Scenario planning has received much top-level interest in the corporate sector as a way of realistically assessing the long-term future. Yet seldom are line managers included in initiatives, even though their exposure to customers and competitors means they often pick up subtle signals that are the first alert of changes to the operating environment. By exposing line managers to alternative scenarios, organizations can reduce the risk of ignoring the small environmental changes that are the advance warning for major discontinuities. Now completely updated in a new edition, the message of this practical, hands-on guide is that scenarios are not predictions or forecasts, but powerful weapons in managing the uncertainties of the future. Taking a conceptual rather than mathematical approach, it includes a wealth of case studies, checklists, early indicators and examples.

Scenario Planning: Managing for the Future

Business & Money

Ringland, Gill

Management & Leadership

wiley

You've chosen this book. Which probably means you're a marketer, you've heard of scenarios and you want to know what they can do for you. Can they help with everyday marketing issues like brands, channels and relationships? The answer is yes. Rooted in customer needs, scenarios bridge the gap between corporate strategy and marketing tactics. They are a weapon for perceiving the unseen and a framework for thinking the unthinkable. This book's wealth of case studies will show you how they've helped top companies like Pfizer, Nestle and Courvoisier to do just that, and its practical lessons will show how they can do exactly the same for you. 
Gill Ringland and Laurie Young have gathered top-flight contributors to offer the first straightforward account of scenario planning for marketers. In readable chapters they show how, by integrating scenarios into the wider marketing toolkit, you can make your organization more customer-driven and consider a wider range of possibilities than your competitors. They explore how scenarios have driven creativity in a range of consumer marketing applications - even in FMCG sectors - and define their role in distribution, channel management, brand management and customer management strategy. Finally, they show how marketing scenarios can help to promote wider corporate innovation. The rich pictures painted by scenarios have made business strategy more visionary and creative, and they're set to do the same with marketing strategy. Read this book, and make sure it's your organization holding the brush.

Scenarios in Marketing: From Vision to Decision

Young, Laurie

Economics

The history of scenario planning is rich and varied. Throughout the ages people have tried to make decisions today by studying the possibilities of tomorrow. When that tomorrow was more predictable and less fraught with uncertainty, those possibilities had a good chance of being the right ones. Now, however, the only given constant in a world of complexity is change itself. In an environment where information technology is driving an information revolution, and where the rules can be rewritten with breathtaking speed, planning can seem more based on luck than foresight. There are methods for coping with unpredictability. The Scenario planning techniques described in this book will help to think about uncertainty in a structured way. Based on Gill Ringland's previous book Scenario Planning: Managing for the Future, this updated and expanded version focuses specifically on scenarios planning in business. Scenario Planning in Business and its companion, Scenarios in Public Policy are both practical paperback books that each expand on specific areas of Scenario Planning. They will appeal to managers looking to learn about and apply a particular aspect of scenario planning. Reviews of Gill Ringland's prevoius work: "Nobody can ignore the future. This book is a must-read for any manager aspiring to put scenarios into practice." Arie de Geus, Former Director of Shell International Petroleum and author of 'The Living Company' "(Gill Ringland) offers us a mechanism by which to bring structure to information technology and other forms of complexity, offering us the vital ability to understand the dynamics of change." Oliver Sparrow, Chatham House Forum

Scenarios in Business

Finance

The history of scenario planning is rich and varied. Throughout the ages people have tried to make decisions today by studying the possibilities of tomorrow. When that tomorrow was more predictable and less fraught with uncertainty, those possibilities had a good chance of being the right ones. Now, however, the only given constant in a world of complexity is change itself. In an environment where information technology is driving an information revolution, and where the rules can be rewritten with breathtaking speed, planning can seem more based on luck than foresight. There are methods for coping with unpredictability. The Scenario planning techniques described in this book will help to think about uncertainty in a structured way. Based on Gill Ringland's previous book Scenario Planning: Managing for the Future, this updated and expanded version focuses specifically on scenarios in public policy. The use of scenarios to create a framework for a shared vision of the future, by promoting discussion and building consensus outside a business environment, is examined. Ringland also looks at the similarities between organizations which have used scenarios successfully - such as the importance of communication via storyline and image. Scenarios in Public Policy and its companion, Scenario Planning in Business are both practical paperback books that each expand on specific areas of Scenario Planning. They will appeal to managers looking to learn about and apply a particular aspect of scenario planning. Reviews of Gill Ringland's prevoius work: "Nobody can ignore the future. This book is a must-read for any manager aspiring to put scenarios into practice." Arie de Geus, Former Director of Shell International Petroleum and author of 'The Living Company' "(Gill Ringland) offers us a mechanism by which to bring structure to information technology and other forms of complexity, offering us the vital ability to understand the dynamics of change." Oliver Sparrow, Chatham House Forum

