ABSTRACT
Following the Covid-19 pandemic emergency, the number of remote workers has increased exponentially with a large proportion of the workforce operating from home in April 2020. After the first lockdown period, the percentage of remote workers decreased radically, and was estimated to be around 35–40% in 2021. However, doubts and criticisms have arisen as to whether organizations are carrying out remote working practices effectively. Adopting the socio-technical system (STS) perspective, this paper aims to investigate the specific characteristics of remote working in order to identify the major factors which might affect the adoption of agile working, rather than simply remote working, in organizations. A causal-effect path will be depicted to explain the evolution of remote working adoption in organizations, and the need for task and job redesign, business processes reingeneering, innovative eHRM policies, cultural changes, and new organizational roles. The paper describes the new organizational roles, tasks and competences aimed at enabling an effective adoption of agile working in organization. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: In March 2020, due to the global emergency ensuing from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Italian government closed all national museums, institutes and places of culture heritage and landscape. The shutdown highlighted the need to develop and implement digital solutions, especially through ICTs, to enhance the cultural heritage worldwide by allowing people to go on admiring it, albeit remotely. Numerous initiatives were promoted, such as virtual experiential tours, online collections and ad hoc social and digital programs, all of which contributed to the rich dialogue between people and culture. Although digital initiatives for using and enjoying the cultural heritage have been successfully developed and implemented, in Italy the process of digitalisation of cultural heritage and the services provided are still far from being completed. This chapter investigates the development and implementation of digital technologies in the museums located in the Campania Region in Southern Italy throughout the COVID-19 outbreak to identify and analyse the experiential strategies and initiatives developed through information communication technologies (ICTs) to face the emergency. Design/Methodology/Approach: By adopting a qualitative methodology, using primary and secondary data sources through a manual content analysis, experiential strategies and initiatives employed by the Campania regional museums when using digital solutions have been identified and categorised. Findings: Despite the effectiveness of digital initiatives, and the experiences investigated appear both significant and interesting, there is still a need to develop and implement new experiential strategies in this field. Research Limitations: This study presents several limitations, mostly related to its qualitative explorative nature, but also because its results cannot be generalised. Practical Implications: These first results outline the need to further develop innovative strategies and initiatives within the museums. The process of digitalisation of cultural heritage and the services provided are still far from completion, potentially providing wide margins of further evolution by means of further investments in technology innovation, to rethink and redesign the traditional management models for enhancing the cultural heritage through digital technology. Originality: This study provides a portrait of museum experiences supported by digital technologies in a country which plays a crucial role in the field of international cultural heritage. The analysis can also usefully contribute to the existing literature due to the qualitative technique employed for carrying out the multiple case study. © 2021 Emerald Publishing Limited.