EURAM 2011: Does scenario thinking make a difference?

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2011 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: "e;keine"e;, University of Mannheim, language: English, abstract: Valuing or underestimating the opportunities derived from environmental changes might determine which organisation will survive and which organisation will see its viability at risk. Organisational inertia and a lack of absorptive capacity can inhibit organisational flexibility and innovativeness. In this study, we suggest organisations to implement a pro-active searchfor new opportunities, which potentially entails innovation. By adopting a micro-level perspective, we emphasise the importance of individuals within an organisation as contributor to the organisation s success. An integrative model linking organisational inertia, scenario planning, and absorptive capacity is proposed. We present scenario thinking as a tool which may impact individuals openness to change, hence leads to a positive attitude towards newinformation, i.e. absorptive capacity. Several propositions are derived from this multitheoretical model. We argue organisations may be presented with a promising approach to increase the motivation and capability of individuals to engage in innovative actions, and suggest further research to empirically test this model.