Corporate Foresight: Anticipating the Future

Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Contents
List of figures
List of tables
Notes on contributors
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Book structure
Introduction
PART I: Anticipating the future
	1. The future is increasingly unpredictable, near and singular
		1.1. All is not as it seems
		1.2. Complex events cannot be predicted
		1.3. Systems are increasingly interdependent
		1.4. We live in exponential times
		1.5. The future comes like a cat
		1.6. In every field, responses are greatly amplified
		1.7. Bifurcation and the butterfly effect
		1.8. Change is interconnected, accelerated and discontinuous
	2. Innovation shapes the future
		2.1. The dominant design
		2.2. Innovation is born at the periphery
		2.3. Innovation is a successful disobedience
		2.4. Innovation is coevolution: The Barbarians
		2.5. Innovation is exaptation: The panda's thumb and the spandrels of St Mark's Basilica
	3. Responding to complexity
		3.1. The foresight approach
		3.2. Flexibility
		3.3. Promptness
		3.4. Resilience
		3.5. Detecting weak signals
		3.6. Understanding trends
		3.7. Building scenarios
	4. Anticipating the future
		4.1. From forecasting to foresight
		4.2. We need new abilities to find the right answers
		4.3. Different presents, multiple paths, possible scenarios
		4.4. The history of foresight
		4.5. Foresight for countries, for sectors, for companies
PART II: Organizing and managing corporate foresight
	5. Corporate foresight
		5.1. Foresight for companies
		5.2. The roots of corporate foresight
		5.3. The objectives of corporate foresight
		5.4. Resistance to corporate foresight
		5.5. How to overcome resistance
		5.6. The two pillars of corporate foresight
	6. The first pillar of corporate foresight: Organization
		6.1. The bygone era of research and development
		6.2. Research and development: A failed relationship
		6.3. Foresight and research: A wedding announcement
		6.4. Connection and development: A new partnership
		6.5. Acquisitions versus research
		6.6. Foresight as scouting
		6.7. Ways of organizing foresight
		6.8. The promoters of foresight
	7. The second pillar of corporate foresight: Management
		7.1. The four branches of corporate foresight
		7.2. The corporate foresight process
		7.3. Foresight methodologies
	8. The "future coverage" approach
		8.1. The problem of strategic coherence
		8.2. The framework of our approach
		8.3. The study of trends, vision and products
		8.4. Coherence analysis between trends, vision and products
PART III: Foresight in Eurotech SpA
	9. Trends in the ICT sector
		9.1. Trends and megatrends
		9.2. ICT trends and megatrends
		9.3. The trend of man–machine symbiosis according to Eurotech
	10. Foresight in Eurotech: Organizational aspects
		10.1. Eurotech as a factory of ideas
		10.2. Foresight, research and development in Eurotech
		10.3. The separation of research from development
		10.4. The foresight unit
		10.5. The scientific committee and the research network
		10.6. The strategy of partnerships and acquisitions
		10.7. Minority interests as real options for innovation
		10.8. Soft factors
		10.9. Lesson learned for the organization
	11. Foresight in Eurotech: Managerial aspects
		11.1. Trend analysis (T)
		11.2. Vision analysis (V)
		11.3. Product analysis (P)
		11.4. Trends–vision coherence analysis (1)
		11.5. Vision–products coherence analysis (2)
		11.6. Trends–products coherence analysis (3)
		11.7. Validity evaluation
		11.8. Lesson learned for the management
PART IV: Imagination reveals the future
	12. Conclusion
Afterword: Foresight is possible
Afterword: Perceiving the future or creating it?
References
Index