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Research at ALTIS

 

Researching on sustainability and impact entrepreneurship since the early 2000s

The research team revolves at intersections of three main pillars: Sustainability, Impact Entrepreneurship and African Economic Rise. The research is accompanied and fuelled by training and consultancy activities of our members who collaborate for both:

  • ALTIS - Alta Scuola Impresa e Società of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore: graduate school whose mission is to introduce sustainability inside organizational practices | About ALTIS
  • E4Impact Foundation: a spin-off of ALTIS, founded in 2015 with to the contribution of Italian corporations, with the aim of supporting the training and growth of entrepreneurs with high social impact levels across the African continent. | About E4Impact

 

The research team of ALTIS and E4Impact Foundation has over 20 years of experience in academic and action research about sustainability and impact entrepreneurship. Since 2010, we have been developing a specific focus on the study and implementation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa, further propelled with the contribution of the E4Impact Foundation.

Together, we contribute to the international scientific debates with the academic research activities, and offer practice-oriented insights to organizations with action research activities. All our activities have the main goal of supporting organizations in integrating sustainability in their broader strategy, developing new business models, adopting innovative environmental and socially sustainable actions and measuring the impact of all these activities.  

  

Our research approach

With scientific research activities we develop new knowledge and produce generalizable results that can be applied to different realities, thus contributing to the international academic debate.

With action research activities, on the other hand, we investigate processes and offer concrete solutions to favour the integration of sustainability in the strategies, governance and daily activities of specific companies and institutions.

In order to be at the forefront of research and offer the best expertise to our interlocutors, we work with a pool of international researchers and academics and, drawing on the prestigious network of the Università Cattolica, we develop strategic partnerships with influential research centres.

  

Mission

To be the leading research team in Europe combining the fields of sustainability, entrepreneurship, and Africa economic rising

 

The added value of research

Research is the engine that ignites all the activities conducted in ALTIS, among which training. It also represents a remarkable added value for the participants of our training programmes and masters, who benefit from the access to the most innovative theories and concrete examples offered by the projects developed by our researchers.

Research and consultancy activities targeted to companies work in synergy as well. With the scientific rigour and the pragmatic approach of our research, we support entrepreneurs and managers who wish to pursue growth and cultural change in their companies, that being public or private, by offering consultancy services, which favour competitiveness, innovation and the development of new sustainability-based business models.

  

  


International Social Innovation Research Conference (ISIRC)

  


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Selection of publications

Ciambotti G. (2020). “Challenges and Constraints in Building Business Models to Fight Poverty”. In: Leal Filho W., Azul A.M., Brandli L., Lange Salvia A., Özuyar P.G., Wall T. (eds) No Poverty. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham.

Ciambotti G. (2020). “Social Entrepreneurship and Scaling Strategies for Poverty Alleviation”. In: Leal Filho W., Azul A.M., Brandli L., Lange Salvia A., Özuyar P.G., Wall T. (eds) No Poverty. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham.

Ciambotti, G. (2020). “Superare la scarsità di risorse nei Paesi in via di sviluppo. L’opportunità di essere un’organizzazione ibrida”. In: AA.VV. Tecnica e umanesimo. Un approccio transdisciplinare. Educatt: Milan.

Ciambotti, G., Littlewood, D., Sottini, A., & Nkatha M’ithiria, E. (2020). “Building and scaling social enterprise business models for BoP markets in Kenya”. In Arnold, M. G., Gold, S., Muthuri, J. N., & Rueda, X. (Eds.). Base of the pyramid markets in Africa: innovation and challenges to sustainability: 197-225. Routledge.

Ebong, J., Ciambotti, G., Meru, A. K., Nakagwa, A., & Adeola, O. (2020). “Juxtaposing supply and demand side drivers and barriers of the Base of the Pyramid Markets in Uganda”. In Arnold, M. G., Gold, S., Muthuri, J. N., & Rueda, X. (Eds.). Base of the pyramid markets in Africa: innovation and challenges to sustainability: 51-75. Routledge.

Giudici, A., Combs, J. G., Cannatelli, B. L., & Smith, B. R. (2020). Successful scaling in social franchising: The case of Impact Hub. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 44(2), 288-314.

Meru, A. K., Ciambotti, G., Ebong, J., Kinoti, M.W., & Mugendi, R. (2020). “Technology and social media in customer service”. In Hinson, R. E., Adeola, O., Lituchy, T., & Amartey, A. F. O. (Eds.). Customer Service Management: A Strategic and Operational Perspective: 121-132. CRC Press. Routledge.

