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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.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the research design, issues and considerations in the application of the Delphi technique to identify, refine and rate the critical success factors and performance measures in maintenance-associated infections.

In-depth literature review through the application of open and axial coding were applied to formulate the interview and research questions. These were used to conduct an exploratory case study of two healthcare maintenance managers, randomly selected from two National Health Service Foundation Trusts in England. The results of exploratory case study provided the rationale for the application of the Delphi technique in this research. The different processes in the application of the Delphi technique in healthcare research are examined thoroughly.

This research demonstrates the need to apply and integrate different research methods to enhance the validity of the Delphi technique. The rationale for the application of the Delphi technique in this research is because some healthcare maintenance managers lack knowledge about basic infection control (IC) principles to make hospitals safe for patient care. The result of first round of the Delphi exercise is a useful contribution in its own rights. It identified a number of salient issues and differences in the opinions of the Delphi participants, noticeably between healthcare maintenance managers and members of the infection control team. It also resulted in useful suggestions and comments to improve the quality and presentation of the second- and third-round Delphi instruments.

This research provides a research methodology that can be adopted by researchers investigating new and emerging issues in the healthcare sector. As this research demonstrates, the Delphi technique is relevant in soliciting expert knowledge and opinion to identify performance measures to control maintenance-associated infections in hospitals. The methodology provided here could be applied by other researchers elsewhere to probe, investigate and generate rich information about new and emerging healthcare research topics.

The authors demonstrate how different research methods can be integrated to enhance the validity of the Delphi technique. For example, the results of an exploratory case study provided the rationale for the application of the Delphi technique investigating the key performance measures in maintenance-associated infections. The different processes involved in the application of the Delphi technique are also carefully explored and discussed in depth.

The purpose of this paper is to provide project management (PM) students with an example of the Delphi research approach that was applied to a recent doctoral research thesis. The objective is to provide both a description of the approach and an explanation of how it was successfully applied so that researchers in PM may become more aware and expand their perceptions of methodological options available to them.

The paper sets out a literature review of the Delphi approach and explains this research method as it was experienced as a research tool. The paper also provides reflection on the experience of being a researcher undertaking a doctoral study.

The Delphi approach is one of many that may be selected for researching PM issues and problems. It is appropriate for researching complex issues where larger scale quantitative “hard data” fails to unearth richness in tacit knowledge to help the research understand subtle expert opinion. It does not offer the rigor of clinical testing or quantitative analysis, but it provides a scientific methodology that is well suited to issues that require the insights of subject matter experts. The use of Delphi in this context was successful in that the thesis was passed and so its use in this context may be now considered as proved through rigorous examination.

The paper provides a solid literature review that may be used or referred to by researchers wishing to adopt this research approach. It also describes the protocols and processes adopted in the doctoral study. Thus, this paper provides the opportunity for PM researchers to expand their repertoire of research tools. Practitioners may also benefit from this paper as it provides a useful approach to assess and validate expert knowledge that could be contestable in a range of practice situations.

This chapter focused on presenting the result of the Delphi study from the questionnaire distributed to the experts. The Delphi technique was used for modelling the construction supply chain management (CSCM) practice in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) era. The technique was also used to predict the supply chain management's (SCM) possible trends in the construction industry. A total of 15 experts were selected for this study based on their working experience. The Delphi study also validated the gaps (organisational culture and 4IR component) identified from the existing CSCM model. The findings from the Delphi study revealed that organisational culture has a significant impact on the practice of CSCM in the 4IR era. Regarding adopting the 4IR component for the CSCM in Nigeria, the Delphi study revealed that smart management and virtualisation are the most adopted. Unfortunately, the cyber-physical system, the heartbeat of the 4IR, is yet to be fully implemented for CSCM practice in the Nigerian construction industry.

