5 • Chi guida la rete? Il ruolo dell’impresa capofila tra coordinamento, innovazione e performance
Abstract
The chapter analyzes the leadership of the lead firm and its effects on innovation outcomes and partner turnover. In collaborative settings without formal hierarchies, leadership emerges from practices of influence, coordination, and goal alignment rather than from ex ante authority. Using 2023 and 2025 survey data from the National Observatory of Network Contracts, the study shows that stronger leadership is associated with higher levels of product and process innovation and affects turnover dynamics. From a contingent perspective, leadership proves especially valuable during external shocks, enhancing innovation and adaptive capacity, while internal adverse events trigger reorganization and partner reallocation.
open access
Submitted: Feb. 2, 2026 | Published April 20, 2026 | Language: it
Keywords Lead firm • Innovation • Turnover • Inter-organizational leadership • Adaptive capacity
Copyright © 2026 Anna Cabigiosu, Shemuel Lampronti, Stefano Li Pira. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/979-12-5742-026-0/005