Pedrini, M., Zaccone, M.C. (2020). “Gli aspetti ESG nelle acquisizioni. Tra rischi e opportunità” in I volti della sostenibilità, EGEA, 120-123

Pedrini, M., Zaccone, M.C. (2020). La misurazione dell’impatto sociale. Approcci e strumenti, Rivista Italiana di Ragioneria e Economia Aziendale, 120 (1-2-34): pp. 57-71
Sgrò, F., Ciambotti, G., Bontis, N., & Andrews, A. (2020). “Intellectual capital in East and West African social enterprises”, Knowledge and Process Management, 27(4), 332-344

Smith, B. R., Knapp, J. R., & Cannatelli, B. L. (online first). Entrepreneurship at the Base of the Pyramid: The Moderating Role of Person-Facilitator Fit and Poverty Alleviation. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship.

Sottini, A., Ciambotti, G., & Sydow, A. (2020). “Decent Living au Kenya”. In Les entreprises familiales en Afrique. 9 Études De Cas, Du Maroc À l’afrique Du Sud. La Croisée des Chemins.

Sottini, A., Ciambotti, G., & Sydow, A. (2020). How to scale social innovation in the bottom of pyramid market: The story of Kenya’s innovation eye centre. SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals.

Sottini, A., Ciambotti, G., & Sydow, A. (2020). Totohealth in East Africa: Reaching financial sustainability in the bottom of pyramid healthcare market. SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals.

Sydow, A., Cannatelli, B. L., Giudici, A., & Molteni, M. (online first). Entrepreneurial workaround practices in severe institutional voids: Evidence from Kenya. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice

Zaccone, M.C., Pedrini, M. (2020). ESG Factor Integration into Private Equity, Sustainability, 12(14), 5725

Zaccone, M.C., Pedrini, M. (2020). Riduco, riutilizzo, riciclo. Verso un nuovo sviluppo sostenibile, Pearson Italia SpA, Area Storia e Educazione civica

Zaccone, M.C., Pedrini, M., Ryan, L.V. (2020). CEOs to the Pillory: Punishment Reactions to CEO Pay Ratios, Academy of Management Proceedings, Vol. 1

Zaccone, M.C. (2020). L’organizzazione dei servizi di supporto alla ricerca nelle università italiane: competenze, relazioni e principali attività, Azienda Pubblica, Vol. 3

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Recent academic conferences

Argiolas A. The Effect of Social Ties on Social Impact Reference Point Formation. Sustainability Ethics and Entrepreneurship Conference, 2020, Puerto Rico.  

Argiolas A., Lincetto L. How You do that? Exploring the role of Peer Comparison on Social Impact Measurement for Social Entrepreneurs. PDW: How Theories and Measurement of Social Impact Matter in Research. Academy of Management Conference 2020, Vancouver.

Ciambotti, G., Pedrini, M., “A temporal theory of time in mission drift and dual mission balance of social enterprises”, 17th Annual Conference Social Entrepreneurship, Indiana University, Bloomington (USA), 5th November 2020.

Ciambotti, G., Zaccone, M.C., Pedrini, M. The role of sense of community as mediator in passion and bricolage. Evidence from African social entrepreneurs, International Social Innovation Research Conference 2020, Sheffield.

Ciambotti, G., Zaccone, M.C., Pedrini, M. The role of sense of community as mediator in entrepreneurial passion and bricolage. Evidence from social entrepreneurs in Africa, European Group for Organizational Studies Colloquium 2020, Hamburg.

Sottini, A., Cannatelli, B. L.  Breaking Bad: Entrepreneurial Navigation to Enhance Institutional Value. European Academy of Management 2020, Dublin.

Sottini, A., Littlewood, D., & Ciambotti, G. Building Sustainable Business Models in the BoP: Evidence from Social Enterprises in East Africa. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2020, No. 1, p. 20654). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management 2020, Vancouver.

Sottini, A., Littlewood, D., & Ciambotti, G. Building Sustainable Business Models in the BoP: Evidence from Social Enterprises in East Africa, International Social Innovation Research Conference 2020, Sheffield.

Zaccone, M.C., Pedrini, M., Ryan, L.V. CEOs to the Pillory: Punishment Reactions to CEO Pay Ratios, Academy of Management 2020, Vancouver.

Zaccone, M.C., Shin, T., Ryan, L.V. CEO’s Use of Language and Shareholder Activism. International Corporate Governance Society Annual Conference 2020.

Annual African Conference on Social Entrepreneurship, AACOSE, Nairobi, November 2020.