Foresight-Related Dynamic Capabilities in Finnish Forest-Based Bioeconomy SMEs

Abstract

A highly uncertain and complex operating environment with numerous sustainability challenges creates pressure on companies and other societal actors to renew their practices and business models. Practicing corporate foresight, that is, applying foresight methods in strategic decision-making, together with a futures-conscious mindset, can help diverse companies to maintain their competitive advantage. Companies' dynamic capabilities on foresight and futures consciousness can facilitate sensing unexpected events, seizing emerging opportunities, and reconfiguring their business models and strategies to respond to changes in the operating environment. This study explored the foresight-related dynamic capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Finnish forest-based bioeconomy. A mixed methods approach was followed in which data were collected from Finnish SMEs using semi-structured interviews and an online questionnaire. The data were analyzed using interpretive content analysis and descriptive statistics. The findings suggest that the included Finnish forest-based bioeconomy SMEs do have the capability to sense and seize opportunities within the changing operating environment. However, the managements' perceptions emphasize short-term operational planning of their activities occurring in a rather closed and predictable environment. There were only limited indications of the capability to reconfigure business models in a futures-conscious way. Thus, it can be suggested that nurturing a more open mindset toward alternative future pathways, recognizing how company actions impact other actors and the operating environment, and utilizing foresight-generated knowledge in strategic planning and decision-making can provide opportunities to create new sources of sustainable competitive advantage.