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After some critical notes on the long‐term regulation, requisite structure and requisite constitution as discussed by D. Sahal (Kybernetes 7, No. 1, 19–24, 1978), it is pointed out that W. Ross Ashby's Law of Requisite Variety implies a Principle of Variable Structure. Hereafter, a mathematical theory of amplifying regulation is given, and a new Law of Requisite Hierarchy is formulated. It is suggested to be fundamental in the theory of social organization.

Discusses the model of industrial development, the S‐curve model and the model of technological life cycles. Shows that these three models are based on similar assumptions and are, therefore, closely related. The analysis shows, furthermore, that the models have significant implications for technology management. Finally, analyses the extent to which conventional methods of evaluating technological projects take these implications into account. Subjective evaluation techniques, risk/return analyses as well as portfolio methods are subject to critical appraisal. All in all, it becomes clear that these evaluative tools are, at best, of limited use.

Certain general principles of regulation and control are developed and substantiated by means of evidence from a variety of fields. First, success in regulation is a function of several variables including adaptability, use of heuristic devices, system structure and characteristics of its constituent parts. Second, both internal specialization of a system and the variety of its dependencies on the environment are important. However, while the variety is important only in the short‐run, system structure is important both in the short‐run and the long‐run. Third, according to the contemporary cybernetic paradigm, a self‐regulatory system must be an open system. This is concluded to be a myth. The theory is developed and illustrated.

Based on the postulates underlying the Logic Theory Machine, an attempt is made to develop a stochastic model of the process of problem solving in non‐laboratory situations. To determine the adequacy of the proposed model it is applied to the illustrative case of improvement in the design of digital computers over the course of time. The results of this study do not refute the claim that the scope of the information theory of problem solving may be broader than the tasks it has been applied hitherto. In particular, the relevance of the postulates underlying the Logic Theory Machine to modelling of evolutionary systems is pointed out.

In the past 15 years there have been major changes in the conduct of science and technology policy in advanced industrial countries. Recognizing that this is an area where Clem Tisdell has made notable contributions, reviews the recent developments around three themes: the nature of science and technology as distinctive bodies of knowledge arising in different institutional contexts; the market failure approach and its development into an evolutionary rationale for science and technology policy; and the UK Technology Foresight Programme as a specific example of the shift in the focus of science and technology policy.

This chapter introduces the volume’s theme by describing the challenges of sustainability in the agri-food industry and the critical role of agri-food supply chains. Following a description of traditional and sustainable supply chain management practices, we discuss the likely characteristics of sustainability-oriented innovations and how organizations pursuing higher levels of economic, social, and environmental performance will need to adapt their capabilities.

Drawing on the emerging concepts and practices from sustainable supply chain management as well as traditional and emerging concepts from innovation, we develop general propositions and expectations about how organizations might address sustainable effectiveness in their supply chains. The importance of the agri-food industry to all three pillars of sustainable effectiveness and predictions about the inability to feed future populations gives the discussion a certain urgency.

Sustainability-oriented innovations in the agri-food supply chain are different from traditional innovations. We develop propositions regarding the driving motivations, their nature and scope (i.e., more radical and systemic than incremental and focused), and the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach. The 10 cases presented in the volume are summarized.

Many firms are once again enjoying favourable business conditions after a number of very difficult years. The economies of the world have begun to grow, interest rates and inflation are down, and even though unemployment levels are still high, consumer spending patterns display a measure of optimism about the future. However, complacency is not advised; having made it through a deep recession, numerous companies now have to face a series of fresh challenges.

The purpose of this paper is to review the content and contributions of the article by Klein and Meckling entitled “Application of operations research to development decisions” which was published in the journal Operations Research in May‐June 1958. The paper explores the major concepts and contributions in the article and suggests that these are relevant to today's complex and uncertain development projects.

The paper outlines the context in which the research on which the article is based took place and presents the main ideas in the article which relate to decision making in the procurement and development of complex systems.

The paper demonstrates the utility of the concepts in the original article, shows how they have been used in academic research on project management and innovation and that they are still relevant for both practical project management and project‐based research.

The primary implication is to demonstrate the value of revisiting a classic contribution in project management, in this case, one which remained hidden for a long period, but has recently come to the fore again.

The issues raised by the original article – related to decision making under conditions of uncertainty – remain high on the agenda today and revisiting the article may help provide a better appreciation of how to deal with those issues.

In modern corporations, internal R&D is considered an important source of new products and, therefore, a major mechanism of new business generation. Innovation studies report, however, that only a small fraction of all R&D projects are successful. They recognise that the quality of management is a key factor in predicting the outcome of innovation processes. In spite of this consensus, only a few empirical studies have described how managers from various organisational positions jointly produce certain innovative outcomes in certain industries and corporate contexts (Maidique 1980, Burgelman & Sayles 1986).

The Lotka distribution of the productivity of authors is highly dependent on the selection of the period of investigation. If many authors are covered only fractionally, the slope of the distribution is steeper than the slope of the distribution covering the complete publication output of a group of authors. We show this in a special branch of mathematics, namely mathematical logic from 1874 to 1990. If one compares authors with the same number of years spent in scientific activity, the characteristic form of the Lotka distribution completely vanishes. The time effect can be intensified if a scientific area features major expansion and the portion of new authors with few contributions is high; this is demonstrated in two special areas of logic. One may try to explain differences of the Lotka distributions of the phases of a scientific area by means of a simple learning model, taking into consideration that the learning curves of scientists in the birth, in the ‘pioneering’, and in the fulfilment stages of an area must be different.