandemic. More than 90% of diamond manufacturers in the world are family-owned SMEs in India. Thus, when the global economy collapses, or the markets decline, they find their survival threatened. In this case, we focus on Samarth Diamond, one such family firm operating in the Indian diamond industry. With its headquarters located in India, the company today also has presence in various other countries through subsidiaries or stand-alone businesses. It can be considered one of the top 1% firms in the Indian industry along several criteria. But the company’s journey has not been easy. Our teaching case will introduce the various aspects of the diamond industry, including its value chain, and outline the major problems that exist in the industry regarding sustainability and ethics. Then we present the history of Samarth Diamond, how it had faced challenges during the 2007-2008 financial crisis and how it had emerged as a successful company when the majority of the industry was closing down. From doing contract-based “job work” for other companies to becoming its own manufacturing company, the growth of Samarth Diamond can be attributed to two main factors: its approach towards technology and its attitude towards employees. With hefty investments in technology and capitalizing on their goodwill and name in the market, Samarth Diamond had succeeded to make an effective transformation. From becoming the first to introduce the famous “single package system” in the small diamond category to becoming an organization with more than 4,500 employees, 3 factories, and 3 international offices, Samarth Diamond is an example of family firms surviving and succeeding with grit, skill, and passion as well as risky decisions to adopt new technologies. We will look at how Samarth Diamond implements its human resource policies, specifically from an ethics and sustainability perspective. The company prides itself on the commitment and loyalty of its employees and considers it a core factor that helped the company survive any crisis. As such, it is interesting to see how a family owned firm manages its people and achieves a level of sustainability that does not just meet CSR definitions but also translates into strategic competencies. Moreover, both technology adoption and employee management are intricately linked in the company’s everyday operations. Given that the majority of diamond manufacturing firms are family-owned Indian SMEs, both the adoption of technology and the move towards sustainability and ethics are quite slow. Samarth Diamond is an example of how sustainability can be integrated into the company to realize the triple-bottom line goals of profits, planet, and people. Download Case Study Richiedi Teaching Notes

Case Studies

30 Ottobre 2025

The Platformization of Banking: The Case of Flowe

Autori: Cristina Alaimo, Jannis Kallinikos, Francesco Sannino                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Abstract: Over the last few decades, digitalization has revolutionized most walks of living, including the ways we shop and pay. The diffusion of mobile devices along with the increasing sophistication of digital technologies and the advent of platforms as widespread organizational arrangements of the digital era have established the conditions for the disruption of entire industries. In what follows, we report a case that shows the digital transformation which the financial service industry is undergoing. Flowe is an Italian innovative startup owned by Banco Mediolanum Spa. Founded in 2020, Flowe counts more than 670k users and 50 partners, a substantial record achieved in a short time frame and amidst a global pandemic. Flowe is an open banking platform and a for-profit company which operations are closely associated with the pursuit of social and sustainable goals. The company can provide for payment services and issue loans in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. However, the company does much more than that. It brings the philosophy of openness, innovation, and sustainability to the banking sector and complements traditional banking operations with a mix of new service offerings, educational aims, gamified experiences, and traditional service provision. Download Case Study Richiesta Teaching Notes

Case Studies