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One of the challenges in global sustainable tourism development is knowledge flow and sharing among development assistance donors and recipients in developing countries. This chapter integrates the concepts of knowledge management and consensus building to construct a virtual network, leveraging information communication technologies for identifying global tourism priorities and sharing knowledge for sustainable development. The factors and relationships that influence the effective use of professional virtual communities for knowledge sharing are identified and examined. They are integrated for proposing a conceptual framework to study effective knowledge sharing in virtual communities for global sustainable tourism development.

Much of what the author want to say in this paper had to do with “control” “exactness,” “precision” and their declination in both: shadowing and Consensus Building Approach. The purpose of this paper is to discuss these issues.

This paper upholds two things: first, that shadowing is a field technique particularly attuned to action research as defined by Chris Argyris: “I would summarize [action-research and action-science] by saying that Kurt Lewin did three things: he was committed to understanding reality as the participants understood it, he used a combination of so-called ‘normal’ science with a narrative-integrative approach, and he tested his ideas by trying to change the things that he was studying.”

Second, that the results of such a research are best understood by the organization's management when the interpretation and decision process follow an approach based on active listening and an inclusive participatory methodology such as Consensus Building.

When this does not happen, the shadowing methodology allows a very rich research experience with no real impact on the organization's life.

The Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO), a national Indian organization concerned primarily with tribal governance issues, has sponsored numerous projects during the 1980s which suggest that better models of communication and consensus‐building are desperately needed within Indian tribal communities. Due in part to the use of forms of problem‐solving that are incongruent with tribal values and cultural patterns, many Indian communities have been paralyzed in their efforts to develop consensus on strategic plans. While many tribes have experimented with various forms of conflict management techniques, careful consideration must be given to the appropriateness of the approach employed Because the cultural traditions of Indian communities are rooted in a consensual approach to problem‐solving, dispute resolution approaches imposed by non‐Indian law and bureaucracies often conflict with tribal values. This paper reports the attempt of one tribe, the Winnebago in Nebraska, to introduce a system of planning and problem‐solving adequate for dealing with the needs of the tribal community in a culturally appropriate manner.

This article wants to propose deeper insights and clarifications into the effects of organizational politics which have been at the center of many debates in decision-making literature. For a long time, the debate focused on the negative effects of organizational politics and how to avoid them. This article wants to explore the positive effects of organizational politics and see how this impacts the consensus process in teams moderated by organizational change.

The article model and propositions are grounded in the organisational politics literature. The analysis builds on the “positive” politics literature which has been gaining steam in the last two decades and links this with the consensus literature.

The article proposes an integrated model which clearly shows how the three core concepts influence each other through the four proposed hypotheses. Organizational politics can help to create more consensus in a team decision-making process, and this can have a positive effect on team performance.

The article aims to expand insights of organizational politics on decision-making by putting the light on possible positive effects of organizational politics. The article addresses the theoretical gap of how organizational politics can impact the consensus process.

The paper aims to explore the gap between theory and practice in foresight and to give some suggestions on how to reduce it.

Analysis of practical foresight activities and suggestions are based on a literature review, the author's own research and practice in the field of foresight and futures studies, and her participation in the work of a European project (COST A22).

Two different types of practical foresight activities have developed. One of them, the practice of foresight of critical futures studies (FCFS) is an application of a theory of futures studies. The other, termed here as praxis foresight (PF), has no theoretical basis and responds directly to practical needs. At present a gap can be perceived between theory and practice. PF distinguishes itself from the practice and theory of FCFS and narrows the construction space of futures. Neither FCFS nor PF deals with content issues of the outer world. Reducing the gap depends on renewal of joint discourses and research about experience of different practical foresight activities and manageability of complex dynamics in foresight. Production and feedback of self‐reflective and reflective foresight knowledge could improve theory and practice.

