The primary force that is shaping the global environment is the spread of American‐style capitalism. The collapse of communism as a viable economic system left in its wake the…
Abstract
The primary force that is shaping the global environment is the spread of American‐style capitalism. The collapse of communism as a viable economic system left in its wake the triumph of capitalism. American‐style capitalism offers two key benefits: accountability and transparency. Where there are transparency and accountability, there is greater safety for investments; and where there is greater safety, there is lower cost of attracting capital. There will also be a strong moderating force called the “stewardship ethic,” which brings with it a flattening of organizational hierarchies and a growing sense of responsibility for the long‐term effects of every action. The stewardship principle is going to under‐pin business actions in relation to the environment, human rights, ethics, the family, community, and so on.
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For years the pharmaceutical industry has been aware of public sentiment against the use of animals for testing and experimentation. Most companies assumed that they were dealing…
Abstract
For years the pharmaceutical industry has been aware of public sentiment against the use of animals for testing and experimentation. Most companies assumed that they were dealing with ineffectual fringe groups who were unlikely to force them to change their experimental practices.
If you constantly reassess the environmental and societal context of your business plan, you can gain remarkable new insights into the future direction of your market. But first…
Abstract
If you constantly reassess the environmental and societal context of your business plan, you can gain remarkable new insights into the future direction of your market. But first you must risk unlearning much of what you think you know.
Once, one of King Solomon's soldiers presented to him an infant and two women, each claiming to be the child's mother. “Which of you,” asked the wise king, “is the true mother of…
Abstract
Once, one of King Solomon's soldiers presented to him an infant and two women, each claiming to be the child's mother. “Which of you,” asked the wise king, “is the true mother of this child?” “I am,” they both answered. Solomon stroked his beard, thought awhile, and said, “We shall have to compromise. I will have the baby sliced in two, and I will give each of you half.” “Good idea,” said one of the women. “Oh, sir, please don't do that,” wailed the other, “I'd rather you give the baby to this other woman.” Because of her concern, Solomon assumed the woman to be the rightful mother, and, giving the whole infant to her, he banished the woman who would have had the child divided, and thus ends the tale.
The paper examines the birth of trend forecasting in the USA and position trend forecasters and professional futurists within the wider history of marketing, market research and…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper examines the birth of trend forecasting in the USA and position trend forecasters and professional futurists within the wider history of marketing, market research and advertising.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based upon archival research, interviews and close readings of primary and secondary literature.
Findings
Trend forecasters split from traditional market and opinion research in the early 1970s, as concerns about the future became paramount for businesses. At this time, entrepreneurial trend forecasters such as Faith Popcorn started firms, adopting futurological methods to make predictions about the future of culture. The field continued to grow into the 1990s as it developed or modified a host of mostly qualitative research methods, including environmental scanning, consumer ethnography and scenarios. Trend forecasting reveals the complexity of the relationship between business and “the future” and how trends aimed to predict as well as direct that future.
Originality/value
The article is among the first academic treatments of trend forecasting, drawn from original interviews and exclusively accessed archival research. It contributes to a theory and a history of the concept of a trend, which is understood here as a way to package the movement of culture as sellable. It likewise offers a unique exploration of the relationship between futurology and business.
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Ostomy Awareness Month is an attempt to combat the lack of public knowledge about ostomies and provide forums for the discussion of ostomy‐related issues among families, patients…
Abstract
Ostomy Awareness Month is an attempt to combat the lack of public knowledge about ostomies and provide forums for the discussion of ostomy‐related issues among families, patients, health care professionals, and others.
“While we were once perceived as simply providing services, selling products, and employing people, business now shares in much of the responsibility for our global quality of…
Abstract
“While we were once perceived as simply providing services, selling products, and employing people, business now shares in much of the responsibility for our global quality of life. Successful companies will handle this heightened sense of responsibility quite naturally, if not always immediately. I see a future in which the institutions with the most influence by and large will be businesses.” These are the words of the late Robert Goizueta, chairman of the Coca‐Cola Company. They were quoted in an article by Theo Lippman Jr in The Baltimore Sun on July 5, 1998. This quote and the remaining article triggered my thinking about the need to bring this strategic concern to the fore in Strategy & Leadership.
Increasingly over the next decade corporate leaders will have to deal with the political and social fallout of othersourcing – the ability to have work done by robots and computer…
Abstract
Purpose
Increasingly over the next decade corporate leaders will have to deal with the political and social fallout of othersourcing – the ability to have work done by robots and computer programs.
Design/methodology/approach
Provides examples of this othersourcing trend in every kind of business, and also in government, military, and non‐profit activities as well.
Findings
People will increasingly be on their own, in competition with software, robots, foreigners, newly engineered systems, unexpected competition, do‐it‐yourself customers and other independent contactors.
Practical implications
Employers should have a comprehensive othersourcing strategy that includes dealing with an increase in negative consequences.
Originality/value
Establishes othersourcing – a potentially massive shift of increasingly higher kinds of work to machines and software –as an even more disruptive trend than outsourcing.
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Oliver Standing, Susan Standing and Eric Kordt
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between project failure and success and an individual’s attributional style and level of seniority. Information technology…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between project failure and success and an individual’s attributional style and level of seniority. Information technology (IT)-related projects are often complex because of the need to work with a range of stakeholders and satisfy diverse expectations, and thus projects often fail.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study of a large government organisation was undertaken: interviews and focus groups were conducted and used as primary data for qualitative analysis.
Findings
Line and executive managers have the tendency to increasingly make more pessimistic attributions than support workers, believing that failure was likely to persist in the future because of the inability to influence management and stakeholders. Support workers have the tendency to be more optimistic than line and executive managers and this has implications for self-serving evaluation practices.
Originality/value
The application of the attribution theory provides insights into project success and failure and the discrepancies between line managers’ and employees’ job satisfaction.
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Craig Standing, Andrew Guilfoyle, Chad Lin and Peter E.D. Love
The purpose of this research is to determine how project managers attribute information technology (IT) project success and failure.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to determine how project managers attribute information technology (IT) project success and failure.
Design/methodology/approach
IT personnel from large Australian organisations completed an adapted version of the Attributional Styles questionnaire, which asked them to attribute causes along a number of attribution dimensions, for IT projects which have either succeeded or failed.
Findings
The results indicate that IT support workers attribute failure to external factors, whilst attributing success to themselves. On the other hand, executive management took a more balanced perspective which attribute success to external factors and only partially to themselves, whereas they attribute significant personal responsibility for failure.
Practical implications
More junior professionals and operational IT employees can learn from their senior professionals in attributing success and failure. Post‐implementation reviews and debriefings conducted by senior IT professionals are ways of passing on their experience in relation to project and self‐evaluations.
Originality/value
This paper takes a well established psychology theory and applies it to the management of information systems (IS)/IT projects. IS/IT research has not examined how IT professionals attribute success and failure within projects.