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The purpose of the article is to highlight areas of potential research which will provide a deeper understanding of sustainable development and allow a more structured approach to the development of knowledge in such a broad topic.

The approach has been to identify the philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd and his theory of the cosmos as a means by which knowledge can be gained, understood and developed. This approach has allowed a useful framework to be developed which provides a checklist, a deep understanding and a place to structure and place emerging knowledge. It also allows some understanding of the strength of the interrelationships between modalities which contribute to sustainable development.

The findings are still being investigated but several case studies have been undertaken which suggest that this philosophical approach is a useful way forward.

The research is the development of a methodology and as such will develop and emerge over time. In this connection the article suggests four areas namely “time”, information technology, democratisation, and implementation which pervade the whole framework and provide the context in which evaluation can be studied.

The framework should be sufficiently robust to deal with all issues related to sustainable development but the level at which it can be used will depend on the knowledge of the user.

The framework has been designed to allow all stakeholders to make a contribution at whatever level they feel is appropriate. In this sense it should harmonise knowledge between all participants.

The approach is original and has been developed into a book which provided a basis for discussion by the universities of the G8, G20 countries for their declaration developed in Turin 2009 which was then passed to the heads of state meeting in that year.

Examines the ability of an expert computer system to evaluate uncertainty within a valuation context and thus emulate the professional skill of the valuer. Shows that because property valuation programs based on regression analysis require data input for each variable, they are unable to evaluate uncertainty and hence to apply the rational judgement which enables the human valuer to produce a valuation in the light of uncertain or incomplete information.

Recently, program trading has allowed arbitrageurs to take advantage of the discrepancies in the futures market and the stock market. The key that enables program trading is computer technology. This article presents the design of PROTRADER ‐ an expert system prototype for program trading implemented in M.1. In particular, a learning mech‐anism that allows the system to adapt to the changes in the market is presented.

To describe some research done, as part of an EPSRC funded project, to assist engineers working together on collaborative tasks.

Distributed finite state modelling and agent techniques are used successfully in a new hybrid self‐organising decision making system applied to collaborative work support. For the particular application, analysis of the tasks involved has been performed and these tasks are modelled. The system then employs a novel generic agent model, where task and domain knowledge are isolated from the support system, which provides relevant information to the engineers.

The method is applied in the despatch of transmission commands within the control room of The National Grid Company Plc (NGC) – tasks are completed significantly faster when the system is utilised.

The paper describes a generic approach and it would be interesting to investigate how well it works in other applications.

Although only one application has been studied, the methodology could equally be applied to a general class of cooperative work environments.

One key part of the work is the novel generic agent model that enables the task and domain knowledge, which are application specific, to be isolated from the support system, and hence allows the method to be applied in other domains.

The purpose of this paper is to examine a variety of research approaches which information managers may find useful to meet the needs of working in the networked, digitized age.

This is achieved by a discussion of the research paradigms inherent within both information theory and social theory.

The findings work towards a final justification for an interpretist approach as the most appropriate context in which to work, in order to meet the emerging trends and current challenges of information technology management.

The central theme of this paper is that research which deals primarily with people and information in a world of change, competition, and fluid communications technology should take into account and allow for an understanding of human behaviour. This understanding helps to highlight different contexts, backgrounds, and cultures and therefore provides assistance in making appropriate choices concerning research paradigms and information management, which in turn will ensure thoughtful methodology and justifiable research results.

This paper examined questions regarding the choices of research paradigms and the practical application of philosophy to the life of professional information managers.

This study uses a bibliometric approach to analyze the overall status of e-government research by revealing patterns and trends that would help gain a broad understanding of global developments in the field and future directions.

All documents related to e-government published from 2000 to 2019 were extracted from the Scopus and the Digital Government Reference Library databases. Bibexcel, Biblioshiny, and VOSviewer were used to perform the analyses and visualize the science mapping.

The results showed that 21,320 documents related to e-government research were published and cited 263,179 times. The annual growth rate of e-government research has reached 21.50%. The regression analysis showed that the growth rate is expected to increase gradually over the coming years. Despite the significant role that conference papers play in the e-government literature, the impact of articles far exceeds conference papers. The University of Albany (SUNY) has played an important role in e-government research in terms of production and impact. Furthermore, the study revealed some countries that are expected to play a prominent role in e-government research, as well as several topics that may attract more attention soon.

