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In this chapter, the author delves deeper into adaptive and sustainability challenges, specifically discussing the roles of management and leadership in addressing these problems. Both responsible leadership and management are essential for tackling sustainability challenges. Leadership focuses on establishing a vision and inspiring others to attain it, while management is concerned with devising and executing strategies to realize that vision. Addressing wicked problems necessitates collaboration, engagement and innovative solutions, involving both leadership and management. To effectively conquer sustainability challenges, organizations must embrace a more holistic and sustainable approach to management and leadership. This might include collaborating with stakeholders to discover innovative solutions that prioritize sustainability and social responsibility. Resolving wicked problems calls for a distinct management and leadership approach that is cooperative, systemic, and sustainable.

Purpose: This paper examines a promotional exhibit for the Broadway musical Wicked, entitled “The World of Wicked,” to better understand the ways in which art marketers continue to hail new and existing consumers. Eco’s concept of hyperreality and its relationship to remediation and cultural sustainability are brought to bear upon this phenomenon. As producers utilize new media platforms to reach the consumer, they make the experience of their shows more immediate. Set in the context of a shopping mall, the hyperreality of the exhibit is unpacked and analyzed.

Design: This is an interpretive study using direct observation, participant observation, depth interviews, narrative analysis, and artifact analysis.

Findings: By facilitating embodiment, encouraging intense emotional arousal, and providing a sense of community, “The World of Wicked” is a metonym for Wicked itself. The hyperreal context of the shopping mall facilitates the consumption of fantasy as well as material goods.

Originality and value: The findings of this paper extend theories of hyperreality, adaptation, and remediation into the context of arts. This contribution is foundational to building a larger theory of cultural sustainability.

Wicked problems are causally complex, lack definite solutions, and re-emerge in different guises. This paper discusses how new ways of organizing emerge to tackle changing manifestations of wicked problems. Focusing on the wicked problem of poverty, we conducted a longitudinal study of Fe y Alegria (FyA), one of the world’s largest non-governmental organization, which provides education for the poor across 21 countries in Latin America and Africa. Drawing on archival and ethnographic data, we trace the historical narratives of how FyA defined poverty as a problem and developed new ways of organizing, from its foundation by a Jesuit priest in 1955 to its current networked structure. Our findings reveal the ongoing cycle of interpretive problem definition and organizing solutions for wicked problems. First, since there is no “true” formulation of a wicked problem, actors construct narrative explanations based on their understanding of the problem. Second, organizational solutions to a wicked problem are thus reflections of these narrative constructions. Third, emerging and changing narratives about what the problem is inspire new organizational responses. Our findings provide insights into the dynamic relationship between organizing for wicked problems, narratives, and the changing manifestations of wicked problems and grand challenges more broadly.

We revisit the problem of redesigning the Master in Business Administration (MBA) program, curriculum, and pedagogy, focusing on understanding and seeking to tame its “wicked problems,” as an intrinsic part and challenge of the MBA program venture, and to render it more realistic and relevant to address major problems and their consequences. We briefly review the theory of wicked problems and methods of dealing with their consequences from multiple perspectives. Most characterization of problems classifies them as simple (problems that have known formulations and solutions), complex (where formulations are known but not their resolutions), unstructured problems (where formulations are unknown, but solutions are estimated), and “wicked” (where both problem formulations and their resolutions are unknown but eventually partially tamable). Uncertainty, unpredictability, randomness, and ambiguity increase from simple to complex to unstructured to wicked problems. A redesigned MBA program should therefore address them effectively through the four semesters in two years. Most of these problems are real and affect life and economies, and hence, business schools cannot but incorporate them into their critical, ethical, and moral thinking.

The paper frames modern slavery as a global wicked problem and aims to provide a set of international business (IB) policy recommendations for taming it. The outlined approach can also guide IB policymaking to address other kinds of wicked problems.

This is a conceptual paper that reviews existing literature on wicked problems and integrates it with an IB policy double helix framework. The paper focuseses on the role multinational enterprises (MNEs) play in moderl slavery globally, either through global value chains or within global factory modes of operation.

As a global wicked problem, modern slavery will never be solved, but it can be re-solved time and time over. Understanding the social reproduction of modern slavery can help shift the focus from labor governance and a narrow supply chain focus toward the role of transnational governance and the need to address institutional, market and organizational failures.

The paper contributes to the gap in an overarching theory of modern slavery and systematically applies the concept of wicked problems and wickedness theory to modern slavery. Drawing on an IB policy double helix framework, the paper addresses the governance nexus between modern slavery, IB and policymaking which can in turn advance IB policy research and theory.

Organizational wicked problems are ill-defined phenomena arising in complex environments with intertwined and evolving interests. This paper aims to use a nonlinear epistemological approach to explore how multiple management decision tools work together to form configurational paths to deal with organizational wicked problems and to propose some heuristic toolkits for tackling them.

