Knowledgement Management

Managing human capital in the federal workforce is a challenge that has plagued presidential administrations and Congress for the past three decades. Significant issues such as homeland security threats, fiscal imbalances, generational differences, and disruptive technologies have caused senior leaders to rethink the traditional management approaches in use since the industrial age.
In addition to these human capital issues, reports by the Partnership for Public Service indicate that nearly half the federal workforce is eligible for retirement in 2016. Experts have described these impending retirements as “the perfect storm,” a “workforce tsunami,” and a “brain drain” to name a few. Benjamin Franklin said it best when he stated, “by failing to prepare, you are
preparing to fail.” By tapping into knowledge management and understanding the distinctions among generation cohorts, managers can connect the dots between succession planning, human capital management, strategic planning, and fiscal responsibility. Succession planning is about having the right people in the right jobs at the right time, and having successors in place with the ability to lead and develop competence. Management consultant William J. Rothwell suggests that the discipline is “a deliberate and systematic effort by an organization to ensure leadership continuity in key positions, [while] retain[ing] and develop[ing] intellectual and knowledge capture for the future, and encourag[ing] individual advancement.”

Genelde canlıların, özelde ise insanoğlunun nasıl öğrendiğine dair araştırma sonuçları her geçen gün önümüze heyecan verici bilgiler ve bulgular sunmaktadır. Bu araştırma sonuçları öğrenmede yeni stratejiler geliştirilmesinde öncülük etmektedir. "Öğrenme Psikolojisi" adlı bu kitap, alandaki en temel ve güncel araştırma bulgularını da kapsayarak eğitim, edebiyat ve tıp fakülteleri gibi değişik alanların birçok programında lisans ve lisansüstü düzeyde kullanılabilecek şekilde hazırlanmıştır.
Okuyucu merkezli olarak hazırlanan bu kitap, tüm yaşlardaki öğrenicilerin bilgi ve becerileri nasıl edindiklerini ve öğrenme sürecinde etkili olabilen inanç, motivasyon, tutum ve tavır gibi faktörleri kapsamaktadır.
Öğrenme konusunda bilgi sahibi olmak isteyen okuyucunun, temel bir psikoloji bilgisine sahip olması ön koşulu yoktur. Kitapta öğrenme kuramlarının tarihsel temellerinden başlayarak güncel öğrenme yaklaşımlarına rahatlıkla geçiş yapılabilir. Alandaki bir profesör, öğrenme ile ilgili en son araştırma bulgularına bu kitapta ulaşabilirken; üniversite eğitimine yeni başlamış bir öğrenci de öğrenme ile ilgili en temel konulara rahatlıkla erişebilir.

The aim of this paper is to explore the dichotomous role of knowledge through an examination of tacit and explicit knowledge in organizational change contexts. The study's aim is achieved by an analytical review of the seminal and contemporary knowledge management literature. The paper contributes to the current body of knowledge management literature by analyzing a wide range of key literature and presenting a contemporary overview that compares the role of tacit and explicit knowledge within organizational change contexts. The findings contribute towards theoretical development in the knowledge management field by providing researchers with future research directions to build upon previous theoretical understandings and advance our collective knowledge of the research domain. The paper offers practical and pragmatic insights that will help firm managers to use tacit and/or explicit knowledge to manage organizational change. This article presents an original comparative table that summarizes and compares the key understandings and insights from across the literature sources on a range of important aspects, and then presents implications for the two knowledge typologies. The paper also presents an original research framework containing a structured database of related calls for research by the latest academic publications. Furthermore, it provides specific and informed managerial recommendations for best practice in the integration of these knowledge typologies into organizational change management.

Knowledge management is currently changing significantly. KM effectively uses the right information and communication technology (ICT) and social interaction. New ways that exist in the virtual world make it possible to support knowledge and the process of acquiring it because to create knowledge and the process of sharing knowledge in a virtual world environment takes into account the social aspects needed. With the use of web 2.0 technologies, the main communication media in Second Life in the form of text, voice, instant messaging (IM), email and blogs can be maximized. By conducting exploratory analysis on "second life" research that contributes to a general understanding of how technology can be used to support or activate KM in education. College Student and lecturer can participate in teaching and learning processes, while academic staff supports the University business processes. A result provides factors that effects increase and impairment on student score, framework of 4 Pillar Solution Model for Second Life Education is formed and evaluation knowledge sharing maturity using COBIT 4.1 Framework and Maturity Level Classification using CMMI Model.

