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Patient-centered care and health services' co-production are the cornerstones of the health care system of the future. These constructs rely on the reconceptualization of the patient as a co-deliverer of care. While studies about the intrinsic value-added of health services' coproduction are prominent, the risks of value co-destruction attached to patient involvement have been widely neglected. In an attempt to fill this gap, this paper draws on the 'health literacy' perspective to conceptually explore the 'dark side' of health services' co-production. Value co-destruction is understood as a two-way street, where both the health care professionals and the patients are likely to walk, either intentionally or unintentionally. Individual and organizational health literacy are proposed as two essential ingredients of the recipe for effective health services' co-production, reducing the risks of value co-destruction in health services' provision.

PurposeTelecommuting from home is back up on the agenda as a result of the unforeseen challenges brought by COVID-19. Working from home permits to avoid disruption in the ordinary functioning of educational institutions triggered by social distancing. However, home-based telecommuting may have some side effects on employees, especially in terms of work-life balance. Soft Total Quality Management (TQM) initiatives are needed to address these side effects. The article intends to shed light on these issues, providing some food for thought to scholars and practitioners.Design/methodology/approachSecondary data about the working conditions of 2,046 people employed in the education sector across Europe were investigated. A serial mediation analysis was designed to examine the direct and indirect implications of working from home on work-life balance.FindingsThe study suggests that home-based telecommuting may trigger work-to-life and life-to-work conflicts, due to the blurring of boundaries between work and everyday life. Soft tools, such as organizational meaningfulness (OM) and work-related well-being (WB), mediate the relationship between working from home (HW) and work-life conflicts (WLC), lessening the negative implications of working from home on work-life balance.Practical implicationsThe design and the implementation of home-based telecommuting arrangements should include a special concern for soft TQM practices. Among others, OM and WB are likely to minimize the disruption of remote employees' jobs and interpersonal relationships. Failure to do so impairs the ability of home-based employees to make sense out of their working arrangements and to achieve a sustainable work-life balance.Originality/valueThis is one of the first attempts to illuminate the side effects of home-based telecommuting and to investigate the role of soft TQM in addressing these side effects.

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The museums' ability to attract young people is drawing the increasing interest of scholars and practitioners. However, little is known about the factors that influence the museums' attractiveness to young audience. To fill such a gap, this paper investigates the entire population of Italian museums (N = 4.967). A quantile regression model was used, in order to identify the variables that positively affected young people's visits to Italian museums. The research findings suggested that museums should devise tailored strategies to attract young people. Digital tools, interorganizational relationships, and ancillary services were found to be respectively critical for small-sized, medium-sized, and big-sized museums.

Purpose The ecosystem view is a fascinating perspective which provides management scholars with innovative conceptual tools to investigate the functioning of complex service systems. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the “mega” level of the education service ecosystem in an attempt to explain the relationships between education attainments and income disparities across Europe. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions. Data trends over the time period (2007-2010) were investigated, involving 27 European countries. Unobserved time-invariant heterogeneity was controlled and dynamics over time were investigated. A random effects model was estimated for each country. The semi-log functional form is informed by Mincer’s (1974) human capital models. Findings Education levels were found to be a predictor of income inequality in all the countries included in this research, i.e. higher education level leads to higher income and vice versa. However, the effect of education attainments on individual earnings was irregular. Eastern European countries, inter alia, revealed a strong relationship between education attainments and individual earnings, whereas Scandinavian countries showed a weak link between education levels and income. Practical implications Education has the potential to affect income inequalities in Europe. Policy makers should develop tailored strategies to deal with the consequences of education levels on individual earnings. Both education services’ quality and the interaction between education and moderating socio-demographic variables may influence income inequality in European countries. Originality/value This is one of the first attempts to investigate the relationship between education and income inequalities drawing on the service ecosystem perspective. Further conceptual and practical developments are needed to better explain the effects of education attainments on income inequality.

Purpose Educational organizations have to continuously adapt their structures, processes and practices to meet the evolving institutional and social challenges raised by the external environment. From this point of view, organizational change is a fundamental ingredient of the recipe for success in educational management. The purpose of this paper is to contextualize organizational change to educational institutions, pointing out its determinants, barriers and consequences. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review was performed. On the whole, it concerned 330 scientific contributions. Manuscripts were searched in two large citation databases. Tailored selection and inclusion criteria were designed in order to exclusively focus on papers investigating organizational change dynamics in the educational environment. In sum, 41 contributions were included in this literature review. Findings Organizational change in the educational context paves the way for various managerial challenges. First, the internal and external triggers of change should be concomitantly handled, in order to curb isomorphic pressures and steer organizational evolution. Second, specific strategies should be implemented to overcome the barriers to organizational change, including ambiguity and uncertainty. Finally, yet importantly, the side effects of organizational change should be recognized, in an attempt to attenuate their drawbacks on employees’ working conditions. Practical implications Organizational change should be understood as an iterative process, rather than as a circumscribed event. Educational managers should design specific approaches and deploy ad hoc tools to effectively implement organizational change. Originality/value This study attempts to systemize the current scientific literature about organizational change in the field of educational management, illuminating some intriguing avenues for further research.

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