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The purpose of this paper is to identify the specific stages of the humanitarian logistics process in which the agile and lean principles are needed.

To achieve this purpose, the authors propose an original conceptual framework and apply it to evidence from a “best practice” case study in the humanitarian sector: the United Nations World Food Programme and its efforts in the Darfur (Sudan) crisis.

Although several previous works introduced the agile principle as suitable for disaster relief, when and how to embrace the agile and lean principles remained unclear. This paper demonstrates the proper combination of the agile and lean principles in disaster relief phases. The correspondence is based on the coincidence of the objectives that arises in every stage and that each principle is capable of achieving.

Further empirical research is needed to support the framework and to enrich the results that arise from this first explorative work.

The proposed framework is targeted at leading actors involved in the operation and planning of humanitarian logistics when a crisis emerges. This approach, which is based on the combination of the agile and lean principles, is not exclusive to the humanitarian sector. This perspective may be useful to create business logistics that address disruptions to traditional supply chain flows and other forces that disrupt logistics, production and information handling.

The paper clarifies how agility and leanness should be emphasised in specific stages of the humanitarian logistics process, to reach a higher level of effectiveness and efficiency when planning disaster relief.

Kōzō Uno (1897–1977) was a unique Marxist economist in Japan. The Uno's three-stage theory of the capitalist economy, in a certain sense, was a typical framework in the system of Marxist economic theory. But the method in Uno's Principles of Political Economy (“Principles”) is different from Marx's method in “Capital” and systematic critique of political economy. Since Uno rejected a methodological character of “capital in general” in Marx, Uno's “Principles” was a closed system in a circle. The stage theory of capitalistic development, therefore, had no connection with his general theory (“Principles”). Sekisuke Mita (1906–1975) was a severe critic of Uno's methodology. Mita, a Hegelian philosopher, criticized Uno that the methodology of his “Principles” was Hegelism, and pointed out that the method of Uno's stage theory was positivism. Mita not only criticized Uno, but also criticized orthodox views of Marxian economists who had been influenced by Stalinist views. Mita asserted that the rational dialectic in the logic of “Capital” was founded on the analytical method. The central problem is a methodological meaning of the relationship between the universal and the particular. This article describes the points of rational dialectic in the methodology of Marxian political economy, overcoming Hegelism and positivism.

Action design research (ADR) has become widely accepted as a prominent research method within information systems when managing design-oriented research projects. One purpose of the ADR method is to provide methodological guidance for the building of IT artefacts. However, several scholars have reported a lack of guidance of method support at the micro level. This article aims to complement the macro level of the ADR method by integrating prescriptive method support at the micro level.

A qualitative approach including direct content analysis. An empirical ADR project was analysed in order to identify method support that could be integrated into the ADR method.

Method support at the micro level was identified for all the stages of the ADR method. The method support consists of procedural support, guiding concepts, and various techniques for the documentation of project tasks stated in the ADR method.

The contribution to theory consists of aspects concerning the integration of macro and micro levels: relationships between normative and prescriptive support, continuous focus shifts, and method completeness.

The contribution to practice consists of explicit suggestions for method support that could be integrated into the ADR method.

This study extends previously provided knowledge by offering empirical evidence concerning theoretical constructions consisting of explicit relationships between ADR tasks and integrated method support, and elaboration on the integration of macro and micro levels.

The aim of this paper is to develop procedures that make it possible to evaluate appropriately the economic infrastructure repercussions of a mega sports event, aiming at both theoretical and practical scientific targets. On the one hand, this involves developing exegeses while, on the other, the focus is on problem‐led structuring. To fulfil both requirements means following objective‐cum‐analytical as well as empirical strategies.

Staging mega sports events necessitates the availability of appropriate infrastructure, both for specific events and for general purposes. Investments in infrastructure triggered by mega sports events are often of considerable importance for any calculation of their economic impact. The scale of the impacts identified largely depends on the basic demarcation between event‐related and non‐event‐related investments. Developed in former literature the six models derived from procedures are used as potential demarcation approaches. Their application is shown in four case studies.

The application of the six different models to four case studies shows that event‐related investment varies considerably depending on the model selected, thus decisively influencing impact study results. The determining effect of the choice of model is illustrated by applying the case of UEFA Euro 2008. The results differ from 63.2 million CHF at the minimum to 196.4 million CHF at the maximum.