This Impact Report identifies and summarises the diverse impacts, resulting from the £500m of UK funding of Science and Technology in 2013, using numerous quantitative metrics and short case study extracts.  It shows how the varied impacts of a national science and technology organization and its many funded programmes can be annually identified, captured, tracked, and summarised in a public document.

The report was produced for, and by, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) -  the UK Research Council responsible for funding: (1) all UK astronomy, particle and nuclear physics research, (2) related UK science and technology facilities (e.g. as Harwell and Daresbury), (3) the UK contribution to international science (e.g. CERN, international telescopes and space missions), (4) innovation and business spin-off programmes, and (5) UK public engagement activities.

The Report was co-researched and co-authored by the STFC Impact Team, including myself while Impact Evaluation Manager in 2013, with Dr. Claire Dougan-McCallie (lead author/Head of Impact) and Jenny Beard, with additional input from senior managers, and many data and case study contributions from other key managers across STFC.

Varied key impacts are identified and reported including:

• Research amongst the best (by citation impact) in astronomy, nuclear and particle physics.
• Supported research of 226 Principal Investigators in 70 universities, led to 1,100 peer-reviewed papers in 2012.
• Facilities (the Diamond Light Source, ISIS and CLF) were used in 2012/13 by over 4,200 unique users , in over 2,400 experiments, producing over 1,000 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

• Technology from CERN benefited the UK economy by over £100 billion every year.
• Funding the development of the UK’s space, internet and computer animation industries, returned over £500 billion to the UK economy per annum.
• Funded Innovation Campuses hosted over 230 enterprises and supported over 5,000 jobs.
• UK industry won £43 million in contracts from the international subscriptions funded, and had accumulated a total of £150 million since 2005.

• Funded research inspired future generations to study STEM subjects, attracting 90% of UK undergraduates to study physics, funded 782 PhD students  and 16,800 student training days.
• Between 2009 to 2012 public engagement programmes engaged people on 58 million occasions, with 2 million people engaged in face-to-face activities in 2013 alone.

The Fraunhofer Competence Center Knowledge Management presents in this second edition its up-dated and extended research results on business-process oriented knowledge management, pro-active change management, KM strategy, knowledge structuring and KM audit, reviews the latest advancements in measuring intellectual capital and classifies more than 100 KM tools. Best Practices in KM are described by the Swiss Benchmarking Center TECTEM at University St. Gallen and in case studies from price-winning companies like Aventis and Siemens as well as from Arthur D. Little, British Aerospace plc., Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Phonak and Roche. New survey results on KM from EFQM, OECD and on "The Future of Knowledge Management" are presented. The book concludes with an overview on research funded by the European Commission in order to make "KM Made in Europe" a reality

The paper provides insight into building a knowledge-driven ecosystem for microfinance to ensure that the twin objectives of social performance and financial performance are achieved by microfinance institutions.  The creation of an ecosystem also enables the development process to become self-sustaining.  For Microfinance Institutions, the model provides a mechanism that mitigates the risk associated with collateral-free loans while enabling them to grow profitably without having to resort to usurious interest rates. 
Importantly, the introduction of knowledge management as a key component in a dynamic ecosystem ensures the sustainability of such an initiative. An appropriate technology framework will allow the unhindered growth and outreach of this microfinance ecosystem.

This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (d) the case study contains a bias toward verification; and (e) it is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. This article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one by one and concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, and a discipline without exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of a greater number of good case studies.

