Digitalization as an Emergent Process: Evidence from Italian Museums

Enrico Cori – Università Politecnica delle Marche, Department of Management, piazzale Martelli 8, 60121 Ancona, Italy

Costina Andreea Calota – Università di Pisa, Department of Economics and Management, via Ridolfi 10, 56124 Pisa, Italy

Abstract: This paper aims to deepen some characteristics of the digitali­zation process in Italian museums. In particular, it aims at investigating the role of non-technical employees in such a process. Our research is qualita­tive and explorative. Three Italian museums, selected through convenient sampling, have been investigated through a longitudinal approach. The study points out the relevance of participatory, emergent, and mainly in­formal processes aimed at developing the museum’s digital skills. The find­ings shed new light on the role of non-technical employees in fostering dig­italization, thanks to autonomously developed learning processes. These are combined with the willingness to enhance employees’ skills and ideas by museum managers. This approach can be viewed as an alternative or sup­plement to the development of digital skills through the inclusion of spe­cialized roles (e.g.: digital manager). Some significant theoretical and man­agerial implications are highlighted, as well as some future lines of research.

6th International Scientific Conference on Recent Advances in Information Technology, Tourism, Economics, Management and Agriculture – ITEMA 2022 – Selected Papers, Hybrid (University of Maribor, Slovenia), October 27, 2022

ITEMA Selected Papers published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans – Belgrade, Serbia

ITEMA conference partners: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor, Slovenia; Faculty of Organization and Informatics, University of Zagreb, Varaždin; Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade, Serbia; Institute of Marketing, Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland; Faculty of Agriculture, Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine ”King Michael I of Romania”, Romania

ITEMA Conference 2022 Selected Papers: ISBN 978-86-80194-64-6, ISSN 2683-5991, DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/ITEMA.S.P.2022

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission. 

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