Paola Tre­vis­an

Assistant Professor Paola Trevisan’s research illuminates how creative organisations—such as opera houses, advertising firms, and artisan craft communities—navigate tensions between artistic values and economic demands. She examines how management accounting practices shape decision-making to combine creativity and profitability in creative contexts. 

In a 2023 article published in Management Accounting Research (Compromises and Compromising: Management Accounting and Decision-making in a Creative Organisation), Paola investigates how decision-making is organized through compromises, making performance and creativity compatible in cultural settings. Her latest European Management Journal article (Agree to Disagree on Gondola Making: How the Unfolding of Controversies Within Craft Communities Shapes Alternative Ways of Organizing, 2025) analyses moral controversies within craft communities and shows how creative friction enables sustainable compromise and organisational innovation. 

Paola contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goal 8 (Decent Work & Economic Growth) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities), by illuminating organisational practices that respect cultural heritage, foster creative labour, and sustain community values. She also designs teaching cases, including How Much Does an Opera Cost, to bring complex organisational dilemmas into classroom discussions.Through her interdisciplinary work, she supports creative leaders in designing performance systems that honour both meaning and measurable impact.