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Food waste occurs in every stage of the supply chain, but the value-added lost to waste is the highest when consumers waste food. The purpose of this paper is to understand the food waste behaviour of consumers to support policies for minimising food waste.

Using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as a theoretical lens, the authors design a questionnaire that incorporates contextual factors to explain food waste behaviour. The authors test two models: base (four constructs of TPB) and extended (four constructs of TPB plus six contextual factors). The authors build partial least squares structural equation models to test the hypotheses.

The data confirm significant relationships between food waste and contextual factors such as motives, financial attitudes, planning routines, food surplus, social relationships and Ramadan.

The data comes from an agriculturally resource-constrained country: Qatar.

Food waste originating from various causes means more food should flow through the supply chains to reach consumers’ homes. Contextual factors identified in this work increase the explanatory power of the base model by 75 per cent.

Changing eating habits during certain periods of the year and food surplus have a strong impact on food waste behaviour.

A country is considered to be food secure if it can provide its citizens with stable access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food. The findings and conclusions inform and impact upon the development of food waste and food security policies.

This paper aims to explain the uncertainties associated with food security and, in doing so, classifies them within the context of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA). In using this lens to frame the challenges of food security, the viewpoint proffers the need to be even more sensitive to heightened levels of uncertainty and highlights the need of governments to be prepared to meet a wider variety of external forces, risks, opportunities and threats to mitigate food insecurity.

This research constructs a novel morphology of food security and food waste policy futures based upon a range of scenario types based on contextual narratives relating to constraint, collapse, growth and transformation. In doing so, offering a representation that suggests order, complexity and chaos occur across a range of four domains of interaction: known (repeatable cause and effect); knowable (cause and effect separated over time); complex (cause and effect are unique and non-repeatable); and chaos (no cause and effect relationship perceivable). This orientation is represented in the form of a novel morphology that can be used to support decision-making and policymaking/consideration.

The authors have presented and identified a combination of a structured and unstructured methods to develop and hence classify a range of food security scenarios. Using the VUCA worldview and classification, the authors subsequently identify seven underlying and seven United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)-derived factors, which when combined with the Institute for the Future (IFTF) four food security scenarios in a pairwise manner led to the generation of a further 16 subsequent VUCA-inspired scenarios composed within a morphological grid. These were subsequently reclassified against three sets of stakeholders and then finally mapped to the Cynefin framework as a set of ten scenarios to show the potential of making greater sense of the VUCA nature of food security.

The paper proposes a novel conceptual approach to framing and understanding the wider holistic aspects of explaining and providing foresight to the complexities of food security. Hence, this paper provides policymakers with two contrasting, yet complementary, food security scenario planning techniques (VUCA and Cynefin), which envelope 16 narrative food security scenarios which can be used with stakeholders and advocacy groups in facilitating discussion about complex, messy and “wicked” interlinkages within the food security domain.

This is the first time in the extant literature that a combination of structured and unstructured, problem-based versus mess-based, contrasting perspectives have been brought together and developed, with the intention of creating a normative family or portfolio of narrative-driven food security scenarios. The authors present and extend four existing scenarios from the extant food security literature, and subsequently, through interpreting these scenarios via a dual and combined lens (notably using UN SDG and VUCA elements), a grid of alternative food security scenarios is produced. By then using applying the Cynefin complexity framework to these new configurations, a thematic categorisation of alternative futures is presented, which may aid policy and decision-makers when considering this topic.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the use, applicability and relevance of strategic planning as a process and tool when applied to exploring food security challenges, in the context of existing research on food security and food waste in the food supply chain. The issues associated with robust and resilient food supply chains within a circular economy are increasingly being seen as supportive of creating enhanced levels of food security but the authors argue that this is only sustainable when strategically planned as part of a cross-enterprise, information-rich and complex supply chain. The relevance of the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental (PESTLE) strategic planning tool is explored to establish whether it can play a role tacking the complexity of food insecurity (i.e. a lack of food security).

