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We introduce the concepts of information, uncertainty information, systems and uncertainty systems, analyze the intension of these concepts, and point out the differences and connections among various concepts of systems. We put forward a mathematical method to research uncertainty systems and present a problem that can be solved with our method but cannot be solved with the interval analyzing method. Otherwise, from analyzing the purpose of introducing the concepts of information, uncertainty information, systems and uncertainty systems, we conclude that uncertainty information and uncertainty systems are among the most important subjects studied in scientific research, especially in applied research, both that being presently conducted and the abundance which is to come in the future.

This paper aims to apply vector space model (VSM)-PCR model to compute the similarity of Fault zone ontology semantics, which verified the feasibility and effectiveness of the application of VSM-PCR method in uncertainty mapping of ontologies.

The authors first define the concept of uncertainty ontology and then propose the method of ontology mapping. The proposed method fully considers the properties of ontology in measuring the similarity of concept. It expands the single VSM of concept meaning or instance set to the “meaning, properties, instance” three-dimensional VSM and uses membership degree or correlation to express the level of uncertainty.

It provides a relatively better accuracy which verified the feasibility and effectiveness of VSM-PCR method in treating the uncertainty mapping of ontology.

The future work will focus on exploring the similarity measure and combinational methods in every dimension.

This paper presents an uncertain mapping method of ontology concept based on three-dimensional combination weighted VSM, namely, VSM-PCR. It expands the single VSM of concept meaning or instance set to the “meaning, properties, instance” three-dimensional VSM. The model uses membership degree or correlation which is used to express the degree of uncertainty; as a result, a three-dimensional VSM is obtained. The authors finally provide an example to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of VSM-PCR method in treating the uncertainty mapping of ontology.

Accentuating the concept of management under uncertainty in the Uppsala internationalization process model, the purpose of this paper is to develop a model for describing how managers act while keeping uncertainty at an acceptable level.

The authors perform two empirical studies to underpin the model they construct. First, a survey of 309 chief executive officers and chief financial officers in large, publicly listed international firms in the Nordic region on managerial risk perceptions and, second, a case study of Volvo Car Corporation and its endeavors when developing new car models for the Chinese market on a new platform – a process characterized by unprecedented uncertainty.

The proposed model describing managers’ behavior under uncertainty contains elements such as adjusting/proceeding in small steps, reducing uncertainty via learning, building relationships with important parties in the environment to avoid unforeseen changes and re-dos (i.e. starting all over again) and, perhaps most important, acting despite uncertainty.

The paper highlights a central, though forgotten, concept of the Uppsala internationalization process model, i.e. management under uncertainty, and, thereby, opens a new path for research on how manager behave under the sway of uncertainty.

The purpose of this paper is to examine various uncertainties underlying the concept of sustainability in construction and built environment (SCBE) and determine if SCBE is a “wicked problem” (WP).

Qualitative text analysis and inductive reasoning are used as research methods in this paper. Text analysis of extant literature is performed to categorise the uncertainties underlying the concept of SCBE. Inductive reasoning, based on these categories of uncertainties and the characteristics of WPs provided in the seminal work of Rittel and Webber (1973), is used to assess SCBE as a probable WP.

Six distinct categories of uncertainties underlying the concept of SCBE are developed: temporal uncertainty, spatial uncertainty, stakeholder uncertainty, societal uncertainty, dimensional uncertainty and assessment uncertainty. The inductive reasoning provides a prima facie evidence that SCBE, underpinned by these uncertainties, is a WP.

To the best of author’s knowledge, this is first of its kind analysis that assesses SCBE from a WP perspective by a systematic categorisation of underlying uncertainties. The findings necessitate a new approach for the context-specific conception of sustainability to commensurate with local values. They also provide a sound academic base to challenge the positivist notions generally associated with SCBE, reflected in sustainability assessment and rating systems currently pursued globally as a means of promoting SCBE.

The goal of this paper is to analyze the views of Frank Knight and Ludwig von Mises on the topic of uncertainty and how it influences the theory of individual decision-making and to trace out the implications of the same for the theories of entrepreneurship, equilibrium, and the firm. The paper adopts a historical approach in its analysis of the theory of uncertainty, with an extended discussion of the primary writings of Knight and Mises on this topic. It then uses the insights gleaned from this discussion in order to address issues and topics that have found a prominent place in the modern literature on entrepreneurship, equilibrium, and the firm that draws its inspiration from the Austrian School. The paper offers three main findings: in the realm of entrepreneurship it argues that there can be no theory of the entrepreneur without the concept of uncertainty provided by Knight and Mises, whereas with regard to the theory of equilibrium it focuses on highlighting the concept of an equilibrium with error prevalent in the Austrian tradition and on the implications that an explicit introduction of uncertainty has for the existence of a process of equilibration that pushes the economy toward a state of general equilibrium in real time. As regards the theory of the firm we find that a proper understanding of uncertainty ultimately reverses the direction of any causal explanation of economic organization, making the firm an outcome of dealing with uncertainty rather than a means to do so.

