PurposeThe purpose of this article is to review literature and thinking about the application of AI in strategic situations and to identify the research that is needed in the area of applying AI to strategic marketing decisions. Design/methodology/approachReview of literature and consultation with marketing experts who were invited to contribute to the article. FindingsThere is little research into applying AI to strategic marketing decision-making. This is needed as the frontier of AI application to decision-making is moving in many management areas from operational to strategic. Given the competitive nature of such decisions and the insights from applying AI to defence and similar areas, it is time to focus on applying AI to strategic marketing decisions.There are strong implications for all businesses, particularly large businesses in competitive industries, where failure to deploy AI in the face of competition from firms who have deployed AI to improve their decisionmaking could be dangerous. Social implicationsThe public sector is a very important marketing decision-maker. Although in most cases it does not operate competitively, it must still make decisions about making different services available to different citizens and identify the risks of not providing services to certain citizens, so this article is relevant to the public sector. Originality/valueThis is one of the first articles to probe deployment of AI in strategic marketing decision-making.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate information management in a smart city. It identifies the main trends in progress and how innovation in information technology is helping all those in the smart city ecosystem in terms of generating new sources of data and connecting them. It investigates how information management in the smart city may go through several phases, but contests the notion that the co-ordinated information management that is the dream of many city managers is an appropriate vision, given the tendency in the private sector for competing information platforms to develop, giving value in different ways. Design/methodology/approach This paper has been written by using a combination of academic insight and literature, extensive research of relevant grey literature (e.g. blogs and industry press) and interviews and interaction with some of the organisations involved in developing and implementing the smart city concept, including public transport organisations, other data providers, analysts and systems and sensor suppliers. Findings Smart city concepts are evolving in different ways, with divergence of views which involves centralisation and control of information by city authorities and a more democratic view in which the information is managed on different platforms between which smart city stakeholders can choose. Research limitations/implications The research method is exploratory. Validating the findings would require a more structured approach in which stakeholders of all kinds are consulted. Practical implications All organisational stakeholders in the idea and delivery of smart cities need to consider how their interests in smart city information and those of other stakeholders are evolving and to what extent they should be in partnership with other members of the ecosystem in generating and using the information. Social implications Individuals, whether workers, commuters, shoppers, tourists or others, will be greatly affected by the evolution of smart city information, and their choices about whether to be smart themselves will have an important effect on the benefits they receive from city smartening and on the viability of the smart cities. Originality/value Little research has been carried out into the different choices organisations and individuals have in terms of how they will relate to smart city information and how they can manage it. This research makes a start on this task.

This paper reviews the literature on information mismanagement and constructs a typology of misinformation that can be applied to analyse project planning and strategic planning processes to reduce the chances of failure that results from information mismanagement. The aim of this paper is to summarize the research on information mismanagement and provide guidance to managers concerning how to minimize the negative consequences of information mismanagement and to academics concerning how to research and analyse case studies that might involve information mismanagement. Design/methodology/approach Literature review accompanied by conceptual analysis. Findings Information mismanagement is widespread in organizations, so all those involved in managing and researching them need to be far more aware of the damage that can be done by it. Research limitations/implications The research is based upon Western society (Europe and North America). The same research should be carried out in other parts of the world. Also, all the case studies could usefully be investigated in more depth to apply the taxonomy. Practical implications Managers should be much more aware of their own and others' tendencies to mismanage information to their own benefit. Social implications Stakeholders in public sector activities, including citizens, should be much more aware of the tendency of government and the public sector to mismanage information to justify particular policy approaches and to disguise failure. Originality/value The taxonomy on information mismanagement is original, as is its application to project planning and strategic decision making.

The aim of this paper is to explore very recent data about how large organizations are dealing with a shortage of information and communications technology (ICT) specialists, in terms of its implications for information management. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on qualitative interview-based research with eleven large European companies, with an estimated ICT workforce of around 400,000 (about 14% of ICT professionals in Europe), covering hiring, retention, and upskilling of ICT staff, and expectations concerning graduates from European universities. This data is combined with IDC analyst reports on the demand for different categories of ICT products and services, and data from the authors' consulting work. Findings Larger organizations expect hiring to be a challenge, with strong competition for talent, whether from existing users or from the many rapidly digitalizing companies-digitalizing their organizations, their products and services, and their relationships with customer, suppliers and business partners. Upskilling and retraining workforces is seen by large organizations as a better approach than hiring, allowing them to create the right skills balance and retain their workers better. However, softer skills, such as communication and problem solving, are seen as just as important. ICT workers will benefit from a lifelong approach to learning, acquiring new skills and adapting existing skills. Many ICT companies have created academies for developing employee skills and certifications related to their own technologies, while the education sector has been working on creating curricula (alone or sometimes in partnerships with vendors) to improve graduate employability. Research limitations/implications The research is based on a small sample of large companies. The situation may be different in other companies and smaller organisations, Practical implications Organizations can cope with the skills shortage by anticipating and working with the market forces rather than trying to oppose them. Social implications ICT employees will show the way for employees in other sectors where skills are scarce, by demonstrating how to reinvent themselves as the skills needed change. Originality/value This paper demonstrates that employers have changed their expectations of universities. They expect less that graduates will be ICT-employment ready, and more that they will have the skills to make and keep themselves employment ready. This has significant implications for university course design.

This paper develops unique new insight for business practitioners and academic researchers into the interaction between consumers and brands on social media platforms, principally where brands choose to interact with, and amplify, user-generated content (UGC) by retweeting it on their own brand channels. Despite increasing research into social media in general, there is a relative lack of available academic research on major brands engaging with consumer content, which may, be in part due to the pace of change and exponential growth in this emerging area. This mixed method study develops insight conducted over an 18-month period with leading social media practitioners, concluding that primarily a brand's social media team opportunistically seek out and retweet organic image-led UGC to convey specific messages across multiple platforms. Content containing imagery lends authenticity to brand storytelling; brands with tangible products are more likely to receive organic UGC which contains images than intangible brands.