The results presented in this study and the comprehensive picture obtained about the e-government field make it an effective supplement to the expert evaluation. Thus, researchers, research managers, policymakers, institutions, funding agencies, and governments can rely on it.

The construction industry has been subject to substantial criticism for its short-term “hit-and-run” relationships which are focussed on win-lose situations. Despite the wide recognition of these problems the industry persistently resists the radical demanded of it. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to investigate why this might be the case by reviewing the governance problem confronting clients and decision makers in construction procurement, as conceptualised in transaction cost economics (TCE). Second, to critically analyse and question the efficiency and effectiveness of various safeguarding approaches, which are taken for granted and commonly practiced in construction, from a lean perspective.

The analysis of this paper is based on an in-depth critical review of 76 construction procurement and contractual-related articles, ranging from 1994 to 2016, using theories of Lean construction and TCE as an analytical lens.

Findings reveal that clients and decision makers often tend to safeguard their project-specific assets, against opportunism and exploitation, through the deployment of formal contractual arrangements and governance structures. These arrangements and structures typically dominate the management of the project delivery often to the detriment of the project itself; but because there is a belief that interests are safeguarded, clients and decision makers feel they have taken the best course of action. This goes a long way to explaining the coherence of the current construction model.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to demonstrate the usefulness of using principles of Lean construction in association with TCE when analysing construction-procurement-related issues. In particular, the use of a “lean” lens helps to expose the impact of procurement governance arrangements on process flow. The study also provides a potential research agenda that can lead to the development of prescriptive conceptual frameworks for causal analysis of institutionalised waste in construction.

The paper attempts to expose to clients and decision makers the amount of waste (and unnecessary cost) they embed by adhering to prevailing unfit-for-purpose contractual governance approaches. It also helps decision makers to consider alternative procurement arrangements and organisational techniques that could be of value and support collaborative ways of working.

The study contributes to the overall understanding of waste in construction by providing insight into various imperfect procurement and contractual arrangements, which are taken for granted and impede efficiency and improvement efforts in construction. The findings presented provide a theoretical anchor and rationale for developing alternative approaches to the design and delivery of capital projects.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between information fulfilment and organisational design.

The exploration is undertaken in four ways. First, the early part of the paper places information fulfilment within the literature. Second, there is an attempt to further determine the meaning of information fulfilment. Third, the factors that impact on information fulfilment are identified within the context of organisational design. Fourth, empirical findings are reported in the form of a European project which investigated the “relationship” between organisational design and information fulfilment.

Information fulfilment is shown to be about the process of taking an intuitive “feel” and delineating a number of aspects which are concerned with what might be called emotion. Fulfilment is also connected with organisational roles and wider environmental issues.

The contribution of this paper to the discipline of information management is that information fulfilment is found to exist and to be an important issue influenced by the design of an organisation.

The focus of this paper is on the influence of the learning climate in organisations on practitioner competence. Practitioners in the context of the paper are Chartered Quantity Surveyors, while competency is measured in terms of the accuracy of construction contract price forecasts. The results indicate that: The learning climate within quantity surveying practices is perceived to be supportive in terms of human support and to a lesser extent working practices, but less supportive in terms of staff development systems (specifically, the use of appraisal systems and the provision of resources and development facilities). The degree of accuracy of the subjects’ forecasts was found to improve as their perception of the overall learning climate, working practices, staff development systems and specifically items relating to the opportunity to introduce new skills, discussion of prob‐lems, working practices, provision of resources and the identification of needs increased. It is recommended that surveying organisations assess their ability to provide an ef‐fective learning environment and to address any deficiencies, especially in the provision of staff development systems, to improve individual forecasting performance. Further, they should consider introducing effective feedback mechanisms that require both the individual to critically reflect on their own performance and the organisation to provide effective constructive feedback on an individual’s performance.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an ontological foundation for future studies, based in part on integrating some prior albeit incomplete work in this area.

This manuscript is based on a literature review, as well as on conceptual and theoretical enhancements from this subject field.

As the future does not exist (it is always something yet to come), the ontological foundations for studying the future must be based on the current reality of the physical, biological and social-psychological worlds of experience and ideas. From this basis, 10 postulates are provided that are based on that current reality and are applied to studying the future. Thus, by characterizing the current reality and how it is understood by people, meaningful statements about the future are possible.

For each ontological postulate, one or more implications for the study of the future are provided as guidelines for practice.

This manuscript integrates and builds on prior offerings about ontological concerns into a comprehensive framework that legitimates and focuses the practices of studying the future.