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The purpose of this paper is to progress operations management theory and practice by organising contributions to knowledge production, in industrial sustainability, from disparate researcher communities. It addresses the principal question “What scholarly dialogues can be explicated in the emerging research field of industrial sustainability?” and sub-questions: what are the descriptive characteristics of the evidence base? and what thematic lines of scientific inquiry underpin the body of knowledge?

Using an evidenced-based approach, a systematic review (SR) of 574 articles from 62 peer-reviewed scientific journals associated with industrial sustainability is conducted.

This paper distinguishes three prevailing dialogues in the field of industrial sustainability, and uses Kuhn’s theory of paradigms to propose its pre-paradigmatic scientific status. The three dialogues: “productivity and innovation”, “corporate citizenship” and “economic resilience” are conjectured to privilege efficiency strategies as a mode of incremental reductionism. Industrial sustainability espouses the grand vision of a generative, restorative and net positive economy, and calls for a future research trajectory to address institutional and systemic issues regarding scaling-up and transition, through transformative strategies.

The review is limited by the nature of the inquiries addressed in the literatures by specific researcher communities between 1992 and 2014.

This study performs the first SR in the field of industrial sustainability, synthesises prevailing scholarly dialogues and provides an evaluation of the scientific status of the field.

Discusses some key issues arising when attempting to conceptualize culture. Aims to identify common areas among researchers’ culture approaches. Reviews ways culture has been expressed by writers in varying disciplines. Uses tables and a figure to further explain comparisons. Closes by stating culture is a very complex term – difficult to define – but greater clarity in communication between academics and practitioners can only assist.

According to numerous cross‐cultural and comparative management studies, management perceptions and approaches differ across cultures, in particular, the management of human resources (HR). This article presents a number of implications for the appraisal process and its different functions and characteristics when applied within a cross‐cultural context. Culture is identified as an important factor influencing the understanding and interpretation of the appraisal process, its development, implementation, and other appraisal related elements and functions. Challenges for practitioners include the adaptation of HR procedures and practices to local cultures; managers to be aware of and sensitive to employees holding different cultural value and belief systems which might lead them to approach HR tools such as the appraisal process differently. Managers also need to focus on the objectives of the appraisal process and be open to pursuing different routes to get there, depending upon cultural circumstances.

This article addresses service marketing and service delivery over the Internet. Some service activities – information, education and entertainment – can be delivered as well as promoted over the Internet. An empirical study focusing on museums has been carried out. The purpose has been to describe the current use of the Internet by Swedish museums and propose some strategies with regard to its value as a service delivery tool. The 371 Swedish museums that have a homepage have been examined. Of these, 156 museums operate their own Web site. The study has consisted of a content analysis of the sites as well as a questionnaire study and two preliminary in‐depth interviews. A cluster analysis was carried out, resulting in four groups being defined. It is found that the use of the Internet is still in its infancy. Three strategies for Internet service delivery are proposed.

We investigate causes for the cost overrun and delay of the railway project Stuttgart 21. Besides, we try to forecast the actual costs and completion date at an early stage.

The results of exploratory research show the causes for the cost overrun and delay of Stuttgart 21; we compare our findings with other railway projects. To estimate the costs at an early stage, the reference class forecasting (RCF) model is applied; to estimate the time, we apply an OLS regression.

We find that the following causes are relevant for the cost overrun and delay of Stuttgart 21: scope changes, geological conditions, high risk-taking propensity, extended implementation, price overshoot, conflict of interests and lack of citizens' participation. The current estimated costs are within our 95% confidence interval based on RCF; our time forecast underestimates or substantially overestimates the duration actually required.

A limitation of our approach is the low number of comparable projects which are available.

The use of hyperbolic function or stepwise exponential discount function can help to give a clearer picture of the costs and benefits. The straightforward use of the RFC for costs and OLS for time should motivate more decision-makers to estimate the actual costs and time which are necessary in the light of the rising demand for democratic participation amongst citizens.

More realistic estimates can help to reduce the significant distortion at the beginning of infrastructure projects.

We are among the first who use the RCF to estimate the costs in Germany. Furthermore, the hyperbolic discounting function is added as a further theoretical explanation for cost underestimation.