This is a viewpoint piece therefore as a result, thought, normative literature and supposition are used as a means to ground and orientate the views of the authors.

The authors identify and conclude that strategic planning tools like PESTLE across enterprises may not be relevant in supporting the reduction of food insecurity. This conclusion is predicated on the heightened level of complexity surrounding the pursuit of food security and the simplistic categorisation of PESTLE factors in a linear fashion that underpin this tool. Rather, the authors’ call for the use of strategic planning tools that are able to capture a large number of inter-related factors holistically.

This insight to the inter-related factors that contribute to food insecurity will allow policy developers, decision makers and others to develop their understanding of how strategic planning can support increased levels of food security within a circular economy and across cross-enterprises.

The authors contribute to the literature through a new insight of how normative strategic planning tools need to evolve in a complex, inter-connected world of international business and geo-politics. In doing so, it is expected that this research will motivate others to develop their line of enquiry around uncovering and exploring those inter-relationships connecting PESTLE factors.

The justification of information technology (IT) is inherently fuzzy, both in theory and practice. This is due to the largely intangible dimensions of IT projects. In view of this, this research note presents the results of ongoing research, in the application of Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM), as a tool to identify complex functional interrelationships associated with the justification of IT. This paper presents a theoretical functional model which describes these relationships and, by using an FCM, further interrelationships are developed in the context of justifying IT projects. A procedure which would address the optimisation of these intangible relationships in the form of a genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed as a process for investment justification.

The development and implementation of IT/IS systems inherently requires a deep understanding of user requirements. However, experience shows that a key barrier to the success of an IT/IS system, is the manner by which it is adopted by end users. As such, this viewpoint article presents an overview of those typical enterprise IT user traits as experience by the author.

By outlining key benefits of such systems, the author presents a 6‐stage approach to benefits realization, known as the acronym, ASSIST. Practical implications – By applying such an approach, the management of business process change and delivery of IT/IS should be more achievable, by addressing the specific needs and expectations of different types of users, as identified in the text of the article.

Key IT/IS benefits are therefore a useful addition to existing project management and business analysis tools and techniques, that can be utilized by enterprise IT system delivery managers as well as senior IT/IS management.

This paper aims to identify a wider holistic view of the inter-relationships relating to food security from a people, process and policy perspective. This is so that decision and policy makers can identify relevant alignments between disparate and conflicting priority elements in the field. Noting the complexity of inter-related challenges posed by food security, food supply chains and growing concerns over food waste, this paper also seeks to identify cross-cutting themes relative to shared energy and water security objectives also. The authors develop and adapt an existing food security framework to encapsulate the above culminating in a systems archetype that defines the intimate feed-forward relationship.

As a viewpoint piece, there is no empirical work to report in this paper. An exploratory review of the literature has allowed for the extraction of food security concerns that need the attention of stakeholders across the enterprise to ensure robust food supply chains can be created, maintained and sustained through a better understanding and usage of information, knowledge and data.

The authors present an adaptation of an existing food security framework to include dimensions of people, process and policy through the inclusion of a number of broad thematic areas including (amongst others): management best practices; sustainable business operations; consumption rights, behaviours and trading policies; lifecycle management; recovery and extraction; regulatory changes and policy reform; environmental and climate change impacts. The authors outline an overarching systems archetype based upon a combination of the Limits of Growth, Tragedy of the Commons and Attractiveness Principle archetypes. In doing so, providing decision and policy makers to identify and explore a range of food security scenarios and potential outcomes.

This paper is a position paper that provides strategic directions on the impact of people, process and policy aspects on the development of food security policies from the perspective of local and central government decision makers.

This paper provides a holistic worldview on key aspects of the global and national food security debate that seeks to assist decision and policy makers frame their decisions and policy interventions across dimensions of people, process and policy.

Noting the impact of securing and maintaining the production, supply, consumption, health benefits and waste recovery aspects of food this paper provides a perspective on the inter-relationships that exist within the topical area and the socially mediated inter-relationships which exist and should be considered when engaging with the food security and food supply chain topical area.