Pembangunan dan pertumbuhan Usaha Mikro Kecil dan Menengah (UMKM) merupakan salah satu penggerak pertumbuhan ekonomi Bangsa. Berdasarkan hasil analisis, maka diperoleh beberapa masalah yang dihadapi oleh UMKM X di kota CImahi, antara lain pemasaran, modal dan pendanaan. Inovasi dan pemanfaatan teknologi Informasi, pemakaian bahan baku, peralatan produksi, penyerapan dan pemberdayaan tenaga kerja, rencana pengembangan usaha, dan kesiapan menghadapi tantangan eksternal. Berkaitan dengan berbagai masalah yang dihadapi UMKM tersebut, maka diperlukan strategi untuk mengatasinya. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengidentifikasi faktor-faktor internal dan eksternal serta merumuskan dan merencanakan strategi pengembangan UMKM X. Dalam penelitian ini metodologi yang digunakan dalam perencanaan strategi pengembangan UMKM X yaitu menggunakan model Balanced Scorecard yang digunakan untuk mengatasi masalah tentang kelemahan sistem pengukuran kinerja yang berfokus pada aspek keuangan, sehingga hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa penggunaan model Balanced Scorecard dapat digunakan untuk merencanakan dan merumuskan strategi UMKM X.

Phronetic organizational research is an approach to the study of management and organizations focusing on ethics and power. It is based on a contemporary interpretation of the Aristotelian concept phronesis, usually as ‘prudence’. Phronesis is the ability to think and act in relation to values, to deliberate about ‘things that are good or bad for humans’ in the words of Aristotle (1976:1140a24–b12). Phronetic organizational research effectively provides answers to the following four value-rational questions, for specific problematics in management and organization studies: 1. Where are we going with this specific management problematic? 2. Who gains and who loses, and by which mechanisms of power? 3. Is this development desirable? 4. What, if anything, should we do about it?

The Aalborg Project may be interpreted as a metaphor of modern politics, modern administration and planning, and of modernity itself. The basic idea of the project was comprehensive, coherent, and innovative, and it was based on rational and democratic argument. During implementation, however, when idea met reality, the play of Machiavellian princes, Nietzschean will to power, and Foucauldian rationality-as-rationalization resulted in the fragmentation of the project.

Managing large projects involving different groups of people and complex tasks can be challenging. The solution is to use Project management software, which allows a more efficient management of projects. However, famous project management systems can be costly and may require expensive custom servers. Even if free software is not as complex as Microsoft Project, is noteworthy to think that not all projects need all the features, amenities and power of such systems. There are free and open source software alternatives that meet the needs of most projects, and that allow Web access based on different platforms and locations. A starting stage in adopting an OSS in-house is finding and identifying existing open source solution. In this paper we present an overview of Open Source Project Management Software (OSPMS) based on articles, reviews, books and developers’ web sites, about those that seem to be the most popular software in this category.

At the same time that case studies are widely used and have produced canonical texts, it may be observed that the case study as a methodology is generally held in low regard, or is simply ignored, within the academy. For example, only 2 of the 30 top-ranked U.S. graduate programs in political science require a dedicated graduate course in case study or qualitative methods, and a full third of these programs do not even offer such a course. In contrast, all of the top 30 programs offer courses in quantitative methods and almost all of them require training in such methods, often several courses. In identifying this paradox of the case study’s wide use and low regard, Gerring rightly remarks that the case study survives in a “curious methodological limbo,” and that the reason is that the method is poorly understood. In what follows, we will try to resolve Gerring’s paradox and help case study research gain wider use and acceptance.

In the era of the 21st century, the best higher education institutions have more than one role. Not only do they educate and train students but they also create new ideas and knowledge for the short-term contemporary issues as well as long-term complex problems. In the strategic goals, five aspects are critical in higher education: the democratization of knowledge and access, the contestability of the market and funding, the research technologies, the global mobility and the integration with the industry. Universities should have strategic plans including strategic goals. In this study, the strategic models and plans of the public (5) and private (5) universities are analysed from the five different aspects. In order to deeply understand the dynamics at these universities, the phenomenological interpretive analysis is preferred. University leaders
and managerial departments should consider market needs and do strategic plan accordingly. Hence, they should develop the strategic thinking capacity of both their academic staff and researchers for short and long terms need of the industry. Results have shown that most universities have wrong perception regarding the strategic model and plan. Neither private nor public universities possess enough knowledge on the subject.
Keywords: Higher education, university and industry partnership, strategic model and planning, higher education management, financing of higher education.

