Interplay between technology and meaning: How music majors reacted?

Music in business and management studies: a systematic literature review and research agenda

Music is the background of life, representing an international language that connects different cultures. It is also significant with respect to economies, markets, and businesses. The literature in the music field has identified several issues related to the role of digitalization in the revolution of music, the distribution of music products, the management and organization of music events, music marketing strategies, and the position of musicians as entrepreneurs. This paper comprises a systematic literature review of the most recent articles discussing the numerous connections between music, business, and management (2017–2022). Through a rigorous protocol, this research discusses the effects of the digital revolution on the music industry, with particular reference to the persisting oligopoly of major labels and the new business models that integrate music streaming and social networks. The findings show the renaissance and relevance of live music events, the fundamental role of segmentation strategies for managing festivals, and the limited presence of sustainability as a priority during festivals and events management. Furthermore, the literature highlights the relevance of discussions concerning musicians’ identity, especially in light of the complex relationship between the bohemian and the entrepreneurial nature of their profession. This is followed by numerous reflections on future research opportunities, recommending theoretical and empirical in-depth studies of music industry competition, futuristic management philosophies and business models, and the roles of technology, sustainability, and financial elements in fostering artists’ success in the digital era. Finally, the paper discusses business models and strategies for musicians, festivals management, stores, and sustainability.

Innovation through tradition in design-intensive family firms

Purpose

Several studies show that identity is a critical success factor in design-intensive industries, leading managers and executives to identify solutions that enable firms to simultaneously innovate while preserving their link with the past. Accordingly, scholars have recently revealed the role of the so-called innovation through tradition strategy. Thus, the purpose of this study/paper is to understand how design intensive firms may exploit knowledge pertaining to the past.

Design/methodology/approach

The research contributes to this line of inquiry by conducting a longitudinal analysis of two leading Italian design-intensive firms, B&B Italia and Cassina S.p.A. Specifically, through almost 30 h of interviews with 11 key informants and the analysis of various secondary sources, a unique database of over 900 products covering the period of 1960-2016 was developed.

Findings

The findings reveal that both firms leverage knowledge from the past mainly to preserve firm identity, as indicated by the two indicators used to capture the use of knowledge pertaining to the past (i.e., design tradition intensity and design tradition depth). In addition, the study shows that the values of these indicators significantly increase when ownership control shifts from family-based to fund-based.

Originality/value

The paper looks at design artifacts as a source of knowledge, exploring how they can support firms in reinforcing their identity. The original contribution to the design through traditional literature is in unveiling the product signs dimension of this particular innovation strategy.

Understanding the Adoption Factors Influence on the Use of Intelligent Travel Assistant (ITA) for Eco-Tourists: An Extension of the UTAUT

The objective of this research is to investigate the antecedent factors involving eight variables, i.e. ease of use, trust, enjoyment, design, usefulness, quality, safety and empathy, which influence user acceptance of the intelligent travel assistant (ITA), thus they are formulated into a research model and hypothesis according to wide and deep exploration about the theories of travel and tourism. The technologies used were the VPA, IPA, AI, IoT, technology acceptance theories and related literature. The data collection used online questionnaires for the survey through social media promotion online, i.e. Facebook and Line. The data analysis was conducted with the 299 eco-tourists via the descriptive statistics, that is, percentages and standard deviations (S.D.) through the program of PASW Statistics v.18.0.0. The statistical inferential analysis has used the measurement model and the structural model through employing the program of SmartPLS v.3.2.8. Their results led to recognizing the ITA user acceptance containing firstly the external factors, which involve the ease to use, the trust, the enjoyment, and the design. Secondly, the internal factors included the usefulness, and the quality. Thirdly, the direct factor is the empathy. Finally, the results of this study could be applied for implementation and assessment of ITA in the future.

PAIRS IN INNOVATION: HOW WORKING IN PAIRS HELPS ORGANISATIONS TO MOVE INTO A NEW SHARED DIRECTION

Innovation is a collaborative act. Thus, a lot of attention has been paid to teamwork as the prevalent approach for innovation in companies. However, teams also present limits, due to conflicts and compromises when converging. This study, which focuses on the development of innovative directions, explores the nature of collaboration by looking at the purest unit of collaboration: the pair. We isolate the case of pair collaboration and investigate, through empirical investigations, the sensemaking process people accomplish and how it is affected by those tensions that affect teams when innovating. We observe how innovation unfolds when people move from creating individually, in pair and finally in team. Findings suggest that the pair creates an intimate environment where innovative thinking, alignment and engagement flourish and that it is a good intermediate step towards teamwork. This paper acknowledges an underestimated dynamic of innovation, pair collaboration, which has real potential to address one of organisations’ most problematic challenges: people engagement and convergence towards an innovative direction.