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The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of the use of the Delphi technique to support curriculum development with a view to enhancing existing literature on use of the technique for renewal of business course curricula.

The authors outline the Delphi process for obtaining consensus amongst a diverse expert group, provide an overview of the results of the study to demonstrate its value and present an analysis of participants’ reflections on the Delphi process experience. Drawing on participants’ reflections and the experience of using the technique the authors present a “good practice guide” for others seeking to apply the technique and discuss implications for practice and research.

Analysis of participants’ feedback identified strengths and limitations of the process. Participants perceived that the process was efficient and fostered reflection on their own practice. The technique’s capacity to draw out varied views due to absence of dominant voices was highlighted. Limitations were perceived to be restrictiveness of the process and potential inability to address varying understandings. Participant feedback suggests the process may provide a fragmented approach to curriculum design.

The findings suggest avenues for future research, including examining how the Delphi technique can be incorporated into a holistic set of curriculum design field studies that are linked and ultimately lead to a well-designed curriculum.

Current literature on the Delphi technique does not provide participants’ perspectives on the process nor researcher reflections on use of the technique. The authors address this gap and generate good practice guidelines for using the Delphi technique as a tool for curriculum renewal.

This article seeks to present approaches on the utilisation of expert information in strategic planning practices.

The article emphasises alternative scenario development for the bases of decision making. This is done through an evaluation of Delphi studies and their feasibility for scenario construction. As an application of the information processes, both narrow and broad expert information processes are presented as alternative sources for solutions in public sector strategic planning.

Basically, there are two alternative ways to utilise Delphi studies in strategic planning and decision making: a broad expert information process (BEIP) model; and a narrow expert information process (NEIP) model.

As a broad process, an example is presented of the alternative future outcomes and the argumentation around it in the share of genetically modified plant varieties in commercial farming in Finland.

This theoretical review contributes to the discussions of the linkages between the use of expert information, the scenario planning and the strategic planning processes.

The purpose of this article is to highlight the results of the online Delphi research project; in particular the procedures used to establish an online and innovative process of content validation and obtaining “rich” and descriptive information using the internet and current e‐learning technologies. The online Delphi was proven to be an excellent tool in establishing content validity for an HRD‐related construct, e.g. adult learning principles. A review of related literature revealed no existing research that used a web‐based Delphi technique to validate measurements used in training and development (T&D) or HRD.

Research methods included: a thorough review of the literature to construct an item pool of adult learning principles and instructional methods, and a Delphi expert panel consensus. The mean, mode, standard deviation, interquartile range, and skewness of the data were calculated from the voting procedures for determination of consensus. Evidence of reliability was indicated by the interrater reliability coefficient from a field test. In addition, the Gunning FOG Index for readability was calculated to improve the readability of the instrument.

To address the first research question the authors suggest that a valid instrument can be developed by a diverse Delphi expert panel that measures the application of adult learning principles to fully‐mediated world wide web‐based training. The second research question was answered by illustrating that the internet can assist a group of diverse and geographically dispersed subject‐matter experts in establishing a content valid measurement of instructional methods and techniques that demonstrate the application of adult learning principles to fully‐mediated web‐based training. And, finally, the paper concludes that a Delphi process can be established as a web‐based method to validate research measures.

This research helps to address the critical issue of how research is used in practice. Reasons why this research lends itself more to practice than other HRD research using more common qualitative or quantitative methods include: it is a relatively simple procedure requiring less than expert‐level skills; the Delphi uses expert opinion that is commonly used in training and development practice; and results are easy to interpret and practical.

This research is unique in its approach to developing a content valid instrument using state‐of‐the‐art technology coupled with a updated Delphi method. It is valuable to HRD and other professionals and researchers interested in developing valid measures across cultures and where experts are geographically dispersed.

The Delphi method is well suited to the research needed to inform health education and health promotion campaigns. This paper measures the current interest in the method by way of a literature review. It then describes how the method has evolved from its inception in the 1950s, to its current form. The focus is on a Delphi variant that is particularly relevant to health education – the Policy Delphi. The benefits of the method for the developer of health education and health promotion campaigns are then discussed. The main benefits relate to the gaining of expert opinions without the time and geographical restraints involved in alternative methods. The anonymity that is central to the Delphi method also has benefits for the researcher. The last section of the paper deals with potential pitfalls in the Delphi method that might undermine the successful application of the method, and recommends steps the practitioner can take to address these pitfalls.

The purpose of this paper is to present the application of a procedure for the quality control of stainless steel tubes produced for automotive exhaust systems from a leading company in the steel sector, based on the Delphi method in accordance with the ISO/TS 16949:2009 and the ISO 9000:2008. Using Delphi methodology, it was possible to identify the main problems in the production lines object of the study, the main defects and their causes. Statistical methods were used to monitor process compliance and capacity. The panel of experts involved in Delphi method was able to identify causes of non‐compliance and suggest corrective actions.

The quality procedure implemented involves the application of the Delphi method and the ISO/TS 16949:2009 standard in conjunction with ISO 9000:2008 to the production line of welded tubes for exhaust systems. The statistical methods used to monitor the process were mainly control charts. Capability index, Cp and Cpk, were used to measure the process attitude to produce compliant outputs. Dimensional data were acquired by non‐destructive testing on diameters and X‐R charts were used to graphically represent the process state of control. Destructive tests were performed to monitor the welding quality and P‐chart were used to assess the proportion of nonconforming units.

In this work, a procedure was developed in order to characterize the production process of TXM tubes realized in the line 31 of the leader company plant. The use of Delphi methodology, in order to incorporate experts opinions in the quality control of stainless steel tubes, was one of the main points of this work. The panel of experts worked together to identify process issues, define their causes and propose corrective actions. The paper provides an overview about the quality approach of one of the world's largest companies in the production of steel and shows also how the statistical tools are used in order to manage process behavior.

