Scenario process as a community for organizational knowledge creation and sharing

Abstract

Uncertainty and radical changes in the environment challenge decision makers in modern organizations. Knowledge of the past and present and also the insights from the future form the necessary conditions for successful decision making. Knowledge of the present can be used to create knowledge about the future through the scenario process. The paper presents two case studies, which support the proposition that the scenario process supports creation of knowledge in organizations. The scenario process can be a community and thus can offer not only artifacts of knowledge, but also a venue where decisions can be rehearsed and evaluated against plausible futures. We arrive to the conclusion that the scenario process can support knowledge sharing and creation, while it makes the assumptions of the organization explicit through the scenarios and also results in projection of plausible futures to come. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.