An Exploration of the Relationship between Strategic Foresight and Organisational Resource Weaknesses

Abstract

Organisations, as unique bundles of resources, hold the potential to confer competitive advantages. However, in a world of uncertainties, changing environmental conditions can transform these resources from strengths to weaknesses, posing a threat to firm survival. Despite the critical nature of organisational inadequacies, empirical studies on how firms effectively address their resource weaknesses within their resource bundle are scarce. This research, in response to the calls by resource-based scholars, aims to fill this gap by providing an in-depth and theoretically informed empirical study in this crucial yet unexplored area. Furthermore, it responds to the calls from foresight scholars by integrating foresight within management research.

While some studies recognise the importance of foresight in identifying future resource positions, there is a need for more discussion of the role of strategic foresight in the management literature. By integrating foresight and resource-based literature, this thesis explores how strategic foresight enables firms to identify and mitigate weaknesses within a firm's resource bundle. The unique integration of these two fields makes this study stand out and positions it as one of the first to investigate the role of strategic foresight in addressing organisational resource weaknesses.

Adopting a pragmatic philosophy with the Gioia methodology as its empirical approach, the qualitative study spans two phases over 32 months and collects, analyses, and synthesises data from 28 in-depth semi-structured interviews and secondary records using NVivo. This results in insights into resource weaknesses and the nature of foresight.

The study makes several contributions, and the findings emphasise the importance of foresight in detecting and addressing resource deficiencies within a firm. The research identifies three levels of foresight, including Strategic Foresight, Strategic Insight, and Tactical Foresight, that enable firms to adapt to changes when weaknesses arise and leverage their strengths. The findings align with the resource-based view literature, which states that firms require foresight to achieve a competitive advantage.

The generic foresight process framework is a crucial contribution to the foresight literature that reveals much-needed nuance into strategic foresight and how it manifests in firms. Findings also indicate that having a pragmatic outlook that allows firms to be change-ready when weaknesses arise is critical in managing weaknesses, consistent with recent advances in strategic management thinking post-COVID.