The book is written in understandable, accessible language. Strategic foresight requires a longer and broader view of the environment and, as we at the institute for alternative futures iaf would argue, a conscious attention to the organizations vision and visionary scenarios in the environment. Strategic foresight also requires a combination of analysis and creativity that constitutes, in the excellent term of foresight consultant riel miller, rigor ous imagining. Strategic foresight is the ability to create and maintain a highquality, coherent. By contrast, strategic foresight seeks to help decision makers think through uncertainty. The value of strategic foresight presidential transition. In line with this, slaugther 17 has introduced the conceptualization of foresight as an organizational ability. Statebased consultants were selected based on their ability to best impact the targets in. Second in a twopart series elements of a strategic plan. Bishop graduate program in futures studies, university of houston, 4800 calhoun road, 110 cameron building, houston, tx 772046020, usa 1. Forecasting seeks to predict discrete events in the future. Instead, our discipline rests on a series of core principles about what makes content effectivewhat makes it work, what makes it good.
Eight elements of strategic planning from success to. Strategy, a word of greek origin meaning a military generals knowledge, has been used for centuries yet its sister term, strategic management, is a relatively new concept. Pdf the organizing dimensions of strategic foresight in high. The figure is intended not as a prescription of what strategic management should be, but as a framework which readers can use to think through strategic problems. At the same time, practical application of government foresight in strategic. Foresight can combine or utilize participatory foresight andor deskwork foresight, and. This campaign illustrates our flexible and tailored approach to campaigns. The benefits of strategic foresight planning kreischer. Strategic foresight is a concept i deem synonymous with corporate foresight. Strategic foresight is an element of futurology and a concept under the strategic planning umbrella.
Strategy should not suppress the initiatives, creativity and professionalism of management and company employees. Strategic foresight analysis usually involves the following stages. There are many ways in which foresight could play a more significant role in ecology. Bill barton, former center head for american express consumer lending operations, helped me understand this distinction in this way. Using strategic foresight institute of chartered foresters.
Strategic foresight the contemplation of alternative plausible future contexts for better strategic decisionmaking in the present harnesses these ways of thinking. Strategic foresight is the ability to create and maintain a highquality, coherent and functional forward view, and to use the insights arising in useful organisational ways. To effectively spot new trends, strategic foresight teams need to have a much wider range of information sources than. In so doing, they can identify strategic threats to avoid or mitigate as well as new opportunities to exploit. What are the key elements of the strategic management process. For our new methodology for businessfield exploration, the elements of all three. Exploring futures the houston way andy hines, peter c. This type of a workshop can involve a small team or a larger group of decision makers or stakeholders depending on your organizations interest in foresight and strategic planning. For example, a company can look at how its human resources data, including employee turnover rates and staff satisfaction, have an impact on the organizations. A thorough strategic planning exercise outlines the companys main direction while at the same time defining its needs in terms of leadership quality and in terms of financing. For example to detect adverse conditions, guide policy, shape strategy, and to explore new markets, products and services. It is about mirroring the possible and potential futures against the understanding of organizationspecific capabilities, and those of ones competitors. Strategic foresight and government to bind themselves into rigid positions. A brief overview of strategic foresight workshop slides.
Pdf strategic foresight for collaborative exploration of new. Strategic elements runs the national field campaign for this immigration reform project. Strategic foresight analysis can help decision makers map the future. By jonathan tucker in discussing the value of strategic foresight, it is important to distinguish it from forecasting. Tools such as horizon scanning and scenario planning are being applied in ecology. Introduction framework foresightis a methodforcarryingoutforesight projectsdeveloped attheuniversity ofhouston. Elements of a strategic plan a plan spells out where an organization is going over the next year or more and how it is going to get there. This guide assists organizations in preparing for and conducting a twohour foresight workshop utilizing scenario planning techniques. Whether this exercise is performed by the ownermanager, the successor, the board of directors, or a management committee, the exercise comprises eight elements. Foresight workshop how to guide foresight workshop how.
It employs scenarios to consider how trends and developments in a number of areas may come. Strategic foresight is the ability to create and maintain a highquality, coherent, and functional forward view and to use the insights arising in organizationally useful ways. At its best, the process allows policymakers to explore possible futures, and pursue policies that are most likely to bring them to fruition. Strategic foresight is an underutilized tool for longterm planning in ecology. A quick and clean guide to creating foresight by richard a k lum, strategic foresight. Presentation at aair forum, sydney, nov slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. The idea for this strategic foresight primer was born out of. Simply put, a strategic plan is the formal ized road map that describes how your organization executes the chosen strategy. Strategic foresight advice should be broadly based, and wherever possible backed up by empirical evidence, so that it can be contested and debated by others in the policy domain. In broad terms, strategic foresight can be practiced on three levels.