Contemporary practical foresight activities are analysed and suggestions to reduce the gap are developed in the context of the linkage between theory and practice. This paper is thought provoking for futurists, foresight managers and university researchers.

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise and validate a scale to capture entrepreneurship behaviour at the human resource management (HRM) functional level.

Drawing from the HRM and entrepreneurship literature, this paper first conceptualises and operationalises entrepreneurial behaviour at the human resource (HR) functional level. Second, it uses a multi-phase, systematic scale development procedure to design a two-dimensional scale of entrepreneurial HRM. Finally, the scale is validated by testing its relationship with HRM innovation.

The findings suggest that entrepreneurial behaviour at the HRM functional level is characterised by innovativeness, pro-activeness, risk-taking and consensus-building behaviour. The scale shed new light on the roles of HR professionals.

This paper highlights the need for HR professionals to demonstrate entrepreneurial behaviour in HRM value addition. The scale development process, while providing a detailed understanding of the entrepreneurial behaviour at the HR functional level, will facilitate future research.

This scale provides HR professionals with the means to measure and improve entrepreneurial HRM, leading to higher levels of HRM-based value addition.

This is the first known attempt to capture entrepreneurial behaviour at the HRM functional level.

Intractable conflict is a long-time violent and self-perpetuating crisis. The peacemaking revolution has the potential to stop the destructive dynamic of the conflict. The purpose of this paper is to present a contractualist model of a peacemaking revolution and its theoretical foundations. It analyzes the revolutionary peacemaking process in Northern Ireland during the 1990s in light of the contractualist model.

The paper presents a contractualist model to describe the interplay between leaders (policymakers) and people (public opinion) and its impact on the strategy to cope with situations of intractable conflict. The paper includes theoretical background and a case study analysis.

The peacemaking revolution is a process of dynamic equilibrium between peacemaking policy and public expectations for change. It progresses from one point of equilibrium to the next.

The paper intends to add a fresh perspective to the study of the peacemaking revolution, in general, and the interplay between peacemaking policy and public support in particular. It points out that a consensus-building process, which combines political-elite diplomacy and public diplomacy, has the potential to create the conditions for a peacemaking revolution. Political-elite diplomacy offers diplomatic channels for leaders to begin a peace process, support it and conclude agreements. Public diplomacy offers instruments to involve the people in the peacemaking efforts, prepare them for a change and motivate the leaderships to conclude agreements.

This paper utilizes Svara's facilitative leadership model to examine local government council/board effectiveness in Michigan, United States.

This study performs a binary logistic regression to assess the influence of four independent variables–consensus building, cooperative relationship, clarity of responsibility and existence of factions/partisanship on five measures of council/board effectiveness (long-term goal setting, administrative, financial, addressing citizen expectations and overall performance), while controlling for other variables.

Overall, the findings of this study have serious theoretical and practical implications. Specifically, the findings revealed that cooperative relationships, clarity of responsibility, discussion of public issues and partnership influence council/board effectiveness. The findings further support Svara's (2003) model on facilitative leadership and the model's usefulness in understanding local government leadership, i.e. council/board leadership effectiveness.

First, survey data contains desirability bias which can affect the results presented in this study. Second, the data does not include socio-demographic variables of the respondents.

The study is original because it utilizes a data set that is not commonly used in understanding local government council/board effectiveness. Furthermore, the study also shows the usefulness of Svara's facilitative leadership in local government.

The 11th revision of the International Classification of diseases which sets global standards for defining, reporting and managing health conditions is under way. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) underpinning principle of clinical utility is currently poor for persons with Disorders of Intellectual Development (DID) and mental disorders. This impedes access to healthcare resources; services and social inclusion thereby further aggravating their vulnerability. The purpose of this paper is to present a critical overview and evidence informed recommendations within the context of an international collaborative programme, undertaken by the Faculty of Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability, Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK with support from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The authors carried out: first, a systematic review (SR) of literature, using PRISMA guidelines regarding the reliability, validity and utility of the ICD-10/Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) diagnostic criteria in people with DID (PWDID); second, a national and international consultation exercise with partners, stakeholders and experts; third, a multicentric survey of problem behaviours in PWDID; and finally, information dissemination/dialogues including presentations and workshops at key scientific events, consultation networking, data gathering and consensus building.