The paper examines the Information Needs of Library users in Kano State University of Science and Technology, Wudil Nigeria. The research design adopted for this study is descriptive survey method. The study was guided by three research questions and objectives. Purposive convenience sampling technique was used to collect data from a target sample population of 43 library users'. Questionnaire and observation were used to collect from the participant. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistical method, which were presented in form of tables and charts using frequency and sample percentages. The findings revealed that, Majority of the respondents frequently visit the library to satisfy their information need purposely for reading, learning and teaching (41.8%). It also showed that, the major information sources accessible to the respondents are internet and books. The results further showed that, most of the respondents prefer to source for their information need through the internet (67.4%) and books (76.7%) and also revealed that only few of the library services were known to the users. It recommends on how best to improve on the library services and acquisition of current information resources to Library users in order to enhance their teaching, learning and research thus, helping them to meet the trend of 21 st century library.

The present study is aimed at empirical investigation of job-education match/mismatch amongst professionals working both in industry and academic institutions in India. The intention of the study is to investigate the type of, and the degree to which such a match/mismatch exists. Moreover, the research focuses on different aspects related to job-education match/mismatch. Job-education match/mismatch though is difficult to measure but by using traditional indicators like, satisfaction level of employees, their promotion ability, their level of earning etc., it is possible to overcome the rigidity of the topic to greater extent. Keeping this in sight, the attempt has been made in the current study to collect the opinion of employees to know the degree to which they consider their job and education matches/mismatches and its consequences on employee morale. The study also intends to identify various degree fields where greater mismatch is observed and the possible reasons behind it. The data used for the study has been collected both through primary and secondary sources and employees associated with industry and academics.

In this paper we argue that the use of the communicative theory of Jürgen Habermas in planning theory is problematic because it hampers an understanding of how power shapes planning. We posit an alternative approach based on the power analytics of Michel Foucault which focuses on ‘what is actually done’, as opposed to Habermas’s focus on ‘what should be done’. We discuss how the Foucauldian stance problematises planning, asking difficult questions about the treatment of legitimacy, rationality, knowledge and spatiality. We conclude that Foucault offers a type of analytic planning theory which offers better prospects than does Habermas for those interested in understanding and bringing about democratic social change through planning.

This research, conducted by the author when a Senior Researcher at Newcastle University, UK, was funded by a UK governance organisation to help them assess, integrate and improve their understanding of the governed population.

ABSTRACT: Governance organisations have been urged to develop more holistic evidence-based approaches with partners to better deal with issues affecting the governed population. This presupposes an understanding of the population, yet there has been little research work addressing how governance organisations come to understand their governed population, nor how this understanding can be improved upon within such organisations.

This case study examined in-depth how understanding of a governed population was developed within one UK local governance organisation and it explored how such understanding might be developed and improved through more holistic and evidence-based organisational learning within the organisation and its governance partnerships.

The research methodology involved placement within the governance organisation, participant observations on several projects and innovative initiatives, observations within, across, and outside the organisation, and also interviews with varied key stakeholders.

The study examined:

- stakeholder engagement and networks
- current and varied understandings of the population
- mechanisms actually used for developing understandings
- the influence of context on organisational learning

and analysed these to arrive at a recommendations to improve organisational understanding of the governed population.

In the case studied, significant strengths were found: including innovative past learning trials for development, extensive ongoing networking activities, and many varied and accumulating quantitative datasets available across partnerships.

However, entrenched organisational approaches and practices constrained the development of holistic evidence-based understanding, for instance: the absence of systematic maintained collective learning processes; weak recording and forgetting of understandings; methodological exclusion of stakeholders from the development of understanding; the relative neglect of qualitative data, explanations, investigations, interpretations, and reflexivity; and also implicit organisational acceptance of such limitations and low aspirations.

Nonetheless, untapped opportunities existed to enable change including: latent practitioner knowledge and innovative management champions, the desire for improvement and raised aspirations within learning networks, and the development potential of alterative learning approaches.

It was concluded that more holistic evidence-based understanding was possible, but required new learning approaches beyond those then in use in both local government or academia.   

Recommendations are made to utilise and develop improved organisational learning approaches trialed and reported in the case study.

It is argued that the case study findings, conclusions, and recommendations may be applicable to other similar local governance organisations and partnerships that seek to better understand local populations, services and interventions.

