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To address lessons that specify the impact and contribution of current scenario methods when focused on facilitating transition management processes.

Comparative literature review based on transition management and scenario development.

Need of further systemic thought about the required criteria of transition scenarios and the embedding of scenario use in transition management processes.

Processes of transition management are in need of transition specific scenarios.

Because transition management implies a complex and long‐term steering paradigm with which current scenario applications are not familiar, conclusions are drawn on the (changing) requirements of scenario development processes in transition management and on the need to innovate current scenario methods in the context of transition management.

Transitions are transformation processes in which society changes in a fundamental way over a generation or more. Although the goals of a transition are ultimately chosen by society, governments can play a role in bringing about structural change in a stepwise manner. Their management involves sensitivity to existing dynamics and regular adjustment of goals to overcome the conflict between long‐term ambition and short‐term concerns. This article uses the example of a transition to a low emission energy supply in the Netherlands to argue that transition management provides a basis for coherence and consistency in public policy and can be the spur to sustainable development.

The purpose of this paper is to establish opportunities for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to become environmental businesses. The “Environmental Business” concept refers to a commercial organisation that provides goods and/or services which provide socio-environmental value and which are produced in such a way that the organisation addresses environmental and social problems.

Interviewing and observation were used to conduct a case study of how 30 SMEs prepared for the UK’s Green Deal programme in the West Midlands County, UK. In total, 20 interviews were conducted and 23 field notes were recorded. Based on the literature review, the research enquiry into practice, and the philosophical approach of pragmatism adopted by the research, a “Three Ps” (profit, process and product) analytical framework was established with which to operationalise the environmental business.

The research identifies tactical opportunities that assist SMEs to function as environmental businesses whilst maintaining the traditional focus on economic performance. It also shows the benefits and challenges involved.

The research focused on a case study related to specific sectors (building and energy) within a specific UK region (West Midlands), which limits the generalisability of the results.

The research highlights practical opportunities for SMEs to address existing environmental and social problems through their products and processes and prevent new problems arising due to their operations.

This research represents an initial step in developing a pragmatic implementation model by which SMEs can overcome barriers to being environmental businesses whilst maximising business advantages.

Over the past seven years within a small, liberal arts (LA) Canadian university, significant paradigm shifts in students’ programmatic choices have occurred reflecting student preference for business-related programs versus traditional LA offerings. Grounded in strategic foresight (SF) practices, this paper aims to investigate drivers of declining traditional LA enrolment that are currently a boon for management studies, positing implications for long-term futures of the LA Academy.

This paper lays out foundational research exploring phenomena in the academy, including disruptive forces, and explores how SF can clarify and shape long-term choices. Seeking to answer what paradigm-shifting forces really mean for the future of the academy, a case study approach is used to interpret disruptions to a Canadian institution facing present challenges and an uncertain future. Scenarios are developed for the broader academy using an environmental understanding to better inform predictive actions envisioned in academic institutional future planning.

The outcome of this research, including four scenarios, will be used to better understand student and stakeholder motivations informing future academic planning. As institutional paradigms appear resistant to change, these foresight-inspired findings are valuable considerations for institutional administrators, particularly those at stressed organizations facing unsettling realities.

The case study identifies that for the LA Academy, myriad future unknowns exist, including its continued existence in today’s form. Institutions are generally unresponsive to the precursors of future change and are not systematically exploring future options.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the International Journal of Public Sector Management is split into six sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Culture, Strategy and Organizational Structure; Leadership, Management Styles and Decision Making; Personnel and HR Management; Training and Development; Information Technology; Marketing and Customer Service Strategy.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the Journal of Management in Medicine is split into six sections covering abstracts under the following headings: General Management; Personnel and Training; Quality in Health Care; Health Care Marketing; Financial Management; Information Technology.

The use of competitor analysis is a rapidly growing area of business activity, especially among major corporations, across the world. The old military stratagem “know your enemy; through knowing your enemy you can beat him/her”, has found new life in the contemporary business environment. Surveys carried out in Europe and the USA in 1989 found that two‐thirds of competitor analysis departments were less than three years old. Competitor analysis is becoming increasingly seen as a key component in strategy formulation, in particular, in forming marketing strategy.

This paper aims to focus on the interface between a society in transition and the role, practices and culture of businesses herein, a topic that has scarcely been researched so far. Grand challenges such as energy scarcity and resource depletion will have substantial impacts on the functioning of contemporary business models. Companies, however, still largely focus on efficiency strategies leading to sub-optimal solutions rather than radically changing their business model.

It describes a project that has been run for a social enterprise in which a transition management approach was used to discover their new future role and explore new business concepts that function within the boundaries of significantly different material management principles.

The authors discuss how this case study can contribute to the limited developed empirical research on how businesses can be more proactive in changing the way societal systems operate, and whether the approach can be relevant for transfer to the wider business community.

It offers a practical approach for businesses to innovate their business model while taking into regard sustainability issues.

The paper combines the transition management framework with business model innovation.

To gain insight in how policy makers work and learn, in‐depth interviews were held with seven Dutch policy makers working on global sustainability issues. The focus of the interview was on the information needs, information gathering practices, and working styles of the policy makers. Our results indicate that policy makers have a strong need for information on linkages between different policy problems, and on different cultural perspectives on those problems. Information gathering is marked by an emphasis on information filtering towards the policy issue at hand. Finally, policy makers appear to be predisposed to an application‐oriented working style. The combination of an application‐oriented working style with a policy‐driven search for information seems inadequate for satisfying policy makers’ information needs. Current learning practices among policy makers appear to be inadequate for coping with complexity.

An uncertain future means that Dutch government ministries need to think about not only what new policies have to be developed, but also how to organize themselves in the future. This paper aims to present an overview and analysis of various studies of the futures by and about Dutch ministries that show that these studies vary considerably, in terms of their process and cause, that the context in which they come about plays a major role and that the various ministries tend to take the same trends into account (for instance “life‐long‐learning”, sustainable development and the emergence of the demanding citizen).

The paper case studies: 11 different reports from nine different Dutch ministries. In each ministry an in‐depth interview with one or two representatives was held. The transcripts were summarized, structured, and analyzed.

The use of studies of the future for organizational change in Dutch ministries is very diverse. More and more images and other ways of visualizing the future are becoming important. Dutch ministries should find a good balance between hiring external expertise and using inside knowledge and expertise.

Because this is a case study it is questionable whether the findings are also valid for non‐researched ministries, especially since the research ministries and (their) studies of the future are very diverse.

More discussion is needed about these futures studies in the Government‐wide Strategic Council. Government‐wide studies of the future should be made to provide ministries with a common background in building up a future vision for (more balanced) policy making. There should be more involvement of external experts and stakeholders in the process of futures studies.

This is the first case study that focuses specifically on the use of studies of the future for governmental change (instead of focusing on. for instance, developing new policies or strategies).