From micro-powers to governmentality:Foucault's work on statehood, state formation, statecraft and state power.

This article revisits Foucault's analytics of power in the light of his lectures on governmentality and biopolitics in Society must be Defended (1975-6), Securité,territoire, population (1977-8) and Naissance de la biopolitique (1978-9). Foucault is renowned for his criticisms of state theory and advocacy of a bottom-up approach to social power; and for his hostility to many theoretical and practical manifestations of orthodox Marxism. Yet these lectures, especially those on governmentality, are directly and explicitly concerned with statehood, state formation, statecraft, and state power and the subsequent role of new forms of government and political calculation in guiding capitalist reproduction. They cast new light on Foucault's alleged antistatism and anti-Marxism and offer new insights into his restless intellectual development. Accordingly, this article reviews Foucault's hostility to Marxism and theories of the state, considers his apparent turn from the micro-physics and microdiversity of power relations to their macro-physics and strategic codification through the governmentalized state, and suggests how to develop an evolutionary account of state formation on the basis of these new arguments about emerging forms of statecraft

The Emergence of Perpetual Performance Management in the Workplace: Implications and Research Agenda

As forces like globalisation and workforce diversity transform the workforce and workplace, organisations need to be agile in responding to employee performance needs and challenges. However, traditional performance management practices are slow and reactive. It has been claimed that technology advancements in people analytics can facilitate performance management by providing organisations with the tools needed to be responsive. This position paper explores emerging trends in people analytics, particularly the integration of people analytics with systems of productivity, hyperpersonalised employee experience, and the use of nudges to influence behaviours. It argues that these trends are shifting organisations towards what we call perpetual performance management. Implications are discussed and an IS research agenda is proposed

On Ideas in Motion in Baghdad and Beyond

Note on Damien Janos (ed.), Ideas in Motion in Baghdad and Beyond. Philosophical and Theological Exchanges between Christians and Muslims in the Third/Ninth and Fourth/Tenth Centuries, (Islamic History and Civilization. Studies and Texts, 124), Brill: Leiden–Boston, 201

Exploring Pathways from Data to Knowledge to Insights in the Pharmaceutical Industry: ‘Introducing the Pharmaceutical Knowledge Ecosystem’

The ecosystem of how the pharmaceutical industry acquires data, transforms these data into tangible knowledge, and derives valuable insights throughout the process, is highly complex. Data, information, knowledge, and the resulting insights, are necessary to support decision- making, manage risk, problem solve, ensure product realisation, enable continual improvement, and enhance operational effectiveness. Building on the fundamental concepts established in the well-known Data Information Knowledge Wisdom (DIKW) hierarchy, this paper reviews the basic concepts involved in the DIKW pathway and begins to relate these concepts to both established capabilities (e.g., PAT), existing requirements (e.g., data integrity), and emerging trends in the industry (e.g., industry 4.0). This paper introduces additional research studies which the Pharmaceutical Regulatory Science Team (PRST) is considering, regarding how one might apply systems thinking concepts to develop a framework which will enable key stakeholders (Industry, Regulatory and Academia) to better relate the many elements of this ecosystem. The paper concludes by identifying preliminary foundational principles which could form the basis of such a framework, coined by the authors as ‘The pharmaceutical knowledge ecosystem’, and makes the case for further exploration of this concept

Eating Your Own Cooking: The Impact of Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud Technologies at IBM

In its 100+ years of company history, IBM reinvented itself multiple times. In the last 20 years, IBM had shifted from individual products to integrated solutions and moved to become a globally integrated enterprise with standardized processes. In 2014, the expanding adoption of social, mobile, analytics, and cloud (SMAC) technologies generated excitement in the industry. IBM believed these technologies presented a huge growth opportunity. Simultaneously, management viewed SMAC technologies as disruptive forces demanding transformative changes to how IBM worked. And introducing new ways of working to 400,000 employees in 175 countries was a daunting task. Based on personal interviews with 17 IBM business and IT executives, the case illustrates organizational challenges of introducing current technologies that even providers of these technologies face – in other words, when they “eat their own cooking.” It demonstrates the difficulties large companies face when implementing technologies that students use daily and take for granted

Predictive analytics and child welfare: Toward data justice

Background Child welfare agencies in many countries are increasingly using predictive analytics to influence decisions about the allocations of resources and services, risk, and intervention. Analysis The speed with which predictive analytics is being introduced in child welfare services is problematic. Research on this issue raises significant concerns about inequality, transparency, public accountability and oversight. Conclusion and implications These systems are being introduced before adequate review and necessary public debate on whether they should be used in areas of social care. In order for such debate to occur, there needs to be: a) more information about where and how these systems are being implemented; b) greater effort to generate wider public deliberation about their use; and c) more investigation of their impact on practitioners and families

Library Resources: Procurement, Innovation and Exploitation in a Digital World

The possibilities of the digital future require new models for procurement, innovation and exploitation. Emma Crowley and Chris Spencer describe the skills staff need to deliver resources in hybrid and digital environments. The chapter demonstrates the innovative ways that librarians use to procure and exploit the wealth of resources available in a digital world. They also describe the technological developments that can be adopted to improve workflow processes and they highlight the challenges faced on this fascinating journey