Presents a case which suggests that companies in new‐technology‐based industries have a greater need for long‐term planning than those in other industries at other stages of development. During the period of an industry′s infancy, there is also a greater need for an industry, rather than a company, perspective. Judgemental forecasting techniques are suggested to be more suitable in new industries because of the problems associated with other forecasting methods. However, problems such as time pressure on executives and the need for confidentiality are more acute when using judgemental forecasting techniques in new industries. The Delphi technique has been used many times as a method of forecasting the future of established industries, but it has never been used to consider the future of a new industry. Discusses ten problems which can be encountered when Delphi is used in this situation and provides practical hints on procedures to overcome them, gained from its use to forecast changes in one new industry, the market analysis industry. Since new industries rarely have established trade organizations to carry out such Delphi studies, the role could be played by institutes of management education.

The purpose of this paper is to engage African subject matter experts to assist with a needs assessment of international capacity building for developing countries in Africa, to establish a prioritized list of capacity building keywords substantiated by a current literature review.

A pragmatic mixed-method research design was used which involved conducting literature reviews and applying a modified Delphi technique to determine future research needs. The credibility of these results was strengthened by selecting a Delphi subject matter expert panel from African countries including Benin, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Cameroon, Congo, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Algeria and Nigeria. Non-parametric statistical techniques were used to objectively analyze the qualitative data and prioritize the findings.

The results clearly identified seven literature keywords which could improve future African capacity building research (in order of highest importance first): Trade Union (regional economic integration), Governance, FDI, Emigration, Education, Economic (small business stimulation), and Brain Gain. Additional keywords surfaced in the literature related to these ones, namely healthcare and brain drain (emigrating academics and scholars).

The results of this study should generalize to government and capacity building policy administrators in Africa as well as to other researchers and practitioners in this field. The use of a novel modified Delphi technique should also be of interest to other researchers.

The modified Delphi technique commenced with a knowledge sharing conference where pre-selected subject matter experts collaborated to define the initial scope of questions. Another novel aspect of the customized Delphi technique was that the subject matter experts were required to conduct a literature review to substantiate their responses to questions.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a participatory qualitative research project using the Delphi consensus technique aided by Internet technology for successful transition of academic endeavors during and the post COVID era. The study aimed to derive a holistic competency matrix for an optometry program for transformation of the program to competency-based education.

This study combined a scoping review of literature for developing a baseline competency framework, along with derivation of an E-Delphi consensus within a panel of diverse stakeholders to achieve the objective of plotting a detailed competency matrix.

The involvement of all stakeholders of educational system in Delphi study resulted in a valid and all-inclusive competency framework with 18 competency units and 97 competency elements. This framework provided a strong base for redesigning pedagogy and assessment methods during COVID-19 crisis.

The paper highlights the feasibility and utility of adopting a participatory approach during COVID-19 outbreak. The Delphi technique aided by Internet technology was employed to develop a competency-based curriculum.

The paper narrates a suitable, feasible and scientific method for rapid transition in academia, following the restrictions and social distancing norms imposed during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Although there is good evidence for use of the Delphi technique in curriculum development, this paper adds value by focusing on a participatory approach in using it. The suggested method here shows ways to gain optimum scientific output with minimum resources in constrained situations such as COVID-19 crisis.

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.

The last 20 years have seen increasing interest in the use of Delphi in a wide range of health‐care applications. However, this use has been accompanied by attempts to codify and define a “true Delphi”. Many authors take a narrow view of the purpose of Delphi and/or advocate a single prescriptive approach to the conduct of a Delphi study. However, as early as 1975, Linstone and Turoff pointed to the danger of attempting to define Delphi as one would immediately encounter a study that violated that definition. Through critical examination of some of the controversies and misunderstandings that surround Delphi, this paper aims to dispel some of the myths and demonstrates the wide scope and potential of this versatile approach.

The South African tourism industry is expected to develop substantially over the next five years owing to anticipated high tourism market growth rates. However, tourism demand is subject to a host of uncontrollable factors which are difficult to measure and project. Despite this fact the tourism industry of a country, including both private sector and public sector operators, needs scientifically accepted projection bases to make investment and other strategic decisions. Aims to convey the results and recommendations of an empirical study based on the Delphi research model and to indicate the implications thereof for future national tourism strategies of South Africa. The approach, methodology and techniques used in the research are relevant to researchers internationally and the recommendations are useful for national tourism policy and strategy formulation in any geographical context.