Managing the Future
Foresight in the Knowledge Economy
Published on 9. February 2009
240 pages
978-1-4051-4239-7 (ISBN)
Description
In this book, leading authors explore ways in which organizationscan develop their ability to manage the future.
* * An exploration of the ways in which organizations can developtheir ability to manage the future.
* Consists of ten papers written by authors from both sides ofthe Atlantic and from Asia, all of whom are distinguished scholarsin the fields of strategy or organizational learning.
* Addresses key questions about how organizational foresight canbe conceptualized and developed, and the extent to which it ispossible.
* The papers are prefaced by a foreword from Spyros Makridakisand an introduction from the editors.
* Helps to shape a new research agenda, and so will be ofinterest to academics, as well as to students andpractitioners.
Reviews / Votes
"This is a fascinating book, placing contemporary techniques formanagerial foresight within a rich and challenging theoreticalcontext. It is recommended equally for thinking practitioners andfor practice-sensitive teachers and researchers." RichardWhittington, Said Business School "This timely book adds a new dimension to the strategy debateand sources of competitive advantage. Its topic, strategicforesight, is most crucial in turbulent environments, in whichchange is frequent and disruptive. The authors show that not somuch a superior vision, appropriate plan, generic strategy,innovative culture or unique resource-pool, but rather strategicforesight differentiates successful firms from failing firms. Infact, unlearning and relearning may be one of the most importantoutcomes." Professor Henk W Volberda, Rotterdam School ofManagement, Erasmus University "Strategic foresight is central to managing the future, yet itis one of the least understood areas of management. Tsoukas andShepherd offer a collection of readings that serve to deepen ourunderstanding of what organizational foresight is, and what ittakes to do it well. Designed for the reader who seeks more than asuperficial overview, it offers jewels of insight and a variety offrameworks that serve to challenge and enrich our mental maps aboutdeveloping organizational foresight." Mary Crossan, Universityof Western Ontario "Hari Tsoukas, Jill Sherpherd and the other contributors of thisbook provide a compelling vision as to why the 'future could beours to manage.' This is a thought-provoking book that offers waysby which individuals can develop foresight." Raghu Garud, NewYork University "This is really good material, from good scholars, onthis emerging field. It will attract a wide audience." ColinEden, University of Strathclyde "This book brings together different perspectives on anincreasingly challenging question: just how might managers copewith the bewildering changes that are occurring in the world aroundthem. The book raises more questions that it answers perhaps; butthat is for the good: they are questions that need to be raised toinform a research agenda that is, and will increasingly become,central to management needs." Gerry Johnson, StrathclydeUniversityMore details
Other editions
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Book
05/2004
1st Edition
Wiley
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Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Book
05/2004
1st Edition
Wiley
€48.50
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Persons
Haridimos Tsoukas is the George D. Mavros Research Professorof Organization and Management at the Athens Laboratory of BusinessAdministration (ALBA), Greece and Professor of OrganizationStudies, Warwick Business School, UK. He has published widely inseveral leading academic journals, including the Academy ofManagement Review, Strategic Management Journal, OrganizationStudies, Organization Science, Journal of Management Studies,and Human Relations. He is the Editor-in-Chief ofOrganization Studies, serves on the Editorial Board ofseveral journals and is co-editor of The Oxford Handbook ofOrganization Theory: Meta-theoretical Perspectives (OUP, 2003).
Jill Shepherd is Assistant Professor of Management at theFaculty of Business Administration, Simon Fraser University, andco-organizer of the First International Conference onOrganizational Foresight in the Knowledge Economy. Her researchinterests centre around the use of evolutionary theory,particularly a branch called memetics, to investigate knowledgecreation and innovation within corporates, high tech firms andclusters. Prior to becoming an academic, Jill worked in industryboth in an international corporate setting and in a'dot.com' and operated as an international managementconsultant for a number of years.
Content
Figures.
Tables.
Notes on the Contributors.
Foreword: Foresight Matters (Spyros Makridakis).
1. Introduction: Organizations and The Future, From ForecastingTo Foresight (Haridimos Tsoukas And Jill Shepherd).
Part I: Making Sense Of Organizational Foresight.
2. Re-Educating Attention: What Is Foresight And How Is ItCultivated (Robert Chia).
3. Invention And Navigation As Contrasting Metaphors Of ThePathways 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 OfComplex Collective Knowing (David R. Schwandt And MargaretGorman).
6. Retrospective Sensemaking And Foresight: Studying The Past ToPrepare For The Future (Raanan Lipshitz, Neta Ron & MichaPopper).
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 TemporalReflexivity (Miguel Pina E. Cunha).
9. The Concept Of "Weak Signals" Revisited: A Re-DescriptionFrom A Constructivist Perspective (David Seidl).
10. Meta-Rules For Entrepreneurial Foresight (Ted Fuller, PaulArgyle and Paul Moran).
11. Autopoietic Limitations Of Probing The Future (DeborahBlackman And Steven Henderson).
Afterword: Insights Into Foresight (Kees van der Heijden).
Index