None of the six evaluated models manages to reflect reality truthfully and totally comprehensively. However, this is due not so much to faulty theoretical design as to the fact that reality is always more complex than the model which therefore can never fully mirror it. Every model provides its own specific information and so – depending on the basic situation and the actual problem – is justified in its own right.

The paper attempts to close the gap in connection with the demarcation of event‐related investments. As the studied demarcation problem remains the same, irrespective of the type of event, the scope for applying these models goes far beyond the case studies looked at here. The models in their final form are new. The findings obtained can also be adapted to other types of events.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of action design research (ADR), a combination of action research and design science research, when conducting research where both practical relevance and academic rigor are required.

This paper presents ADR in action in order to motivate its use when investigating real-world organisational concerns requiring practical solutions, whilst also fulfilling academic requirements.

When research methodology aligns to research objectives, the resulting synchronicity can elevate the outcome considerably. From this study, which attempts to address concerns of informing practice, as well as advancing theory, ADR appears to be an extremely effective research tool.

The study is limited to a single organisation and it would not be possible to make statistical generalisations. It is hoped, however, that the findings can be generalised to a theory that can be used in a similar setting. It would be valuable to discover whether other studies using ADR also find such effective alignment between relevance and rigour.

The research involves an intervention in the finance course offerings for staff training in the workplace. The detailed description of each of the seven ADR stages could prove useful for other researchers contemplating using ADR. The paper offers an example of ADR in practice.

This paper outlines the suitability and advantages of adopting an ADR approach, where the goal is to meet the challenge of implementing a solution in a real-world situation, whilst also adding to academic theory and knowledge.

Internal consulting groups (ICGs) can offer the management of large organisations, including those in the public sector, with efficient and effective means of achieving improvement and responding to pressures such as reduced resources. Those charged with developing an ICG should follow an institution building approach. Through the ICG′s early, growth and mature stages, key principles and issues of an institutional development plan must be addressed and reasonable goals set. Top management commitment to the plan is vital to its success.

Design thinking has become an omnipresent process to foster innovativeness in various fields. Due to its popularity in both practice and theory, the number of publications has been growing rapidly. The authors aim to develop a research framework that reflects the current state of research and allows for the identification of research gaps.

The authors conduct a systematic literature review based on 164 scholarly articles on design thinking.

This study proposes a framework, which identifies individual and organizational context factors, the stages of a typical design thinking process with its underlying principles and tools, and the individual as well as organizational outcomes of a design thinking project.

Whereas previous reviews focused on particular aspects of design thinking, such as its characteristics, the organizational culture as a context factor or its role on new product development, the authors provide a holistic overview of the current state of research.

This study aims to examine the housing cooperative practices employed in the Palestinian territories in the second half of the twentieth century and across diverse socio-political circumstances. This approach has been implemented to fulfil the housing needs of Palestinian society. Tracing this movement reveals an intensification of the housing cooperative approach between the years 1958 and 2008. However, in the years since, this practice has declined considerably.

This study discusses and analyses the housing cooperative practices adopted by the Palestinian community after 1956. It explores the stages, principles and concerns that characterise this practice, whether it is an approach that continues to meet a share of the demand for housing people in Palestine and how this practice can continue and receive wider support and recognition. The results of this study could aid in providing a diagnostic database, which in turn might provide a needed boost to the housing cooperative movement in the Palestinian territories.

This paper proposes a conceptual framework for creative information seeking drawing upon Weisberg's argument that creativity exists in everyone, and mapping the creative process described in the holistic model of creativity to the information seeking activities identified in the behavioural model of information seeking.

Using scenarios of information seeking behaviour, mappings between the creative process and information seeking activities were refined and six stages for creative information seeking were proposed. Scenarios were also used to provide theoretical justifications for stages in creative information seeking.

Evidence gathered from the scenarios seemed to indicate that the type of information seeking task may have an impact on the extent to which an information seeker exhibits all stages in the framework. This is on‐going research. Part II of this paper aims to conduct empirical studies and gather evidence to verify the framework and examine this observation in more detail.

Proposes a framework for creative information seeking.