Our chapter discusses the myriad ways in which Frank H. Knight’s Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit (RUP) has been incorporated by different streams of scholarship dedicated to institutional analysis since 1990, when bibliometric evidence indicates a revival of interest in his classic work. Using citation analysis, the authors identify clusters of scholarship that build on Knight’s contributions, assessing which of his insights were absorbed by different subfields and how these have been connected to recent topics and concerns. The authors then qualitatively explore these results to throw new light on the recent history of institutional economics, using Knight’s RUP as a window into the evolution of (and inter-relations between) different research traditions that currently populate the field, including new economic sociology, comparative politics, evolutionary economics, entrepreneurial studies, environmental social sciences, international political economy, and the anthropology of finance. The authors conclude that Knight’s legacy remains unsettled, with different groups selectively absorbing a subset of his ideas and developing them in relative isolation from research conducted elsewhere. Nevertheless, boundary work connecting these separate areas reveals possible spaces for collaboration among scholars who study institutions building explicitly on Knightian insights.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the interplay between risk management and uncertainty and the contextual variability of risk management practice. More precisely, the research empirically measures the relation between the extent of use of risk management and the level of project uncertainty.

The research defines risk management from an empirical perspective., i.e. from an empirically‐identified set of tools that is actually used to perform risk management. This toolset is derived from the results of an ongoing major worldwide survey on what experienced practitioners actually do to manage their projects. This paper directly relates uncertainty to the degree of project definition. It uses a sample of 1,296 responses for which the interplay between risk management and uncertainty could be measured.

The results are very coherent. They verify and empirically validate many of the propositions drawn from a review of the literature. But results challenge some of the propositions found in the conventional project management literature and some commonly held views. The research shows that the use of risk management practices and tools is negatively related to the degree of project uncertainty. This somewhat counter‐intuitive result is consistent with a general tendency for all project management tools and techniques to be used more intensively in better defined contexts.

The empirical investigation of actual risk practices and their contextual variability can help better understand risk management practice and manage risks better. The research also clarifies the concepts of uncertainty, risk and risk management.

The results confirm some well‐known assumptions about practices, but at the same time produced unexpected results that can stimulate the development of new practices adapted to highly uncertain contexts. The project management field needs to develop new responses for specific contexts for which it was not primarily developed. The results of this research point in the direction of such a need for ill‐defined projects and highly uncertain contexts.

Although consumption of spirituality and growth of the market in this area have been well documented, it has been largely neglected in marketing. Existing literature exploring spirituality has suggested consumers in this area can experience uncertainty, but lacks clarity as to whether this uncertainty results in negative or positive affective states. The aim of this paper is to explore the theoretical concept of consumer uncertainty.

The research adopts a qualitative exploratory approach through the use of interviews. It explores the theoretical concept of consumer uncertainty and its impact on affect.

The research reveals that consumers of spirituality did indeed embrace many of the products and services offered by the market in this area and they also experienced uncertainty, however, rather than negative as much of the literature surrounding uncertainty suggests, the uncertainty they experienced resulted in positive affective states.

It is acknowledged that the current research is limited by its exploratory nature, however, it highlights that consumer uncertainty should not always be viewed as negative and provides important insights into the consumption of spirituality.

The current research makes a number of contributions. First, consumption of spirituality in marketing is under researched. The current research found that individuals did embrace the market in this area and enjoyed the uncertainty inherent in many of the products/services on offer. Second, uncertainty as pleasure is under researched generally in the literature. The current research has contributed to this literature through findings which reveal that uncertainty can result in positive effect and this is stable even when individuals do not know that the outcome of uncertainty will be positive or that their uncertainty will be reduced.

This conceptual paper aims to examine theoretical issues in the proactive ethical assessment of technology development, with a focus on uncertainty. Although uncertainty is a fundamental feature of complex technologies, its importance has not yet been fully recognized within the field of ethics. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to study uncertainty in technology development and its consequences for ethics.

Going on the insight of various scientific disciplines, the concept of uncertainty will be scrutinised and a typology of uncertainty is proposed and introduced to ethical theory. The method used is theoretical and conceptual analysis.

The analysis results in questions with regard to the collection of information about the object of assessment (i.e. complex technologies and their development) and the framework of assessment (i.e. ethical theory and its practical aim of guiding the assessment of technology development). Moreover, based on the insights of the analysis of uncertainty, it is argued that substantive ethical theories prove to be inapt for the ethical assessment of complex technology development and therefore require a concomitant procedural approach. The paper concludes with requirements for any future ethics of technology under uncertainty.

The value of the paper consists in establishing the need of researching and incorporating uncertainty in ethics. The results are consequently of practical and theoretical interest for anyone working in the field of ethics and technology.

It is well known that the only way of making complexity in inductive (data‐driven) systems modelling manageable is to be tolerant of predictive (or retrodictive) uncertainty in the resulting models. It is argued that two complementary principles — the principles of maximum and minimum uncertainty — are essential to using uncertainty properly to combat complexity. When uncertainty is conceptualised in terms of probability theory, these principles become the well‐established principles of maximum and minimum entropy. When a more general framework of fuzzy measures is employed, uncertainty becomes a multi‐dimensional entity and the maximum and minimum uncertainty principles lead to optimisation problems with multiple objective criteria. Four distinct types of uncertainty are now recognised and their well‐justified measures determined within fuzzy set theory and one subset of fuzzy measures — the Dempster‐Shafer theory of evidence. The uncertainty types and their measures are briefly described.