Scenarios: The Art of Strategic Conversation

by Kees van der Heijden

Overview

The Second Edition features brand new material throughout, and places increased emphasis on the essential link between organizational success and unique insights and original ideas. In addition, the entire text has been rewritten to bring it up-to-date and make it more practical whilst retaining the underlying rigour. A new website offers support materials for tutors.

Scenarios: The Art of Strategic Conversation, Second Edition will help you:

• Break out of the organization’s ‘thinking box’ and take a wider perspective
• Understand the unique drivers of an organization’s success by articulating its central business idea
• Develop scenarios as alternative ways of making sense of what is happening in the business environment, and use them to become more secure with the future
• Gain new understanding of the organization in its ‘playing field’, using narrative and storylines to articulate the overall systemic framework and make it visible
• Do all of this as an organizational process, to impact thinking of the organization as a whole and to prepare it for action.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781119995524
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	03/10/2011
Sold by:	JOHN WILEY & SONS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Kees van der Heijden is an Associate Fellow of Templeton College, University of Oxford, and a Visiting Professor at the Netherlands Business School, Nijenrode University. He is also Emeritus Professor of the University of Strathclyde Graduate School of Business, Glasgow, where he has taught General and Strategic Management since 1990. In addition, he is a co-founder of the Global Business Network. Before joining Strathclyde, he was in charge of scenario planning at Royal Dutch/Shell, as head of the Group’s Business Environment Division. This involved advising top management on strategy, as well as development of the process of scenario planning in which Shell has taken a worldwide leading role.
He specializes in scenario planning, strategic change and institutional strategic management processes, and has consulted widely in these areas.

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Table of Contents

Preface.

PART ONE: The Context.

1. 1965 to 1990: Five Discoveries at Shell.

2. Introduction to Scenario-based Planning.

3. Three Competing Paradigms in Strategic Management.

PART TWO: The Principles of Scenario-based Planning.

4. Strategising.

5. The Business Idea of an Organisation.

6. The Uncertain Environment.

7. Scenario Analysis.

8. Scenarios and the Strategic Conversation.

PART THREE: The Practice of Scenario-based planning.

9. The Practitioner’s Art.

10. Articulation of the Business Idea.

11. Competitive Positioning.

12. Scenario Development.

13. Option Planning.

PART FOUR: Institutionalising Scenario-based planning.

14. The Management of Change.

15. Planning Process.

16. Guiding the Strategic Conversation.

Conclusion.

References.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

…all important subjects for the modern manager are covered in 5 parts…” (Business Books – web)

From the Publisher