Participatory Methods in Corporate Foresight: A Systematic Literature Review of Case Studies and Guidelines for Reporting

Abstract

Case studies developed in real settings are essential to generate insights into Corporate Foresight research, as they provide evidence of the relevance of foresight approaches in practical contexts while inspiring new approaches and applications. Proper reporting of methods used in case study publications is necessary to communicate the results' validity, enable studies' replicability, and learn from practice. A key component of case studies in Corporate Foresight is the design and implementation of participation. Aiming to show how participation has been utilized in the Corporate Foresight field, this study presents a systematic literature review that examines the participatory component of Corporate Foresight case studies published between 2003 and 2023. The review was designed to inform about which contexts have case studies been applied to and which decisions have been supported; which participatory processes and methods have been adopted over time, and whether new processes and methods are being used and shaped by emerging technologies; and whether participatory processes and methods have been documented to enable study replicability and an understanding of participatory processes. For this later purpose, we built a taxonomy to enable analysis of the level of documentation of participation in the reviewed case studies. Results show (i) literature is diverse and growing, but the application of participatory methods is often limited to traditional setups; (ii) few case studies comprehensively describe their participatory component, revealing significant gaps in the documentation required to understand how and why it was designed and implemented. An integrative review helped understand the reasons for these findings and make a case for improving the documentation of participation and exploring the use of novel technologies in Corporate Foresight research. We propose guidelines to help future researchers better document their case studies, enable research replicability, and generate more insights and learnings for future studies.