The SR revealed a dearth of robust studies – most consisting of weak research methodologies. Significant difficulties were highlighted regarding the application of diagnostic criteria in the current classificatory systems – particularly in people with severe/moderate DID. Recommendations supported the introduction WHERE APPROPRIATE of modifications based on observed phenomena (signs) in PWDID in lieu of reported symptoms to facilitate DIAGNOSIS AND better access to healthcare and the community. Heterogeneity precluded quantitative pooling and meta-analysis. The consensus building exercise globally revealed that problem behaviours were the commonest reasons for referral to healthcare services with significant numbers without a diagnosed mental disorder being prescribed psychoactive medication.

The consensus gathering exercise WAS SELECTIVE AND did not cover all of the 194 member states of WHO due to resource and time constraints and this constitutes the main limitation of our study. Based on the SR and expert consensus, the authors submitted evidence informed pragmatic proposals to the WHO aimed at addressing the shortcomings of the ICD-10. The key recommendations focused on improving clinical utility within the context of epistemic iteration which would consolidate and strengthen the future evidence base. It was also recommended that self-injurious behaviour should form a standalone sub category in view of its relevance for healthcare services and resources which underpin clinical utility.

The ICD-11 is a global, multidisciplinary and multilingual development for public health benefit with 70 per cent of the world's health expenditures assigned using this system for resource allocation. Currently mental disorders in PWDID can be misinterpreted, unrecognised and under reported resulting in barriers to access to treatment and healthcare resources. Conversely disorders may be over diagnosed when the inherent discrepancies between the chronological age and the developmental level of functioning are not considered. Conclusions and recommendations from this study will result in better diagnosis of mental disorders and healthcare resources in this population.

PWDID are a vulnerable sector of the population with an increased prevalence of mental health problems who are marginalised and discriminated by society. Early detection, treatment and management of these conditions will prevent further decompensation and stigmatisation.

To the best of the authors knowledge this is the first comprehensive, large-scale study which evaluates the ICD classificatory system within the context of clinical utility for PWDID, including experts and stakeholders from both lower/middle- and high-income countries. The international consultation/consensus building process culminating in the formulation of evidence informed recommendations, aimed at improving the clinical utility of the ICD-11 for this population, has the potential to improve access to appropriate healthcare and treatment and consequent enhancement of their quality of life.

Acting in an increasingly complex and dynamic global world requires students to analyze and discuss professionally many of the international challenges that the world is facing due to globalization. The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate the implementation of information and learning technologies (ILTs) in the practical case of the web-based negotiation game “Surfing Global Change (SGC),” which fosters holistic thinking and consensus building. The paper analyzes the technological and social processes during the game and provides a brief overview of its content, in this case the migration and refugee crisis in Austria in 2015.

Review and evaluation of the social and technological processes connected to SGC by one participating student, in this case the author of this paper, to enhance students’ points of view on ILTs.

The implementation of ILTs in university learning environments enhances student motivation and optimizes learning experiences. By slipping into different roles, taking perspectives and finding a consensus, SGC fosters holistic thinking, sensitivity, negotiation and problem-solving skills, which are essential in a variety of multi-cultural settings.

The results obtained are based on a single case study and a single student’s viewpoint. According to the rules of SGC, the chapter that focuses on the case study, i.e., the refugee and migration crisis in Austria, is written from the perspective of the stakeholder “concerned citizen” and does not necessarily reflect the personal opinion of the author.

Participants’ perspectives of, experiences with and evaluations of ILTs are essential to improve the quality of web-based learning tools, such as SGC.