Towards a methodological approach: theorising scenario thinking as a social practice

Sarpong, David (2011) Towards a methodological approach: theorising scenario thinking as a social practice. Foresight, 13 (2). pp. 4-17. doi:10.1108/14636681111126210

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Abstract

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to draw on the social theory of practice to show scenario thinking as an everyday practice and how the practice could be theorised at the meso‐level. Design/methodology/approach – Counterfactual analysis, scenario analysis and peripheral vision are presented as the constituting methodological triad through which scenario thinking comes into representation. Findings – Scenario thinking is a temporally emerging everyday organizational practice. By placing emphasis on the mundane and taken for granted activities that come together to form the nexus of the practice, often deep underlying structures of organizational behaviour contributing to scenario thinking can be theorised. Research limitations/implications – The practice conceptualisation of scenario thinking inverts and challenges existing management and practitioners' conventional understanding of the practice as an episodic phenomenon in waiting to be facilitated by an expert with specific end points and conformity. Practical implications – Foresight practitioners and researchers can use this as an analytical starting point for the study and theorising of scenario thinking in self organized groups. Originality/value – The paper provides a new angle of vision to extend understanding of the development and theorising of scenario thinking in autonomous working groups.

Item Type:	Article
Article Type:	Book Review
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Working practices, Innovation, Product innovation, Strategic management
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Business, Computing and Social Sciences
Research Priority Areas:	Applied Business & Technology
Depositing User:	Anne Pengelly
Date Deposited:	11 May 2015 10:51
Last Modified:	07 Aug 2023 13:05
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/2223

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