Scenarios in Public Policy

John Wiley&Sons

Scenario Planning Managing for the Future Gill Ringland "Nobody can ignore the future. This book is a must-read for any manager aspiring to put scenarios into practice." Arie De Geus, Former Director of Shell International Petroleum and author of The Living Company "Never since the great geographical expansions of the eighteenth century has so much latent potential been met with tools so ill-fitted to harness it. Information technology will change how, where, when we work. Scenario Planning offers us a mechanism by which to bring structure to this and other forms of complexity; offering us the vital ability to understand the dynamics of change." Oliver Sparrow, Chatham House Forum Business today operates in a world of major change. Economies, commerce and lifestyles are constantly shifting but it is the information revolution which will prove the most radical since its agricultural and industrial counterparts. It cannot be constrained by borders but is simultaneously reaching across the world. In this environment, the techniques for planning business over the past decades are no longer sufficient. Forecasts based on current trends, or estimates of growth based on history are in danger of becoming obsolete all too quickly. The idea in the early days of mainframe computers that 'every major country will need one' demonstrates how uncertain the future can really be. The scenario planning techniques described in this book will enable anyone to think about uncertainty in a structured way. Key features are: * detailed 'how to' look for early indicators of directions, and identify possible courses of action for those new to scenarios. * extensive case studies, including ICL, British Airways and United Distillers. * includes 'do' as well as 'do not' examples to aid practitioners; tells you what works when and why. * takes a conceptual, rather than a mathematical approach. The overall message of this book is that scenarios are not predictions or forecasts, but they are powerful weapons in managing the uncertainties of the future. Jacket illustration by Nick Orsborne

Here be Dragons was written in response to requests from readers of Beyond Crisis (John Wiley, 2010), which introduced the "Cycle of Renewal". Readers wanted to know what the Cycle of Renewal looked like "on the ground"; how would you get started? How would you decide which tools to use? Who would do the work? What would it look like on a daily basis? And, most importantly, what impact would you see on business performance? Here be Dragons addresses these questions in two ways. The first, The Columbus Project, describes the journey taken by a fictional organisation (FutureParts Vehicle Supplies) which was set the challenge of renewing itself. The staff of FutureParts are entirely fictional, but they represent some of the characters and organisational structures that form the context for change in many organisations. The story illustrates some of the common hurdles and tools, so that business leaders may recognise some of the characteristics of what works and what does not as they spearhead organisational change. The second part of the book is a Pilot's Guide to the tools which the Columbus Project used to help the business renew itself. The tools are designed to enhance the ability to think long term while being effective in the short term - balancing the paradoxes leaders face on a daily basis. Both parts focus pragmatically on why each tool should be used, when and how they should be used, together with the results to expect and how each fits into the Cycle of Renewal.

Here Be Dragons

Phaal, Rob

Lustig, Ms Patricia

Industries

Choir Press

Scenario Planning is a classic work of business strategy. Its clear, inclusive approach to learning from the future distinguishes it from the competition, while its unmatched breadth of case studies make it an essential aid for managers seeking to implement scenario techniques. Key features of the Second Edition include a review of available methods and how to access them, detailed coverage of 'early indicators', and a wealth of new cases including Shell, Morgan Stanley Japan, and Finland's use of climate change scenarios. 'What happened next' sections for case studies from the first edition are also included. Packed with clear lessons and straightforward advice, Scenario Planning tells you what works, when it works and why. The book's overall message is that scenarios are not predictions or forecasts, but effective weapons in managing the uncertainties of the future. Since the first appearance of the second edition, global events have emphasised the effectiveness of scenario thinking in managing these uncertainties

Scenario Planning

The Possibility Wheel: Making better choices in a fractured world

Lustig, Patricia

Triarchy Press Ltd

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ringland, Gill. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Ringland, Gill

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ringland, Gill. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Scenario Planning: Managing for the Future

Scenarios in Marketing: From Vision to Decision

Scenarios in Business

Scenarios in Public Policy

Scenario Planning: Managing for the Future

Here Be Dragons

Scenario Planning

The Possibility Wheel: Making better choices in a fractured world