Managing the Future

In this book, leading authors explore ways in which organizations can develop their ability to manage the future. An exploration of the ways in which organizations can develop their ability to manage the future. Consists of ten papers written by authors from both sides of the Atlantic and from Asia, all of whom are distinguished scholars in the fields of strategy or organizational learning. Addresses key questions about how organizational foresight can be conceptualized and developed, and the extent to which it is possible. The papers are prefaced by a foreword from Spyros Makridakis and an introduction from the editors. Helps to shape a new research agenda, and so will be of interest to academics, as well as to students and practitioners.

Figures. Tables. Notes on the Contributors. Foreword: Foresight Matters (Spyros Makridakis). 1. Introduction: Organizations and The Future, From Forecasting To Foresight (Haridimos Tsoukas And Jill Shepherd). Part I: Making Sense Of Organizational Foresight. 2. Re-Educating Attention: What Is Foresight And How Is It Cultivated (Robert Chia). 3. Invention And Navigation As Contrasting Metaphors Of The Pathways To The Future (V.K. Narayan And Liam Fahey). 4. Strategy And Time: Really Recognizing The Future (T.K. Das). Part II: Foresight And Organizational Learning. 5. Foresight Or Foreseeing? A Social Action Explanation Of Complex Collective Knowing (David R. Schwandt And Margaret Gorman). 6. Retrospective Sensemaking And Foresight: Studying The Past To Prepare For The Future (Raanan Lipshitz, Neta Ron & Micha Popper). 7. Can Illusion Of Control Destroy A Firm’s Competence? The Case Of Forecasting Ability (Rudolph Durand). Part III: Developing Foresightful Organizations. 8. Time Travelling: Organizational Foresight As Temporal Reflexivity (Miguel Pina E. Cunha). 9. The Concept Of "Weak Signals" Revisited: A Re-Description From A Constructivist Perspective (David Seidl). 10. Meta-Rules For Entrepreneurial Foresight (Ted Fuller, Paul Argyle and Paul Moran). 11. Autopoietic Limitations Of Probing The Future (Deborah Blackman And Steven Henderson). Afterword: Insights Into Foresight (Kees van der Heijden). Index