Newsroom / Research

A New Research Partnership in Italy

We have joined forces with the University of Bari on research into Luxury

Geneva Business School partners with the University of Bari “Aldo Moroâ€

Geneva Business School’s Research Center is proud to announce the signing of a research collaboration agreement with the Università Bari Aldo Moro in Italy. This partnership will see the exchange of professors, researchers, and doctoral students in the context of common activities such as conferences, seminars, and congresses.
Both institutions have also agreed to promote cooperation in the field of scientific research, organizing and holding conferences, seminars, and congresses, setting up joint research groups on topics of common interest, and publishing their results.

Professor Cesare Amatulli of the University of Bari Aldo Moro is currently supervising two Geneva Business School doctoral students (Doctorate of Business Administration or DBA) in this area. The new agreement formalizes an existing research partnership on sustainable luxury, as second-year Doctoral candidate, Thi Nguyen conducts her research on the topic of responsible luxury, and DBA student, Ruairi Twomey is researching the Luxury space around the research topic: The Influence of Shame on Purchase Behavior in the Luxury Resale Market.

Dr. Oliver Elliott, the Head of Research at Geneva Business School, is optimistic this partnership will bear valuable insight and room for exchange of progressive ideas at the apex where luxury and sustainability meet,

The luxury industry is often perceived as being in fundamental contradiction with the goals of sustainability, but we hope that this new research partnership between our institutions will challenge this assumption, not only generating new theoretical insights but also inspiring the development of more sustainable business models and best practices for innovative companies and start-ups. I look forward to working with Professor Amatulli and others at the University of Bari “Aldo Moro†to turn this agreement into an active and dynamic collaboration that will be of benefit to all of our students and wider communities.

We recently interviewed Cesare to learn more about this new partnership with the University of Bari “Aldo Moroâ€:

GBS: What is the vision and mission of your institution?

CA: Our Department, from a research point of view, is aimed at developing outstanding studies which are based on a robust scientific approach and that could be published in top international journals. Moreover, we want to make our PhD program more international and we want to get more connections with international companies, for instance with businesses related to the luxury and tourism sector.

GBS: Tell us a little bit about your University and the types of programs that you offer.

CA: Our Department is part of the University of Bari that offers a wide range of programs both at undergraduate and postgraduate level. In particular, in our Department, we offer programs related to both the business/management area and the law area; this is a competitive advantage of our Department, because such a multidisciplinary environment may really inject originality into our research projects and scientific consulting services.

GBS: This partnership will see the exchange of professors, researchers, doctoral students in the context of common activities such as conferences, seminars, and congresses. How do exchanges such as these benefit the institution?

CA: With this partnership, we think that the researchers and the professors of both institutions may take advantage of the sharing of different investigations and research projects; more specifically, our Ph.D. and DBA students could start collaborating on some projects, some professors may also start developing studies together, some scientific consulting projects could also be considered in order to involve our doctoral students and in order to share with the market our insights. Importantly, as it is already happening, the doctoral students of both institutions may get the opportunity to be advised by external and qualified professors. Certainly, professors and doctoral students of both institutions may organize seminars in order to discuss specific hot topics for companies and scholars.

GBS: What can a faculty member from Geneva Business School expect from the inclusion in your conferences?

CA: We think that the partnership may be of value for the Geneva Business School in order to explore new research opportunities in Italy, in order to open its students to new research approaches/methodologies/aims and in order to make new connections with Italian brands. Such goals can be reached through the opportunity to have external advisors for its DBA students.

GBS: What conferences are coming in the next 12 months?

CA: We have no internal specific conferences on management planned yet. Watch this space.

GBS: What areas of research are currently actively participated in by your research groups?

CA: My research team is currently working on research projects related to the following topics: luxury consumption; luxury branding; luxury and sustainability; luxury consumption, new technologies and smart objects; the role of emotions and word-of-mouth; the development of sustainability in luxury tourism.

I’m really excited about this partnership because it may open to new thoughts, new ideas, new projects and new international networking on topics related to marketing and consumer behavior, also taking advantage of the different locations (Taranto/Bari, Geneva and Barcelona).

– Professor Cesare Amatulli, University of Bari Aldo Moro

The Doctor of Business Administration is a full-time online program designed to create a flexible yet supportive environment for our students to reach their full potential and research goals. Our doctorate degrees allow our students the freedom to study from anywhere in the world while completing their theses means that they can continue to advance their careers and have a full family life if they desire.