ABSTRACT
Depending on how one looks at it, this chapter deals with what either is a phenomenon closely related to future orientation or is a vital, yet often overlooked dimension of the future orientation construct itself. This phenomenon or dimension is temporal depth, a concept I introduced a few years ago (Bluedorn, 2000) and proposed as a variable orthogonal to a person or group's (i.e., culture-carrying collectivity's) general tendency to emphasize the past, present, or future. Making such a distinction, temporal depth is about the questions: How far behind? How far ahead? It is not about the question of direction (i.e., past or future). In this chapter I consider temporal depth in an organizational context and thereby examine the relationships temporal depth has and may have with the behavior of people in organizations. Furthermore, temporal depth is also considered as a culture property of organizations, which leads to a discussion of its relationships with other attributes of the organization as a whole. This examination begins with a discussion of the temporal depth concept, closely related concepts, and such nascent theory that has been developed. Following that discussion I examine existing research on temporal depth and build upon that discussion and current theory to address prospects for application and future research.
