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The Myth of Rationality. To prepare a technology assessment is to engage in a struggle between openness and closedness. This is the inherent struggle of planning and forecasting, since one's objective is to include the significant and exclude the complicating. In technology assessment, this struggle is particularly awkward, since in principle the assessment should be open to the consideration of side‐effects and ricochet effects and to alternative future environments; yet in practice there are limitations on time, personnel and funding, and limitations on the willingness of decision‐makers to assimilate a complicated, differentiated, equivocating analysis. So closedness is imposed where there might be openness.

Many corporate and public affairs planners and chief executive officers have found productive ways of planning which involve new ways of looking at themselves, their businesses, and the world. But they find it difficult to explain these personal consciousness shifts. The words simply aren't available to explain to others matters which are intensely personal and subjective. This limited lexicon often leads these executives to imagine they are deviant, and they become personally and organizationally frustrated.

Our planning systems are predicated upon a variety of myths. One of the most cherished is the myth of stability: “Business as usual” is a very comforting notion. Organizations everywhere enjoy the feeling of safety that develops when change is slow. Planners are usually directed to the task of preserving the existing “stable system” and maintaining the status quo. The alternatives — deliberately modifying the system or allowing it to evolve — are not often contemplated.

Few would argue with the proposition that socially, economically and politically, the United States is in a period of turbulence and uncertainty. We are navigating the rapids, and white water is all around us. In the daily struggle to keep the boat afloat and on course, we have little inclination and less time to look ahead. Perhaps we fear that the future holds more of the same, that our present troubles constitute a new normalcy to which we must inure ourselves. In a remarkable turnaround from traditional American optimism, there is now a pronounced feeling abroad in the land that the present is worse than the past, and that the future will be still worse than the present.

This study explores the influence individual characteristics identified in prior research have on ethical choice in a financial reporting task. An action-based, multi-metric dependent variable is developed to measure ethical reporting choice. Intermediate accounting students participate in the task as part of a curricular assignment in a revenue recognition module. Results demonstrate that several, but not all, individual characteristics found in prior research do influence accounting students’ ethical revenue recognition choices. Specifically, the external locus-of-control, idealism, consequentialist, and Machiavellian characteristics are found to influence ethical reporting choice.

Using data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS) and the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2), this study compared the post-high school outcomes of young adults with learning disabilities (LD) or emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) in 1990 and 2005. These cohort comparisons reveal how the results of special education have changed over that time period as evidenced in the post-high school outcomes of nationally representative samples of youth. The extended data collection time period of NLTS2 (2001–2009) also enabled an assessment of the evolution in the post-high school outcomes of young adults with LD or EBD who had been out of high school up to 8 years. The post-high school outcomes considered included high school completion, postsecondary education enrollment and completion, employment status and wages, and community integration as illustrated by living arrangements and criminal justice system involvement. Findings for both the NLTS/NLTS2 cohort comparisons and the longitudinal analyses from NLTS2 indicate progress in efforts to improve outcomes for youth and young adults with LD or EBD but also underscore the work ahead in setting these groups on a path to successful adulthood. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

Authenticity is a complex character that is valued in service contexts. Frontline service employees (FSEs), as both brand representatives and individuals who interact with clients, can signal their authenticity to customers. The purpose of this study is to investigate how FSEs signal their authenticity to customers. The authors investigate authenticity signal themes and develop a typology of how FSEs use these signals in the workplace.

This research uses a multi-method approach: qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews with FSE and customers and quantitative data were collected in a follow-up survey using a sample of financial planners.

Findings from both studies show that FSE can use signals reflecting the display of client-centricity, positive emotions, transparency and disclosure of personal information. A latent profile analysis reveals three authenticity signal profiles, differing in the extent to which FSE uses each of these signals.

This study identifies how FSEs can shape perceptions of authenticity in a service context, thus expanding theory by integrating both personal and brand authenticity perspectives. The findings further demonstrate that authenticity can be signaled on multiple dimensions, reflecting the complex nature of this construct.

The findings from this research can guide managers in developing workplace policies that enable FSEs to display authenticity in various ways to customers. Managers can further use the insights from this research to identify needs for FSE training and development.

The authors create novel insights into how FSEs signal authenticity to customers given their dual roles as individuals and brand representatives. This study offers nuanced insights into different types of signals and their application in a service context.