The work was also submitted for, and awarded, an MPhil (at Newcastle University, supervised by Prof. Patsy Healy)

This article presents results from the first statistically significant study of cost escalation in transportation infrastructure projects. Based on a sample of 258 transportation infrastructure projects worth US$90 billion and representing different project types, geographical regions, and historical periods, it is found with overwhelming statistical significance that the cost estimates used to decide whether such projects should be built are highly and systematically misleading. Underestimation cannot be explained by error and is best explained by strategic misrepresentation, that is, lying. The policy implications are clear: legislators, administrators, investors, media representatives, and members of the public who value honest numbers should not trust cost estimates and cost-benefit analyses produced by project promoters and their analysts.

Development of business and technology make knowledge become one the primary needs for a company to increase the effectiveness of business processes. Knowledge Management System (KMS)is applied with a web-based system into a solution of knowledge transfer needs for e-procurement activities. This study uses qualitative descriptive method, using the framework of Model Tiwana, knowledge mapping using Model Zack, for the formation of knowledge using SECI model. Prototype system development method using Evolutionary prototyping. Methods in analyzing and designing systems is Object Oriented Analysis and Design using the Unified Modeling Language. Software quality is tested based on four characteristics of software quality model of ISO 9126, namely: functionality, reliability, usability, and efficiency. Keywords— Knowledge Management System; SECI Model; Evolutionary Prototype; ISO 9126 Model; E-Procurement;

Social media is no longer a negligible phenomenon; tools like Facebook, LinkedIn or YouTube have taken the world in a storm. Social media has become a mainstream, modified personal relationships, allowed individuals to contribute to number of issues and generated new possibilities and challenges to facilitate collaboration. Organizations have urgent need of not only focusing on innovation of new products and services, but also paying specific attention to effective knowledge sharing, which is of vital importance for their success. The potential advantage of embracing and implementing social media is enormous. Although the interest in social media is increasing, on the one hand knowledge workers and managers are waiting to get involved in this collaborative world, because they may not feel motivated or may not be aware of the advantages of using these tools for work purposes. On the other hand, organizations do not tend to allow their employees to use social media technologies because they may be concerned about the risks and consequences of a potential misuse. Our exploratory survey investigates how internal or external social media technologies are being used for knowledge sharing during work or for professional development. The study was accomplished with the help of enterprises and institutions operating in Hungary from profit and non-profit sectors, applying quantitative research methods. In total 299 individuals participated by completing the online, web-based questionnaire. The results have shown that Hungarian organizations prefer not to allow the usage of external social media; but where the employees are supported to reach these tools, high proportion of the people utilize them. The paper provides recommendations to the organizations how to foster motivating employees for using social media technologies for work purposes in knowledge sharing. In the discussion, a short summary of our study, managerial implications and new research direction are presented.

This article presents the theoretical and methodological considerations behind a research method which the author calls ‘phronetic planning research’. Such research sets out to answer four questions of power and values for specific instances of planning: (1) Where are we going with planning? (2) Who gains and who loses, and by which mechanisms of power? (3) Is this development desirable? (4) What, if anything, should we do about it? A central task of phronetic planning research is to provide concrete examples and detailed narratives of the ways in which power and values work in planning and with what consequences to whom, and to suggest how relations of power and values could be changed to work with other consequences. Insofar as planning situations become clear, they are clarified by detailed stories of who is doing what to whom. Clarifications of that kind are a principal concern for phronetic planning research and provide the main link to praxis.

The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship among learning factors and organizational learning, also extent to which these cast positive or negative impact on learning level of banking sector of Pakistan. In order to fulfill this purpose dimensions of learning organizations (DLOQ) by Marsick and Watkins (2003) are taken. This gauges the performance of organizational learning by two outcome variables knowledge performance and financial performance. Seven dimensions and two outcome variables are measured by 32 items on six point Likert scale. Sample size of this study consists of 65 respondents. The findings of this empirical study draw the inferences that seven dimensions of DLOQ have significant positive relationship with organizational learning and these factors enhance, positively, learning in organizations.

Megaproject Planning and Management: Essential Readings contains the seminal articles from the growing body of research on megaproject planning and management along with an original introduction by the editor, Bent Flyvbjerg. The leading and most cited authority in the field, Flyvbjerg has used crowdsourcing and 25 years of experience to cherry-pick from several hundred articles and books the writings that define the field. This volume will be an indispensable source for those wishing to speak with authority about how megaprojects are prepared, delivered, and fought over. The target audience is students, academics, practitioners, and media pundits alike, as well as communities affected by megaprojects.

