Digitalization as an Emergent Process: Evidence from Italian Museums
Digitalization as an Emergent Process: Evidence from Italian Museums

Author(s): Enrico Cori, Costina Andreea Calota
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Udruženje ekonomista i menadžera Balkana
Keywords: Digital skills; Work organization; Non-technical employees; Employee-driven innovation
Summary/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.

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