Based on interviews with 53 senior executives dealing with 62 organizational wicked problems, this paper uses grounded theory to construct an antecedent theoretical framework and then uses qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to conduct configuration analysis on the strategy portfolios that can tackle organizational wicked problems.

This paper used grounded theory to identify six theoretical dimensions as management decision tools for dealing with organizational wicked problems: change adaptation, goal performing, administration, mechanical integration, organic integration and entrepreneuring. In addition, this paper used QCA to explore and propose three heuristic toolkits – synergy oriented, institution oriented and innovation oriented – as multiple equivalent paths to help deal with organizational wicked problems.

This paper uses configuration analysis instead of the net effect analysis of the traditional econometric method and captures multiple antecedent conditions for decision-makers to deal with organizational wicked problems from a holistic perspective. This paper constructs three heuristic toolkits and matches each of them with the most suitable type of organizational wicked problem, constructing a complete research chain of “identifying–tackling” the organizational wicked problem and providing a reference for organizations facing similar situations in future practice.

Information dissemination has become a means of transparency for governments to enable the visions of e-government and smart government, and eventually gain, among others, the trust of various stakeholders such as citizens and enterprises. Information dissemination, on the other hand, may increase the chance of privacy breaches, which can undermine those stakeholders’ trust and thus the objectives of transparency. Moreover, fear of potential privacy breaches compels information disseminators to share minimum or no information. The purpose of this study is to address these contending issues of information disseminations, i.e. privacy versus transparency, when disseminating judicial information to gain (public) trust. Specifically, the main research questions are: What is the nature of the aforementioned “privacy–transparency” problem and how can we approach and address this class of problems?

To address these questions, the authors have carried out an explorative case study by reconsidering and analyzing a number of information dissemination cases within their research center for the past 10 years, reflecting upon the whole design research process, consulting peers through publishing a preliminary version of this contribution and embedding the work in an in-depth literature study on research methodologies, wicked problems and e-government topics.

The authors show that preserving privacy while disseminating information for transparency purposes is a typical wicked problem, propose an innovative designerly model called transitional action design research (TADR) to address the class of such wicked problems and describe three artifacts which are designed, intervened and evaluated according to the TADR model in a judicial research organization.

Classifying the privacy transparency problem in the judicial settings as wicked is new, the proposed designerly model is innovative and the realized artifacts are deployed and still operational in a real setting.

In this interview John C Camillus, author of Wicked Strategies: How Companies Conquer Complexity and Confound Competitors shares his approach to identifying “wicked problems” that firms can then explore to find growth opportunities.

The “wicked strategies” approach that Camillus proposes is designed to convert disruptive technologies into innovative business models, reconcile conflicted stakeholders by engaging them in co-creation of value and transform an unknowable future into a desired one through the alchemy of a Feed-Forward Framework.

Camillus’ proposed Feed-Forward Framework enables and employs the process of experimentation.

Camillus’ multi-level approach starts by discerning unique “wicked problems,” then applies a “Feed-Forward Framework” that analyzes multiple stakeholder interests and develops scenarios to discover and test possible opportunities and robust strategies.

The role of the corporate headquarters that Camillus proposes differs from the approach that is conventionally employed – it focuses intensely on human resources and competency development.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the case of Ximena Aguilera, a prominent Chilean epidemiologist, as an exemplar of a champion in times of COVID-19 in Ibero-America. We also refine our understanding of the nature of a champion facing wicked problems.

The authors use qualitative case analysis to examine Aguilera’s actions in response to COVID-19 and compare her actions with the characteristics of an emerging theory of champions facing wicked problems.

This study builds iteratively upon prior analysis of gender equality champions and finds that the depth, scope and leverage of embracement of champions in times of COVID-19 are parallel to those of gender equality champions. The authors also discuss the findings from the perspective of wicked problems.

Future qualitative and quantitative work is needed to examine the boundaries of the theory of champions facing wicked problems across a wider range of problem domains and in a wider population of champions.

Wicked problems can occur in multi-level organizational structures, and understanding the characteristics of individuals best-suited to contribute to the definition and solution of these problems is relevant to organizational selection, development, policy and practices.

Many of the society’s greatest challenges are defined as wicked problems, so understanding the champions of wicked problems is critical for public policy and societal advancement efforts. The nature of wicked problems is considered, and the implications of champions of wicked problems for society are discussed.

This work offers an in-depth examination of a champion facing a wicked problem, here the COVID-19 pandemic, while the crisis is ongoing. By capturing the champion’s observations and experiences in real time, the authors obtain a perspective that is unique and unavailable through other methods.