The paper raises awareness and highlights inherent inter-relationships within the food debate for the benefit of decision and policy makers present at the organisational level, specifically around people, process and policy.

This paper aims to address the growth and importance of build‐to‐order (BTO) supply chains, which allow consumers and supply chain participants to select, configure, purchase and view order delivery status. The paper supports BTO as a source of critical competitive advantage to many organizations.

This paper uses an interpretivist case study research strategy that exploits multiple research methods. It presents an overview of supply chain management (including BTO‐centric approaches) and performance management and then focuses on a case study in which an aerospace components company was attempting to become a BTO enterprise. Thenceforth, the paper analyses key business drivers of using performance management systems (PeMS), and how supply chain‐oriented organizations can best leverage IT and PeMS solutions in this regard.

The case study has highlighted the need for the evaluation of PeMS implementation solutions regardless of their typology; wholly vendor‐based, best of breed or combination of vendor solution and in‐house development, but also an internal audit of processes and existing IS that would aid the implementation of such a concept. Furthermore, the intra‐ and inter‐company political/social/commercial tensions (e.g. relating to anxieties about measuring and highlighting relative business performance) need to be recognized, acknowledged in an open/honest manner and addressed in order that such tensions do not outweigh the concept justifiers which drive systems improvements. Education, ownership, responsibility, sponsorship, openness and collaboration between and amongst the supply chain participants will aid in overcoming these barriers.

This paper offers a novel insight into BTO supply chains.

Noting the scarcity of complexity techniques applied to modelling social systems, this paper attempts to formulate a conceptual model of decision‐making behaviour within the information systems evaluation (ISE) task, against the backdrop of complexity theory.

Complexity theory places an emphasis on addressing how dynamic non‐linear systems can be represented and modelled utilising computational tools and techniques to draw out inherent system dynamics. In doing so, the use of fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) and morphological analysis (MA) (hence a fuzzy‐morphological approach), is applied to empirical case study data, to elucidate the inherent behavioural and systems issues involved in ISE decision making within a British manufacturing organisation.

The paper presents results of applying a combined FCM and MA approach to modelling complexity within management decision making in the ISE task: both in terms of a cognitive map of the key decision criteria; a matrix of constraint criteria; and a synthesised model that provides an indication of the linkages between technology management factors and organisational imperatives and goals. These findings show the usefulness of viewing the topic in complexity science terms (emergent behaviour, non‐linearity and chaotic response).

This research is limited in applying the given technique to a single case study organisation in the UK manufacturing sector, where the sample size is limited. Since this is the first time that such a combined MA‐FCM technique has been used in this field known to the authors, future research needs to validate and explore the implications of this approach in a wider context (multiple organisations and viewpoints).

The paper highlights the need for those involved in analysing managerial decision making to include aspects of complexity theory in their evaluations – namely uncovering inherent inter‐relationships that may exist between stakeholders, processes and systems. In doing so, expanding the manager's understanding of how to achieve congruence between driving forces and factors, which may exhibit non‐linear, chaotic or feedback behaviour.

The given research brings together both artificial intelligence and operational research techniques, applied in the socio‐technical milieu of information systems evaluation, within the context of complexity theory, in order to describe the rich detail within the ISE decision‐making task.

This article seeks to revitalise and add to the debate on the rising and declining fortunes of the field of information systems, to contrast and compare this to computer science, and to argue for a review within the field of the scientific basis of the field in general.

The article draws upon the existing debate within the information systems (IS) field and highlights pertinent IS debate and dogma from the historical past – including the notion of “cargo cult science” as debated by the Nobel laureate, Richard Feynmann, as a vehicle for the viewpoint discussion.

The field of IS is still susceptible to having weak roots in terms of scientific and theoretical formality for its fundamental basis, and those in the field should be warned against complacency in developing the field in an incremental manner.

This article adds to the debate on IS in general.