A Guide To Practical Foresight for competitive advantage:
Multiple solutions
There are many more futures methods available than most people realize. They cover Creative, Descriptive, Statistical, Opinion, Monitoring, Scenarios, Analytical, Decision and Modeling methods.
Before
starting a project or program, examine the different methods which will
best achieve the desired outcomes. A mix of quantitative and
qualitative methods should be chosen. Methods and tools that allow one
to combine different approaches are especially suitable. A
methodological competence should be built up within the organization
and shared with the users; this is the task of the corporate foresight
manager.
We have a listing of many more methods
and detailed descriptions of those above. Spend time examining the pros
and cons of each before jumping to a previous solution or one you have
heard of in passing.
Methods used here
- Backcasting: works backwards from a vision to the present day (available in Plan & Act)
- Citation analysis: the examination of the frequency and pattern of citations in articles and books
- Citizen panels: virtual or conference-based activity to uncover public concerns on critical issues
- Content analysis: methodology in the social sciences for studying the content of communication
- Cross-impact analysis: examines relationships and cross-overs between issues
- Delphi analysis: uses human judgement to generate forecasts (available as Custom Services)
- Driving force: determines critical drivers and creating alternate futures
- Horizon scanning: systematically searches for emerging issues
- Narrative analysis: metadata mapping of folksonomies, user comments, and tagging
- Organizational storytelling: develops evocative narratives to convey core messages
- PEST: active analysis of forces affecting an issue(s) for environmental scanning
- Scenario planning: explores possible, preferable futures (available in Plan & Act)
- Stakeholder analysis: aims to identify the stakeholders that are likely to be affected by activities
- SWOT: identifies future opportunities, strengths, risks, and threats
- Technology roadmapping: roadmapping aids planning and placing products in time order
- Trend analysis: extrapolates past trends into the future
- Visioning: sets a success criteria from which all other actions spring
Read the entire Guide: Shaping Tommorrow
Posted by: Andreea Hirica
Posted on: Contagious Idea
