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This paper aims to map the antecedents and precursory contexts regarding the four principles of management. Moreover, a description of its codification and coalescence as a unified teaching framework is provided, critically reviewing key theoretical underpinnings of management principles in academic research and management textbooks.

A historiographic approach reviewed seminal works for theory origins of the four principles of management, by analyzing 260 management textbooks from 1935 to 2013 to document their adoption in management education. This study used critical hermeneutics (Prasad, 2002) to explore the framework’s progression by providing the context of cultural, political and economic influences.

This research study tracked and mapped the creation of the four principles of management, as it became the commonly accepted teaching framework in management education. Today, every predominant management principles textbook uses the four principles of management – plan, lead, organize and control – as the basis for teaching students.

There is limited research on the application of the four principles of management in contemporary management, despite its ubiquity in management education. The study’s historical account of its formation provides insights into its adoption and utilization in modern education context. The study’s primary limitation stems from the generalization of the representative sample of textbooks used in the study (1917–2013). However, data saturation was achieved for the scale of textbooks and writings which was reviewed.

Through a critical analysis into the formation of the four principles of management, this research not only provides a historical account of its construction but, as importantly, the influencing factors that led to its development. This research fills a gap in critical literature, as a post mortem exegesis has never been conducted on the four principles of management in the afteryears of its amalgamation.

The practical demonstrations and research which led to the preparation of this paper involved a combination of stakeholder engagement, policy debate and the practical demonstration and testing of autonomous vehicles. By adhering to a design approach which in centred on participation and human-centred engagement, the advent of autonomous vehicles might avoid many of the problems encountered in relation to conventional transport.

The research explored how a new and potentially disruptive technology might be incorporated in urban settings, through the lens of participation and problem-based design. The research critically reviews key strands in the literature (autonomous vehicles, social research and participatory design), with allusion to current case study experiments.

Although there are numerous examples of autonomous vehicles (AV) research concentrating on technical aspects alone, this paper finds that such an approach appears to be an unusual starting point for the design of innovative technology. That is, AVs would appear to hold the potential to be genuinely disruptive in terms of innovation, yet the way that disruption takes place should surely be guided by design principles and by issues and problems encountered by potential users.

The research carries significant implications for practice in that it advocates locating those socio-contextual issues at the heart of the problem definition and design process and ahead of technical solutions.

What sets this research apart from other studies concerning AVs was that the starting point for investigation was the framing of AVs within contexts and scenarios leading to the emergence of wicked problems. This begins with a research position where the potential uses for AVs are considered in a social context, within which the problems and issues to be solved become the starting point for design at a fundamental level.

Although businesses continue to take up artificial intelligence (AI), concerns remain that companies are not realising the full value of their investments. The study aims to provide insights into how AI creates business value by investigating the mediating role of Business Process Management (BPM) capabilities.

The integrative model of IT Business Value was contextualised, and structural equation modelling was applied to validate the proposed serial multiple mediation model using a sample of 448 organisations based in the EU.

The results validate the proposed serial multiple mediation model according to which AI adoption increases organisational performance through decision-making and business process performance. Process automation, organisational learning and process innovation are significant complementary partial mediators, thereby shedding light on how AI creates business value.

In pursuing a complex nomological framework, multiple perspectives on realising business value from AI investments were incorporated. Several moderators presenting complementary organisational resources (e.g. culture, digital maturity, BPM maturity) could be included to identify behaviour in more complex relationships. The ethical and moral issues surrounding AI and its use could also be examined.

The provided insights can help guide organisations towards the most promising AI activities of process automation with AI-enabled decision-making, organisational learning and process innovation to yield business value.

While previous research assumed a moderated relationship, this study extends the growing literature on AI business value by empirically investigating a comprehensive nomological network that links AI adoption to organisational performance in a BPM setting.