El propósito de este estudio es analizar el caso de Ximena Aguilera, una destacada epidemióloga chilena como ejemplo singular de una paladín enfrentando COVID-19 en Iberoamérica. También perfilamos nuestra visión de la condición de una paladín enfrentando un problema complejo y de difícil solución.

Utilizamos el análisis de un caso cualitativo para examinar las acciones de Ximena Aguilera en respuesta al COVID 19. Comparamos sus acciones con las características de una teoría emergente de paladines enfrentando problemas complejos.

Este estudio se fundamenta en forma reiterativa en un análisis previo de paladines de igualdad de género y encuentra que la profundidad, alcance y efectividad del acogimiento de los paladines enfrentando COVID-19 es similar a la de aquellos paladines de igualdad de género. También analizamos los resultados bajo la perspectiva de los problemas complejos.

Este trabajo ofrece un análisis profundo de una paladín enfrentando un problema complejo, la pandemia del COVID-19, estando la crisis en curso. Al captar las observaciones y experiencias de una paladín en tiempo real, logramos una perspectiva que es única y que no está disponible a través de otros métodos.

Se requiere en el futuro de investigación cualitativa y cuantitativa para analizar los límites de la teoría de paladines enfrentando problemas complejos a través de un rango más amplio de problemas y en una población más extensa de paladines.

Los problemas complejos pueden presentarse en estructuras organizacionales de niveles múltiples y entender las características de quienes son más aptos para contribuir a la definición y solución de estos problemas, resulta importante para la selección y el desarrollo de normas y prácticas organizacionales.

Muchos de los más grandes retos de la sociedad son definidos como problemas complejos, por lo que, para las normas públicas y los esfuerzos de avance social, es fundamental entender a los paladines enfrentando problemas complejos. Consideramos la naturaleza de los problemas complejos y también discutimos las implicaciones de los paladines de problemas complejos para la sociedad y la práctica de la gestión.

O objetivo deste estudo é analisar o caso de Ximena Aguilera, uma epidemiologista chilena, como um exemplar único de uma líder em tempos de Covid-19 na Iberoamérica. Nós também aprimoramos nosso entendimento sobre a natureza de uma profissional lider que enfrenta soluções para um problema considerado complexo.

Nós usamos uma análise de caso quantitativa para examinar as ações de Ximena Aguilera no combate à COVID-19. Nós comparamos suas ações com as características de uma teoria emergente de líderes que enfrentam problemas complexos.

Este estudo utiliza análises prévias de estudos anteriores de igualdade de gênero e descobre que o profundidade, âmbito e a influência do acolhimento de líderes em tempos de COVID-19 são paralelos aos de igualdade de gênero. Neste estudo também discutimos os resultados sob a perspectiva de problemas considerados complexos.

Este trabalho oferece um estudo profundo de uma líder que enfrenta um problema complexo, como a pandemia global chamada COVID-19, enquanto a crise da pandemia acontece. Através das observações e experiências obtidas pela líder em tempo real, conseguimos obter uma perspectiva única e indisponível de se conseguir por outros métodos.

é preciso que se façam futuros trabalhos quantitativos para se examinar os limites da teoria de líderes que enfrentam problemas complexos, através de um escopo maior do problema em uma população mais abrangente de líderes que buscam soluções para problemas complexos.

problemas complexos podem ocorrer em estruturas organizacionais de vários níveis. O entendimento das característica de individuos melhor qualificados que possam contribuir para a definição e solução de tais problemas é de extrema relevância para a seleção, desenvolvimento, regras e práticas organizacionais.

Muitos dos maiores desafios de nossa sociedade são chamados problemas complexos ou de difíceis soluções. Assim sendo, o entendimento das ações dos líderes que enfrentam esses problemas é crítico para as diretrizes de políticas públicas e esforços sociais avançados para se combater o problema. A natureza desses problemas é considerada neste estudo bem como as implicações das ações dos líderes desses problemas para a sociedade, sendo que práticas gerenciais são particularmente discutidas.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the development of definitional standards for research information as a wicked problem. A central solution strategy for such problems, increasing transparency by argumentation visualisation, is being evaluated.

Qualitative formal content analysis is used in order to examine whether the process of definition standardisation in the project can be characterised as a wicked problem. Action Research is used to assess the effect of argumentation visualisation in the project.

The results of the content analysis confirm the interpretation of the standardisation process as a wicked problem. The implementation of argumentation visualisation shows to increase the meetings’ focus and effectiveness.

The relationship between information exchange, transparency and acceptance of the development result should be addressed in future empirical analyses. Visualisation solutions require further development in order to accommodate needs of the stakeholders.

Argumentation visualisation is of high value for finding a consensus for definitional standards and should be considered for managing and exchanging information.

Applying solution strategies from design research on wicked problems to large-scale standardisation efforts opens up new possibilities for not only handling such projects but also providing new avenues of research for both the design and research information communities.