The value of this paper is to illustrate an innovative approach to a real life quality problem; it demonstrates how the application of qualitative and quantitative quality instruments in accordance with technical specification can help in increasing and maintaining product compliance and in optimizing the management of resources.

Encourages the use of Delphi for librarians in search of a research methodology. Describes one of many applications of the method, as an example of how the method can be employed in a library‐related problem solving process. The Delphi method is an effective means of consensus building, without all the meetings. Includes a description of one such consensus building process, used at an academic library a number of years ago, to determine standardized course content for a formal course in library instruction, a component of the university's general education initiative. A 134‐item checklist of learning objectives was distributed to participants, with the aim of refining the list based on an environmental scan of faculty librarians as experts. High consensus learning objectives were included in the manual, and low consensus objectives were not used. Discusses the viability of applying the Delphi technique to library science and librarianship.

Through its advanced computational capabilities, cyber–physical systems (CPS) proffer solutions to some of the cultural challenges plaguing the effective delivery of facilities management (FM) mandates. This study aims to explore the drivers for the uptake of CPS for FM functions using a qualitative approach – the Delphi technique.

Using the Delphi technique, the study selected experts through a well-defined process entailing a pre-determined set of criteria. The experts gave their opinions in two iterations which were subjected to statistical analyses such as the measure of central tendency and interquartile deviation in ascertaining consensus among the experts and the Mann–Whitney U test in establishing if there is a difference in the opinions given by the experts.

The study’s findings show that six of the identified drivers of the uptake of CPS for FM were attributed to be of very high significance, while 12 were of high significance. Furthermore, it was revealed that there is no significant statistical difference in the opinions given by experts in professional practice and academia.

The study’s outcome provides the requisite insight into the propelling measures for the uptake of CPS for FM by organisations and, by extension, aiding digital transformation for effective FM delivery.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, evidence from the literature suggests that no study has showcased the drivers of the incorporation of CPS for FM. Hence, this study fills this gap in knowledge by unravelling the significant propelling measures of the integration of CPS for FM functions.

The dynamic nature of uncertainty sources in regional operations represents supply chain management (SCM) imperatives to review uncertainty management frameworks on an ongoing basis with a view to identifying and prioritising critical indices of uncertainty for effective SCM. The purpose of this study is to identify the critical indices of uncertainty for regional supply chains and analyse how SCM practitioners perceive uncertainty.

This paper presents a Delphi-based study with a panel of 70 SCM experts from the Sultanate of Oman in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. It applies three rounds of a Delphi exercise to identify, select and prioritise the critical indices of supply chain uncertainty perceived by panel experts. The thematic analysis also provides theorisations on the process for uncertainty perception and factors shaping perception.

A total of 39 uncertainty indices were identified from demand, supply, manufacturing, control, technology, competitive, project, transport and geological sources. The Delphi selection round captured the top 12 indices of experts. The research found an accumulative–aggregative duality that explains uncertainty perception and a cost–conformance–connection triadic set of factors underlying the perceived critical indices. Project uncertainty produced the top-ranked index in the final Delphi round.

This paper makes three main contributions. First, it offers a bottom-up based insight into supply chain uncertainty using the Delphi-based study and from a GCC perspective. Second, the research is unique in its focus on Oman and, third, it is of value for the international operations of GCC companies and for international firms with intentions of expanding, moving or outsourcing their operations to a GCC country such as Oman.

Mobile communication has grown beyond its original scope and scale, and mobile operators have played a significant role in this phenomenon. Since the mobile operator business is highly regulated, the authors aim to analyze the effects of regulation on the industry during the period 1985‐2009. They also aim to consider its potential effects in the years 2010‐2015.

The method selected for this research was the Delphi method. The challenge was that this method was originally created to assess experts' opinions about the course of development of a certain technology or phenomenon in the future, and then by using for example a scenario technique, to draw conclusions about its possible futures. Here the authors used the Delphi method for estimating past development also, i.e. experts' opinions of the causes and effects of laws and other regulations in the past few decades.

According to this research the ultimate goals of the regulator, set as early as in the middle of the 1980s, have been actualized: in Finland there are several competing nationwide mobile operators and the use of mobile phones is cheap compared to many other countries. One significant finding of this study is that the regulatory framework for the mobile operator business has become more complex over the years and that this complexity is also likely to grow in the future.

Dynamic regulation has enabled strong competition in Finland's mobile operator market and at the same time a very high service level for subscribers. The Delphi method is proven to be a powerful tool also when examining past events, and the authors recommend Delphi for use in studies related to other sectors of administration and fields of business.

This paper enables better monitoring of the changes in regulatory framework over a long period in which several changes have been made, compared to previous studies which focus on a single regulatory action.

There are latent fears that in a Delphi exercise, the opinions of participants might be impaired due to the proximity of other participants. However, the thoughtful selection of participants and effective communication during the process can guarantee the independence of the participants’ opinions. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The single site case study method was adopted and the participants for the Delphi exercise were chosen from the strategic and tactical levels of leadership. The professional, positional experience and responsibilities of the participants guaranteed the quality of their opinions.

Although some of the facilities management participants are from the same division, the data collected demonstrate the opinions of independent minds, thus guaranteeing that consensus was achieved without complicity.

The research shows that it is possible to achieve consensus of opinion in a Delphi exercise without complicity, even when the participants know each other. This can be achieved through the painstaking selection of appropriate participants, the skills of the research coordinator and transparent communication between the rounds and in the final report.