The theory of path dependence continues to attract great interest in business, strategic and organization studies. An increasing number of scholars have started to use the theory for studying organizational inertia and fixed transaction patterns. The conference organized by the path dependency...

There have been comments recently about the efficacy of Futures Studies (and scenario planning) projects, relating to confusion on knowledge aggregation and methodology, which can be summarised in the question: 'how to determine the purpose of such projects'. The lack of a purpose framework...

Purpose This paper seeks to support a better understanding of the types (or processes) of reflexivity which may be involved in the practice of organizational research, and the implications of reflexive practice for organizational researchers. Design/methodology/approach A characterization of...

In July 2002 the first Strathclyde International Conference on 'Probing the Future: Developing Organisational Foresight in the Knowledge Economy' [1] was organised by Hari Tsoukas and Jill Sheppard, and in August 2004 the second Strathclyde International Conference on 'Organisational Foresight'...

This paper builds upon archival and oral history research on personal ethics and competitive advantage at Hilton Hotels Corporation between 1946 to 1967, when founder Conrad N. Hilton was in full personal control of the business as CEO and major shareholder. We offer a theoretically informed...

This paper shares the conclusions of the authors with respect to a comparison of Beer’s viable systems model (VSM) and modern business process thinking. These conclusions have been arrived at as a result of extensive empirical research over the past five years. Modern business process thinking...

The purpose of this paper is to identify the quality initiatives implemented in UK manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to perform a comparative analysis of quality management practices within Six Sigma firms against the non-Six Sigma manufacturing SMEs. To achieve the...

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to focus on the importance of the project selection process and its role in the successful deployment of Six Sigma within organizations. Design/methodology/approach - A review of the literature is presented, highlighting the importance of project selection...

The aim of this paper is to present the results from an empirical investigation of Six Sigma in the Indian software industry The paper begins with a review of literature of Six Sigma and its role in the software industry. The importance of Six Sigma in the software domain is presented, followed...

The development of complex systems involves a multi-tier supply chain, with each organisation allocated a reliability target for their sub-system or component part apportioned from system requirements. Agreements about targets are made early in the system lifecycle when considerable uncertainty...