Building a variety of futures through networked foresight

Companies are facing challenges in their strategic work to transform foresight information on various futures into actionable business plans in a changing networked business environment. Open, networked, collaborative foresight could assist companies in that work, but the theoretical basis for inter-organisational foresight is weak. This conceptual paper aims to advance the theoretical discussion on networked foresight by suggesting a typology of three foresight frames: 1. identification of business opportunities and developing a (joint) offering with known partners; 2. triggering change with novel partners through knowledge building and identifying a variety of futures; and 3. anticipating and shaping futures across industry borders. The foresight frames may target different time horizons, but they share the three basic characteristics of networked foresight: a shared purpose (why), engaged stakeholders (who), and a joint process (how). The preliminary typology presented can lay the groundwork for further studies on networked foresight.