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Article
Publication date: 10 December 2020

Jonathan Calof and Peter Bishop

Abstract

Details

foresight, vol. 22 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6689

Article
Publication date: 10 November 2020

Peter Bishop, Rebecca Tamarchak, Christine Williams and Laszlo Radvanyi

This study aims to investigate into the future of cancer and cancer research in preparation for a strategic plan for a cancer research centre.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate into the future of cancer and cancer research in preparation for a strategic plan for a cancer research centre.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used framework foresight, a method for creating scenarios and their implications developed by the MS program in Foresight at the University of Houston.

Findings

The study identified four scenarios: a continuation scenario in which progress in detecting and treating cancer progressed as it has over the past few decades, a collapse scenario in which attention was diverted from medical research due to a climate crisis, a new equilibrium scenario in which cost became the overriding concern for cancer treatment, and a transformation scenario in which individuals took control of their treatment through Do-It-Yourself remedies. Those scenarios suggested four strategic issues for the planning exercise: the growing volume of genomic and clinical data and the means to learn from it, the increased involvement and influence of patients in diagnosis and treatment, the ability to conduct research in a time of fiscal austerity and declining levels of trust in all professions, including medicine.

Research limitations/implications

The paper not only provides guidance for cancer centers but also for medical practice in general.

Practical implications

The client used the scenarios and their implications as part of its considerations in strategic planning.

Originality/value

This paper represents the first time that Framework Foresight has been applied to a medical topic.

Details

foresight, vol. 22 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6689

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2006

Peter Kellett and Wendy Bishop

Traditional environments consist not only of physical buildings and spaces but also the people and their activities which take place within them. This paper examines some aspects…

Abstract

Traditional environments consist not only of physical buildings and spaces but also the people and their activities which take place within them. This paper examines some aspects of the interrelationship between people and places. Traditional social values are believed to be undermined by the harsh imperatives of survival in the expanding urban areas of the developing world. The collaborative nature of many rural societies can be contrasted with the hard, individualistic and competitive character of life in developing cities. Unregulated, urban, economic processes in particular are assumed to be antagonistic towards gemeinschaft ideals because the logic of the market has little respect for non-monetary values.

However one of the key characteristics of many informal economies is the ability of participants to draw creatively and flexibly on all potential resources: human, material and spatial. This is particularly evident in households and settlements where a significant proportion of the economic activity is within micro scale, home-based enterprises (HBEs). By blurring and re-configuring the spatial and conceptual boundaries between work and home, between production and reproduction, many households are able to generate income to sustain themselves. Intrinsic to these processes are the linkages and exchanges between neighbours and residents, many of which are based on cultural and religious value systems which can be supportive of the economic activities taking place.

This paper will explore aspects of the interrelationship between economic and social processes through the use of empirical data collected during periods of participant observation in a consolidated informal urban settlement (kampung) in the city of Surabaya, Indonesia. Detailed household case studies will be used to illustrate how income generation activities are embedded within social networks and how in many cases traditional collaborative cultural values directly reinforce economic production. This is echoed in the use of space, particularly the overlapping and shared use of streets and alleyways. The paper concludes that despite severe economic constraints many traditional values facilitate survival in times of crisis and can be conducive to longer term sustainability.

Details

Open House International, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2007

Peter Stokes, Ryan Bishop and John Phillips

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a special issue which looks into how militarization can be seen as an entity from which international business, management and…

4308

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a special issue which looks into how militarization can be seen as an entity from which international business, management and organization can or cannot glean potentially useful lessons.

Design/methodology/approach

Five papers have been used to give a suitable basis for the reconceptualisation and recontextualisation of the military and militarization in relation to international business.

Findings

Several key tasks are achieved in rephrasing the issues of militarization in relation to international business. A wide national and cultural span is covered.

Originality/value

In developing and assembling this collection of papers claim cannot be laid to have answered issues on militarization, ground has been laid and reference points provided for a much needed wider critical debate.

Details

Critical perspectives on international business, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2001

Peter Bishop

In his editorial earlier this year, “Measuring the art of the long view”, Colin Blackman wondered how we might evaluate the effectiveness of futures research. But are there any…

Abstract

In his editorial earlier this year, “Measuring the art of the long view”, Colin Blackman wondered how we might evaluate the effectiveness of futures research. But are there any reliable measures? There’s certainly a case for accreditation and certification of futurists, but in the end there’s no escaping the judgment of the market.

Details

Foresight, vol. 3 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6689

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 May 2012

Peter C. Bishop

This paper aims to describe three potential disruptions that could close the current era of public and higher education and open potentially new eras.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to describe three potential disruptions that could close the current era of public and higher education and open potentially new eras.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper employs secondary research, scanning, and analysis.

Findings

The three potential disruptions for education are: the availability of almost unlimited information on the internet; open source education leading to the decoupling of learning from credentialing; and the ability to understand the learning process in general and that of every learner through the application of learning analytics on the data being generated by students learning online.

Research limitations/implications

These findings are conjectures. They are scenarios of some relatively current and longer‐term futures; they are not formal predictions. But they might stimulate further reflection and research while the community monitors whether these scenarios will occur or not.

