Strategic scenario planning in practice: eight critical applications and associated benefits

Purpose Organizations face challenges in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environments. It is vital to manage the change’s rate and magnitude in new and different ways to stay competitive. This study focuses on the phenomenon of scenario planning that can help organizations proactively plan for, react and adapt to VUCA forces if and when they occur. Design/methodology/approach Based on an extensive academic and practitioner literature review, we posit that corporate scenario planning involves eight different practical applications and associated benefits. These include risk identification, assessing uncertainty, organizational learning, options analysis, strategy validation and testing, complex decision-making, strategic nimbleness and innovation. We offer a novel typology and propose a more complete and holistic model of the scenario planning application and its intended outcomes. Mini-case studies from various sectors illustrate the process. The model demonstrates the relationship between different benefit-driven applications - inputs, process and output benefits – and identifies opportunities for further research. Findings A previous typology study classified “what” and “why” related scenario planning research and literature. However, the why or associated benefits were not broken down at any level of detail, representing a gap in explaining the actual value of this management tool. The current study proposes a novel “why” focused typology of scenario planning benefits based on an extensive literature review. The novel typology adorned several benefits of scenario planning in an integrated model explained using systems theory. These benefits included risk, uncertainty, options analysis, strategic flexibility, complex decision-making, strategy testing and validation, innovation and organizational learning. Originality/value First time in the literature, the relationship between input, process and output benefits of scenario planning is explained using systems theory. The novel typology proposed illustrates the practical applications of scenario planning in one complete model.