Back cover text: If the new fin de siècle marks a recurrence of the real, Bent Flyvbjerg’s Rationality and Power epitomizes that development and sets new standards for social and political inquiry. The Danish town of Aalborg is to Flyvbjerg what Florence was to Machiavelli: a laboratory for understanding the real workings of power, and for grasping what they mean to our more general concerns of social and political organization. Politics, administration, and planning are examined in ways that allow  a rare, in-depth understanding. The reader witnesses, firsthand, the classic and endless drama which defines what modernity and democracy are and can be.

Back cover text: Megaprojects and Risk provides the first detailed examination of the phenomenon of megaprojects. It is a fascinating account of how the promoters of multi-billion dollar megaprojects systematically and self-servingly misinform parliaments, the public and the media in order to get projects approved and built. It shows, in unusual depth, how the formula for approval is an unhealthy cocktail of underestimated costs, overestimated revenues, undervalued environmental impacts and overvalued economic development effects. This results in projects that are extremely risky, but where the risk is concealed from MPs, taxpayers and investors. The authors not only explore the problems but also suggest practical solutions drawing on theory, experience and hard, scientific evidence from the several hundred projects in twenty nations and five continents that illustrate the book. Accessibly written, it will be the standard reference for students, scholars, planners, economists, auditors, politicians and interested citizens for many years to come.

The article first describes characteristics of major infrastructure projects. Second, it documents a much neglected topic in economics: that ex ante estimates of costs and benefits are often very different from actual ex post costs and benefits. For large infrastructure projects the consequences are cost overruns, benefit shortfalls, and the systematic underestimation of risks. Third, implications for cost–benefit analysis are described, including that such analysis is not to be trusted for major infrastructure projects. Fourth, the article uncovers the causes of this state of affairs in terms of perverse incentives that encourage promoters to underestimate costs and overestimate benefits in the business cases for their projects. But the projects that are made to look best on paper are the projects that amass the highest cost overruns and benefit shortfalls in reality. The article depicts this situation as ‘survival of the unfittest’. Fifth, the article sets out to explain how the problem may be solved, with a view to arriving at more efficient and more democratic projects, and avoiding the scandals that often accompany major infrastructure investments. Finally, the article identifies current trends in major infrastructure development. It is argued that a rapid increase in stimulus spending, combined with more investments in emerging economies, combined with more spending on information technology is catapulting infrastructure investment from the frying pan into the fire.

This article provides an answer to what has been called the biggest problem in theorizing and understanding planning: the ambivalence about power found among planning researchers, theorists, and students. The author narrates how he came to work with issues of power and gives an example of how the methodology he developed for power studies—phronetic planning research—may be employed in practice. Phronetic planning research follows the tradition of power studies running from Machiavelli and Nietzsche to Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu. It focuses on four value-rational questions: (1) Where are we going with planning? (2) Who gains and who loses, and by which mechanisms of power? (3) Is this development desirable? (4) What should be done? These questions are exemplified for a specific instance of Scandinavian urban planning. The author finds that the questions, and their answers, make a difference to planning in practice. They make planning research matter.

As megaprojects have become ubiquitous, their real benefits and costs have come under increased scrutiny. We interviewed Bent Flyvbjerg, who has extensively studied megaproject development. Flyvbjerg has found systematic problems in the development process: by intentionally misrepresenting information and deliberately disregarding risks, proponents instigate projects that result in fewer benefits and higher costs than promised.

The Supplementary Green Book Guidance on Optimism Bias (HM Treasury 2003) with reference to the Review of Large Public Procurement in the UK (Mott MacDonald 2002) notes that there is a demonstrated, systematic, tendency for project appraisers to be overly optimistic and that to redress this tendency appraisers should make explicit, empirically based adjustments to the estimates of a project’s costs, benefits, and duration. HM Treasury recommends that these adjustments be based on data from past projects or similar projects elsewhere, and adjusted for the unique characteristics of the project in hand. In the absence of a more specific evidence base, HM Treasury has encouraged departments to collect data to inform future estimates of optimism, and in the meantime use the best available data. In response to this, the Department for Transport (henceforth DfT), has contracted Bent Flyvbjerg in association with COWI to undertake the consultancy assignment "Procedures for dealing with Optimism Bias in Transport Planning". The present Guidance Document is the result of this assignment.