To a large extent, choosing the right blend of participants for a particular. Nevertheless, there are three areas, which are defined for each system. Five strategic foresight tools to enhance business model. The strategic foresight analysis sfa 20 report was the product of initial efforts to establish institutional foresight within act to provide nato, national leaders and defence planners with a common perspective of the challenges facing the alliance in the decades to come. The feasibility and purpose are key to strategic planning, but also the organizational culture and structure will play a role in this stage. Whats your futuresix steps for gaining strategic foresight page 2 scanning the second step is scanning.
Strategic change and the successful implementation have one aim, a higher organizational performance. Strategic foresight was launched so the emergency management community can seek to understand how the world is changing, and how those changes may affect the future of emergency management. Foresight is a strategic thinking capability, so the use of foresight methodologies occurs at this first stage of the strategy development. Who are the foresight professionals and the end users.
Strategic foresight research aims to enable resilience over time and to meet the needs of government and society, by identifying. Leigh identified five ways in which strategic foresight teams can contribute to more innovative government. The role of scenarios in strategic foresight sciencedirect. By broadening the understanding of what could occur, the less wellknown risks and challenges ahead can be identified and prepared for. As shown in figure 1, strategic thinking focuses on futures options available to an organisation, before decision are made about which options to pursue. Two components are organically linked to strategic foresight.
Four basic elements of strategic management bizfluent. Kaufman and steven walleck, strategic management has four basic elements. Lessons from using scenarios for strategic foresight. The the literature emphasizes the importance of planning for the future, but not muc h. Most strategic plans focus on one or two such elements, often leaving large gaps in the overall strategy. Guidelines for strategic foresight edited by andy hines and peter bishop is the essential handbook for every aspiring analyst and, students of strategic foresight. In such firms, foresight is an ongoing series of efforts that informs management about possible future states and what is needed to realize these. Strategic foresight is generally focused at the mid or longterm time frame. In forresters workforce computing playbook, my colleagues and i maintain that a workforce computing strategic plan should include the following elements. Skip the strategic foresight process and go straight to writing a strategic plan characteristics of the person doing a strategic foresight 1. An overview of strategic foresight, and several futures tools that can be used to build a strategic foresight capacity. The book first explores how we think about the future, looking at ambiguity and uncertainty. Scanning is the process of looking internally and externally to identify what is on the horizon that may impact the organization relative to the issues you framed in the prior step. Published in futures, may 2010, pp282294 inquiries to.
Strategic foresight october 2019 strategic foresight for. The influences on, and elements of, strategic management discussed above are summarised in the figure above. He focuses on succession management and leadership development in smallmedium businesses and ministries. For one, resultsbased management rbm demands an enhanced cohe1. Gluck and his mckinsey consulting firm colleagues stephen p. The following statements provide a definition of the concept of strategic management and the scope of business strategy. Environmental scanning is the foundational step in the strategic management process. Strategic foresight efforts at both the broad contextual and sectorspecific levels can interlink and reinforce each other as part of an ongoing system of integrating futures thinking into policymaking. Hence you should act in accordance with the following principles.
Strategic foresight primer committee of the regions. This involves taking a deliberate look at how internal and external factors affect the success of an organization. Risks and preparing for them to futureproof policies. Pdf entrepreneurship, innovation and strategic foresight. Know the difference between a fact and an assumption 3.
Pdf strategic foresight promotes the enactment of organizationally useful actions and repertoires. Strategic foresight is a set of skills and tools used to explore potential futures, so that you can plan for and take advantage of them. Action is then taken to implement the chosen options. Whats your futuresix steps for gaining strategic foresight. Global strategic foresight community reports world. Strategic foresight considers possible, probable, and desirable futures. Framing, scanning, forecasting, visioning, planning, and. English is the dominant language, the term foresight, introduced in the 1990s, was adopted. It starts by discussing the need for strategic foresight over the next decade, and a set of qualities, structures and processes that facilitate the use of strategic foresight for renewal. In this sense, strategic foresight is fundamentally different from the notion of five or 10 year plans.
National, international studies and a series of workshops trends that will shape the future strategic context defence and security implications out to 2030 and beyond common understanding of the future. Strategic foresight analysis 20 report 3 introduction strategic foresight is the ability to create and sustain a variety of high quality forward views and to apply the emerging insights in organisationally useful ways. Strategic foresight analysis sfa first published in september 20 with interim update dec 2015 sfa is a collaborative effort. The goal of the mission statement is to state in plain language how the workforce computing strategy relates to business objectives. Only when you have answers to questions about each of these five elements can you determine whether your strategy is an integrated whole. The requirement for institutional foresight is affirmed by recent.
Andy hines in his article, strategic foresight, identifies six critical steps to develop the foresight you need to navigate in this rapidly changing environment. Understand the era we are in certain or uncertain, slow changes or fast ones 2. Strategic change needs planning as a lot of issues arise and need to be solved. Strategic foresight is a collaborative effort of the emergency management community facilitated by the federal emergency management agency fema.
591 497 60 774 1158 1116 421 721 1104 1457 1264 591 1089 1214 125 531 637 1119 455 949 1144 1521 224 698 511 827 1228 426 347 1483 257 1135 40 935 1496 126 8 744 1431 983 16 1422 1243 826 1247