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Employee Profile

Federica De Molli

Associate Professor - Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour

Biography

Federica De Molli, Ph.D., is Associate Professor at BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo. She focuses her research on aesthetics in organizations, organizational culture, creative industries, organizational creativity, and arts-based methods in higher education.

Federica's work has been published in academic journals, including Organization Studies, Culture and Organization, International Journal of Work Organization and Emotion. She has also contributed to several book chapters and co-edited the volume "The Metamorphosis of Cultural and Creative Organizations: Exploring Change from a Spatial Perspective" (2021), Routledge.


Federica is an active member of various academic and research organizations, including the BI Centre for Creative Industries, the European Group of Organization Studies (EGOS), the Research Group on Emotions in Workplace and Organizational Settings of the Academy of Management (EMONET), the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) SciArt, European Cooperation in Science & Technology (COST) European Forum for Advanced Practices (EFAP), the Scientific Committee of the Research Centre for Innovation and Life Sciences Management (CrESIT), and the Association of Italian Organization Studies Academics (ASSIOA).
Beyond her academic pursuits, Federica has worked in project management for companies and cultural organizations, overseeing projects in countries like France, Luxembourg, Italy, and Hong Kong. Currently, Federica hosts the podcast "Creativity Matters!" (available at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creativity-matters/id1662325340 ), where she explores creativity-related topics. For more detailed information about her research, you can visit her profile on ResearchGate at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Federica-De-Molli. The most recent publications include:

Peer reviewed journals:

- De Molli F., Vecco M. and Pizzetti M. (2022) Space for Seduction: A Redefinition of Art Auction Houses in the Market. Consumption Markets & Culture. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10253866.2022.2125509

- De Molli F., Mengis J. & van Marrewijk A. (2020). The aestheticization of hybrid space: The atmosphere of the Locarno Film Festival. Organization Studies, vol. 41, No. 11, p. 1491–1512. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0170840619867348
- De Molli F. (2020). Participatory Interpretation: A Way to Overcome Analytical Challenges in Organizational Aesthetic Research. Culture and Organization. https://doi.org/10.1080/14759551.2020.1806839

- De Molli F. & De Paoli D. (2020). Middle Managers in Open-Plan Office: Feeling Free and Frustrated. International Journal of Work Organization and Emotion, vol. 11, No. 3, p. 231-246. https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJWOE.2020.111317
- De Molli, F. (2019) An aesthetic account of space: a report on recent developments in organizational research. Studi Organizzativi, 1/2019: 38-63. https://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/SchedaRivista.aspx?doi=10.3280/SO2019-001002&lingua=EN
Book:

- De Molli, F. & Vecco, M. (Eds.) (2021) The Metamorphosis of Cultural and Creative Organizations: Exploring Change from a Spatial Perspective. Routledge Research in the Creative and Cultural Industries, ISBN 9780367681937.
Book chapters:

- De Molli, F. & De Paoli, D. (2021) From co-workers to friends: How the aesthetic experience of third places affects the creative process. In: (a cura di): Montanari F., Mattarelli E., & Scapolan C., Collaborative Spaces at Work. Innovation, Creativity and Relations. Chapter 9, pp. 147-159. Routledge, ISBN: 9780367350451. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429329425
- Montanari, F. & De Molli, F. (2020) L’organizzazione della creatività. In: (a cura di): Buonocore F., Montanari F., & Solari L., Organizzazione aziendale. Comportamenti e decisioni per il management. pp. 235-260. De Agostini, ISBN: 978-88-8008-394-8

Publications

De Molli, Federica & Paolino, Chiara (2022)

Meaning Making through Artistic Interventions: An Aesthetic Approach

Owens, Allan; Pässilä, Anne, Ponsillo, Nick, Biagioli, Monica, Cunningham, Charlotte, De Molli, Federica & Paolino, Chiara (red.). Community and Collective Learning

Owens, Allan; Pässilä, Anne, Ponsillo, Nick, Biagioli, Monica, Cunningham, Charlotte, De Molli, Federica & Paolino, Chiara (2022)

Community and Collective Learning

Aalborg Universitetsforlag.

De Molli, Federica; Vecco, Marilena & Pizzetti, Marta (2022)

Space for seduction: the redefining of auction houses’ role in the art market

Consumption Markets & Culture Doi: 10.1080/10253866.2022.2125509

Technological and socio-economic changes have forced organizations in the art sector to redefine their function in the market, to strengthen their relationships with consumers and to appeal to a more heterogeneous consumer audience. The physical space of art organizations constitutes a major tool for them to attract and communicate with customers. Based on a multiple case studies approach, this article explores how art auction houses have rearranged their physical space in order to create an intended customer experience based on seduction. Our study contributes to Consumer Culture Theory research by illustrating how both the tangible and intangible features of the spatial setting are orchestrated by managers to facilitate an intended consumer experience. Space is organized in such a way that a heterogeneous customer base can co-participate in the game of seduction, and the artwork maintains its role as a catalyst of the experience.

De Molli, Federica (2021)

Participatory interpretation: a way to overcome analytical challenges in organizational aesthetic research

Culture and Organization, 27(3), s. 226- 239. Doi: 10.1080/14759551.2020.1806839

Despite the growing academic interest in the aesthetic dimensions of organizational life, there is a surprising lack of critical reflection on how to analyse data acquired through organizational aesthetic research. This paper addresses this gap, first by illustrating the analytical challenges that aesthetic research poses. Then, it introduces participatory interpretation as an analytical method, and evaluates it by drawing on an empirical study. What sets this method apart from the other methods traditionally used is its potential (1) to avoid an almost exclusive reliance on the researcher’s interpretation, developing instead an understanding of the aesthetics explored which takes into account both the researcher’s and the actors’ interpretations, and (2) to achieve an understanding of the performativity of the organizational aesthetics under study. The paper concludes by suggesting possible applications of this method in a wide range of other organizational research fields.

De Molli, Federica (2022)

Podcast "Creativity Matters!" https://open.spotify.com/show/0PF2Tkgirb8gAnF6EQLmmV?si=f43564a2980d4d0e

BI Podcast [Radio]

De Molli, Federica & Paolino, Chiara (2022)

Meaning Making through Artistic Interventions in University Spaces: An Aesthetic Approach.

[Academic lecture]. Transdisciplinary Workplace Research (TWR) Conference.

Mengis, Jeanne; Zamparini, Alessandra & De Molli, Federica (2022)

Controlling Space beyond Organizational Confines: The Force and Fugacity of 'Tractive Control'

[Academic lecture]. European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS) Conference.

De Molli, Federica; Vecco, Marilena & Balachandran Nair, Lakshmi (2022)

“Let’s meet at our new digs!”: Materializing the process of trust development with the help of organizational space

[Academic lecture]. BAM Conference.

Academic Degrees
Year Academic Department Degree
2019 Università della Svizzera italiana PhD