Corporate foresight

Abstract

This chapter addresses Foresight and Future-oriented Technology Analyses (FTA) in the context of their application to the world of business. While there has been a great deal of emphasis on the development and use of FTA in the public sector and by governments, less attention has been directed to the substantial growth in foresight and future analysis in business. However, on closer inspection, it has become apparent that the term Corporate Foresight (e.g., Burmeister et al. 2004) is commonly being used to describe very different things. In order to clarify the term, and identify its various uses, this paper has been structured to address separately 'FTA in business' and 'FTA for business'. © 2008 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.