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Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to set out a methodological framework to investigate how the integration of an activity-based costing (ABC) logic into the pre-existent accounting system supports healthcare organizations in identifying the inefficiencies related to their diagnostic therapeutic pathways (DTP) and related reengineering interventions.Design/methodology/approach– The BPM-ABC methodological framework has been applied to the case of a specific surgery pathway, at the Orthopaedic Division of a University Hospital in Italy.Findings– The case-study described in the paper points out: first, how the Business Process Management (BPM)-ABC methodology is able to produce significant information about consumed resources and the costs of the activities, useful to highlight opportunities for DTPs improvement; second, the barriers related to a pre-existing accounting system based on cost centres that can hinder the implementation of the BPM-ABC model.Practical implications– The case study points out the role of the ABC as a management tool for supporting decision-making processes. The ABC allows inferring information for two purposes. First, ABC supports a cost containment process as it allows highlighting the most cost-consuming activities and resources. Second, the ABC allows identifying reengineering paths, distinguishing between incremental and radical ones.Originality/value– This study represents a remarkable reference raising the awareness of the pivotal role accounting systems play in the management of the organizational processes.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a social network approach for identification of micro-organizational re-design interventions to make more efficient and fluid the knowledge flow in a rehabilitation multidisciplinary team. The structural information of different kinds of knowledge networks within a team is augmented with additional analyses aimed at collecting information about the ways through which participants use knowledge, the motivation behind knowledge exchange, and the non-human knowledge sources used by subjects to perform their work. This paperwork was supported by CNCSIS – UEFISCDI, project number PNII – IDEI 810/2008.Design/methodology/approachThe authors propose a definition of knowledge network including human and non-human knowledge source (documents and knowledge repositories) as it is more adequate for the analysis of knowledge flows in multidisciplary medical teams. The mapping and analysis of the network are carried out through: elicitation of knowledge flows between people within and outside the team through a structured questionnaire; mapping of the knowledge flows toward non-human knowledge sources; and identification of critical aspects and proposal of re-engineering interventions to make knowledge flow more efficient and effective.FindingsThe analysis of the critical aspects emerged in the field study identifies a number of opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of knowledge sharing through the re-design of the team network. The re-design interventions concern three main features of knowledge network: "knowledge centralization," "Over-reliance on External experts," "Unshared knowledge tools and sources."Originality/valueThe originality of the work resides in applying social network analysis (SNA) for healthcare management settings, proving evidence and guidelines to show how healthcare organizations can benefit from the adoption of SNA-based approaches.

1. Knowledge intensive sectors in moderate innovative countries in Europe: overcoming the missing links, stepping over barriers; Isobel Salavisa and Carim Vali. - Part II: How are social networks relevant for technological entrepreneurship? An overview of the literature and methdological options . - 2. Dynamics, structure and content of innovation networks: an overview of the literature; Jana Almodovar and Aurora Teixeira . - 3. Networks and technological entrepreneurship; Cristina Sousa and Margarida Fontes . - 4. Using social network analysis to study entrepreneurship: methodological issues; Cristina Sousa. - Part III: The role of social networks in the creation and development of knowledge-intensive sectors in Portugal and Italy. - 5. Setting the scene; Margarida Fontes, Isabel Salavisa and Pedro Videira . - 6. Social networks and the entrepreneurial process in molecular biotechnology in Portugal: from science to industry; Margarida Fontes, Cristina Sousa and Pedro Videira. - 7. Social networks and the entrepreneurial process in molecular biotechnology in Southern Italy; Lorella Cannavacciula, Guido Capaldo and Pierluigi Rippa. - 8. Social networks and the entrepreneurial process in software for telecommunications in Portugal; Isabel Salavisa, Pedro Videira and Carim Vali. - 9. Comparing sectoral networks in software and biotechnology; Margarida Fontes, Isabel Salavisa and Cristina Sousa. - 10. Knowledge networks and technological regimes in biotechnology and software: searching for explanatory factors; Isabel Salavisa, Margarida Fontes, Cristina Sausa and Pedro Videiro. - Part IV: Strategic and policy implications. - 11. Location matters. Networking behaviour in different national contexts; Margarida Fontes and Guido Capeldo. - 12. Conclusions Isabel Salavisa and Margarida Fontes