"Over budget, over time, over and over again" appears to be an appropriate slogan for large, complex infrastructure projects. This article explains why cost, benefits, and time forecasts for such projects are systematically over-optimistic in the planning phase. The underlying reasons for forecasting errors are grouped into three categories: delusions or honest mistakes; deceptions or strategic manipulation of information or processes; or bad luck. Delusion and deception have each been addressed in the management literature before, but here they are jointly considered for the first time. They are specifically applied to infrastructure problems in a manner that allows both academics and practitioners to understand and implement the suggested corrective procedures. The article provides a framework for analyzing the relative explanatory power of delusion and deception. It also suggests a simplified framework for analyzing the complex principal-agent relationships that are involved in the approval and construction of large infrastructure projects, which can be used to improve forecasts. Finally, the article illustrates reference class forecasting, an outside view de-biasing technique that has proven successful in overcoming both delusion and deception in private and public investment decisions.

Niccolò Machiavelli, the founder of modern political and administrative thought, made clear that an understanding of politics requires distinguishing between formal politics and what later, with Ludwig von Rochau, would become known as Realpolitik. No such distinction has been employed in the study of rationality. Yet I will argue that distinguishing between formal rationality and real rationality is as important for the understanding of rationality and planning as the distinction between formal politics and Realpolitik has been for understanding politics.

The purpose of the present chapter is to demonstrate how social scientists may engage with mass media to have their research impact public deliberation, policy and practice. Communicating research to practice is part and parcel of applied phronesis and not something external to it. Even in Aristotle's original definition of phronesis, laid down more than two millennia ago, the knowledge–action relationship is clear. A defining characteristic of phronesis is, in Aristotle's words, that it is ‘reason capable of action’ (The Nicomachean Ethics, 1976: Bk VI, 1140a24–1140b12). Phronetic research results (‘reason’) are therefore results only to the extent they have an impact on practice (‘action’). In public affairs, reason is made capable of action by effectively having reason enter the public sphere and public deliberation. It is reason times exposure in the public sphere that matters, not reason alone. Today, mass media dominate the public sphere in liberal democracies. The relationship of research with media therefore needs to be reflected. However, to my knowledge no study exists that describes in detail this aspect of phronetic research. Even in social science as a whole, studies of how scholars work with mass media to secure public impact of their research seem rare (Bagdikian 2004; McCombs 2004; Bryant and Oliver 2009). This, then, is the purpose of the present chapter: to begin to close this gap in our knowledge of social science and phronesis. Because the field is underexplored, it was found to be prudent to start with a phenomenological case study. The study shows how a group of phronetic social scientists, including the author, engaged with media, including world-leading titles such as The New York Times, in order to place their research results on the public agenda and initiate change in their chosen field of interest: megaproject policy and management.

This article presents results from the first statistically significant study of traffic forecasts in transportation infrastructure projects. The sample used is the largest of its kind, covering 210 projects in 14 nations worth U.S.$59 billion. The study shows with very high statistical significance that forecasters generally do a poor job of estimating the demand for transportation infrastructure projects. For 9 out of 10 rail projects, passenger forecasts are overestimated; the average overestimation is 106%. For half of all road projects, the difference between actual and forecasted traffic is more than ±20%. The result is substantial financial risks, which are typically ignored or downplayed by planners and decision makers to the detriment of social and economic welfare. Our data also show that forecasts have not become more accurate over the 30-year period studied, despite claims to the contrary by forecasters. The causes of inaccuracy in forecasts are different for rail and road projects, with political causes playing a larger role for rail than for road. The cure is transparency, accountability, and new forecasting methods. The challenge is to change the governance structures for forecasting and project development. Our article shows how planners may help achieve this.

The paper reports on both methodological and substantive findings. It presents a method for generating simplified representations for regional urban populations, their geographical sub-populations and communities. the method generates greatly simplified high-resolution socio-economic profiles of populated geographical areas from complex large census data sets.