Practical implications

Educational institutions should monitor the developments of internet‐based pedagogies, open source education, and learning analytics in order to be prepared if any of these developments transform education in unexpected ways.

Social implications

Society's approach to education was formed in the industrial era. It was designed to help students learn basic information and skills to be successful in relatively routine careers, such as manufacturing and service in the twentieth century. Machines are taking over that function today so that today's workers need to take more responsibility for their performance, be able to create new approaches to solve problems and work with others in a collaborative yet uncertain environment. These disruptions, should they occur, would provide the opportunity to build an education system that is appropriate for the twenty‐first century.

Originality/value

Very little of this material is truly new since the data are taken from secondary sources and most readers will know something about these developments. The originality here is using the framework of the three horizons of development to order and prepare for radical change. These developments are also potential game‐changers that would create a new educational system, something that has not occurred in the developed world for over 100 years.

Details

On the Horizon, vol. 20 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1074-8121

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2007

Peter Stokes

The purpose of this paper is to undertake an analysis of the engagement of organization and management literature with military and militarization themes and issues.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to undertake an analysis of the engagement of organization and management literature with military and militarization themes and issues.

Design/methodology/approach

An interpretive, textual literature analysis which identifies a range of international themes and issues in relation to militarization.

Findings

Identifies a modernistic‐managerialist tendency in the organization and management literature which elects to engage with military aspects and issues. This is predicated on a perceived mutual utility between the apparently separable “military” and “non‐military” domains and revolves around a series of commonly invoked texts and sets of popular cultural representations. Also recognises that organization and management commentaries influenced by critical perspectives tend not to engage so readily with military contexts and points up political commitments that might make this the case. Identifies approaches to blurring military/non‐military divides in current militaristic representations.

Research limitations/implications

Provides a considered thematic and paradigmatic reflection on militarization commentary in extant organization and management literature. Identifies and explores methodological challenges in considering militarization and its pervasive effects and delineations.

Practical implications

Maps the organization and management literature in relation to militarization and generates a series of critical platforms from which to embark on a corresponding exploration of militarization.

Originality/value

Conducts a novel consideration of the limitations of management and organization literature's hitherto treatment of military and militarization aspects. Generates a fruitful set of conditions and insights for international critical organization and management approaches to military topics and issues.

Details

Critical perspectives on international business, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2007

Ryan Bishop and John Phillips

This conceptual paper is offered in place of a systematic analysis of militarization in organizations and the wider world. It proceeds on the understanding that militarization…

452

Abstract

Purpose

This conceptual paper is offered in place of a systematic analysis of militarization in organizations and the wider world. It proceeds on the understanding that militarization implies deep historical tendencies that are not easy to simply avoid, especially where one wishes to observe or to analyse phenomena systematically.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper seeks out alternative means of engagement with references to the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud, the critical theory of Theodor Adorno and the poetry of W.H. Auden. The departure, however, is taken in response to a brief and questionable statement by Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) about world history and the position of reason since the end of the Second World War.

Findings

Historical analysis, it is argued, is essential for any understanding of processes of militarization but not adequate on its own.

Originality/value

Militarization means, at least in the first instance, the adoption of military modes of organization and engagement in supposedly non‐military environments. But at a deeper level, which is nonetheless manifest in both a developing technology and an increasingly technological attitude, it implies the repetition of basic attitudes to others and to life. Furthermore the very meaning of militarization is likely to undergo metamorphoses as a result of these trends.

Details

Critical perspectives on international business, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 February 2007

Peter Bishop, Andy Hines and Terry Collins

The paper aims to review all the techniques for developing scenarios that have appeared in the literature, along with comments on their utility, strengths and weaknesses.

10825

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to review all the techniques for developing scenarios that have appeared in the literature, along with comments on their utility, strengths and weaknesses.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was carried out through an electronic search using internet search engines and online databases and indexes.

Findings

The paper finds eight categories of techniques that include a total of 23 variations used to develop scenarios. There are descriptions and evaluations for each.

Practical implications

Futurists can use this list to broaden their repertoire of scenario techniques.

Originality/value

Scenario development is the stock‐in‐trade of futures studies, but no catalog of the techniques used has yet been published. This list is the start at developing a consensus list of techniques that can be refined as the field matures.

Details

Foresight, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6689

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2003

George Cowie

This article demonstrates how project managers can achieve greater success if trained in people skills. Project management is an important skill for businesses to have …

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Abstract

This article demonstrates how project managers can achieve greater success if trained in people skills. Project management is an important skill for businesses to have – particularly companies whose business rests on delivering projects. Often project managers are trained in the technical aspects of project management such as setting objectives; critical path analysis; work breakdown structures; resource allocation and risk management. However, the success of a project often rests on the understanding of related people and management issues, rather than technical issues. ITNET, a UK‐based consulting and business process outsourcing company, reveals how adding soft skills training, such as influencing, motivation, and delegation, to technical project management training can positively impact a business.

Details

Industrial and Commercial Training, vol. 35 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0019-7858

Keywords

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