Strategic Reframing

Traditional strategy assumes stability and predictability. Today's world is better characterised by turbulence, uncertainty, novelty and ambiguity - conditions that contribute disruptive changes and trigger the search for new ways of coping.

This book aims to become the premier guide on how to do scenario planning to support strategy and public policy. Co-authored by three experts in the field, the book presents The Oxford Scenario Planning Approach (OSPA). The approach is both intellectually rigorous and practical. Methodological choices and theoretical aspects in practice are detailed in reference to the relevant literatures and grounded in 6 case studies the authors have been involved with.

The book makes several contributions to the field, centred on how learning with scenario planning is supported by re-framing and re-perception; how this iterative process can be embedded in corporate or government settings, and how it helps those that it supports to do well in today's world.

The book is written in an accessible style and will be a useful introductory text as well as a useful guide for the more experienced scenario planning practitioner and scholar.


"I applaud your efforts to put scenario planning on a solid academic footing; the lack of such intellectual grounding is a notable weakness in this fine art drawn which is mostly drawn from practice."
-- Paul J.H. Schoemaker is an entrepreneur, researcher and speaker who was a Professor at the University of Chicago and the Wharton School for many years

"Richard Normann would be proud to see how his ideas concerning scenario planning have been developed and adapted to present conditions. In turbulent times, reframing is a necessity, and fixed framing a threat. The future is a useful fiction indeed, and the authors show convincingly how to make use of it in knowledgeable management. This book encourages reflection and experimentation, and will interest theoreticians as well as practitioners."
-- Barbara Czarniawska, Professor of Management Studies, University of Gothenburg

"Scenario planning unlocks dynamic ways of thinking and forces strategists to confront and plan for the unanticipated twists and turns of the future. Turbulence, uncertainty, and ambiguity in our world are growing both in terms of amplitude and velocity. Rafael Ramirez & Angela Wilkinson lay out a usable and rigorous, structured toolbox to help chart a way forward in these conditions."
-- David Levin, President and CEO of McGraw-Hill Education

"In a post- 9/11/financial crisis/geopolitically turbulent world, scenario planning has become more central than ever to the development and execution of successful corporate strategy. Strategic Reframing is the how to guide to effective use of scenario planning. I heartily recommend this compelling benchmark to anyone interested in seizing competitive advantage in an era of chronic volatility and ever-more rapid change."
-- Paul A. Laudicina, Chairman, Global Business Policy Council; Partner and Chairman Emeritus, A.T. Kearney

"