Do different types of megaprojects have different cost overruns? This apparently simple question is at the heart of research at the University of Oxford aimed at understanding the characteristics of megaprojects, particularly in terms of how they are established, run and concluded. In this study, we set out to investigate cost overruns in the Olympic Games. To do so, we examined the costs of the Games over half a century, including both summer and winter Olympics. We looked at the evolution of final reported costs and compared these to the costs established in the Games bids, submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) up to seven years before the Games occurred. In so doing we established the largest dataset of its kind, and documented for the first time in a consistent fashion the costs and cost overruns for the Olympic Games, from 1960 to 2012. We discovered that the Games stand out in two distinct ways compared to other megaprojects: (1) The Games overrun with 100 per cent consistency. No other type of megaproject is this consistent regarding cost overrun. Other project types are typically on budget from time to time, but not the Olympics. (2) With an average cost overrun in real terms of 179 per cent – and 324 per cent in nominal terms – overruns in the Games have historically been significantly larger than for other types of megaprojects, including infrastructure, construction, ICT, and dams. The data thus show that for a city and nation to decide to host the Olympic Games is to take on one of the most financially risky type of megaproject that exists, something that many cities and nations have learned to their peril. For the London 2012 Games, we find that: (1) With sports-related real costs currently estimated at USD14.8 billion, London is on track to become the most costly Olympics ever. (2) With a projected cost overrun of 101 per cent in real terms, overrun for London is below the historical average for the Games, but not significantly so. (3) The London cost overrun is, however, significantly higher than overruns for recent Games since 1999. London therefore is reversing a positive trend of falling cost overruns for the Games.

Taken together, the works of Jurgen Habermas and Michel Foucault highlight an essential tension in modernity. This is the tension between the normative and the real, between what should be done and what is actually done. Understanding this tension is crucial to understanding modern democracy, what it is and what it could be. It has been argued that an effective way of making democracy stronger is to strengthen civil society. This article contains a comparative analysis of the central ideas of Habermas and Foucault as they pertain to the question of democracy and civil society. More specifically, the discourse ethics of Habermas is contrasted with the power analytics and ethics of Foucault evaluating their usefulness for those interested in understanding, and bringing about, democratic social change.

Farmers around the world understand better than most of the public that good environmental health is fundamental to their sustainable existence, but often in a holistic way that may not include an in-depth understanding of the role of pollination. New terminology about the importance of ecosystem services will not be ‘mainstreamed’ or become considered as a part of accepted farming practice unless the farming community understands explicitly what it is and how it works. A good
example of this is pollination services. Globally, within the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, and regionally, within the African Pollinator Initiative, the contribution of pollinators
for increasing genetic diversity, adaptation, seed set or crop production and crop quality, and natural regeneration of wild species has been highlighted, and the need to conserve pollinators has been stressed. Yet the public’s, including farmers’, knowledge of the role of pollinators, remains poor.

Surveys carried out amongst farmers in central Kenya highlighted the fact that many farmers lump pollinators together with insect pests, and do not explicitly manage to conserve them, although pollinators may substantially contribute to yields at no direct cost to the farmer. Ecosystem services such as pollination and soil biodiversity are aspects of the environment that relate closely to human livelihoods, and may convince the public that biodiversity is not only wild animals that may damage their crops, but also creatures that live on their farms and help to sustain crop production. Further public awareness programmes on ecosystem services are merited.

As megaprojects have become ubiquitous, their real benefits and costs have come under increased scrutiny. We interviewed Bent Flyvbjerg, who has extensively studied megaproject development. Flyvbjerg has found systematic problems in the development process: by intentionally misrepresenting information and deliberately disregarding risks, proponents instigate projects that result in fewer benefits and higher costs than promised.

The orbital debris problem presents an opportunity for international cooperation toward the mutually beneficial goals of orbital debris prevention, mitigation, remediation, and improved space situational awareness (SSA). Achieving these goals requires sharing orbital debris and other SSA data. Toward this, I present an ontological architecture for the orbital debris and related domains, taking steps in the creation of an orbital debris ontology. The purpose of the ontology is to capture general scientific domain knowledge; formally represent the entities within the domain; form, structure, and standardize (where needed) orbital and SSA terminology; and foster semantic interoperability and data-exchange. In doing so I hope to offer a scientifically accurate ontological representation of the orbital domain; contribute to research in astroinformatics, space ontology, and space data management; and improve spaceflight safety by providing a means to capture and communicate information associated with space debris.