Dissertation – Futures Design Thinking for Corporate Innovation


SCD-led Strategic Conversation – questioning the present and shaping the future

The structure of industries is in transition, and the world of consumerism is transforming. The identities of products and services have been disrupted, and it is now difficult to define specific functional values. These values fluctuate with the structures, and uncertainty requires organisations and managers to redefine their strategies and realign their skills to anticipate possible opportunities in the future. Organisations that only focus on short-term strategies will not be able to survive long-term disruptions.

The main research question is: how can organisations use narrative scenarios and speculative and critical design (SCD) techniques as tools to produce resources for radical innovation so that they can survive in the long term? To answer the question, I explored several discourses including: radical innovation, strategic management, entrepreneurship, speculative and critical design and scenario planning. I studied these areas through literature and case studies as well as researched in the field using participatory action research and interviews.

From the research journey, I argue that to tackle the challenge, firstly, entrepreneurial abilities should be accumulated in the managers’ or leaders’ behaviours which will affect their decision making and actions in ways that will inspire them to explore radical opportunities through possible futures. Secondly, I propose SCD-led strategic conversational frameworks to be used as tools to enhance entrepreneurial abilities as well as expand innovation opportunities in strategic planning resulting in increased resources for radical innovation capabilities in firms.

SCD-led strategic conversations provide the fictional artefacts and narrative scenarios that break away from the cliché visual language. The satirical and conflict spaces between reality and possible futures drive questions and critiques, leading to discovery logic within conversations and encouraging leaders to reconceptualise new meanings for products, services or systems. Here, SCD-led strategic conversations are aimed at finding innovation opportunities from the unknown paradigm and helping organisations shape their preferable future.

I am seeking opportunities that will allow me to apply my knowledge in these related subjects, particularly strategic foresight, futures design, conceptual design as well as innovation management projects.

#SpeculativeandCriticalDesign #SCD #ScenarioPlanning #Entrepreneurship #StrategicManagement #RadicalInnovation


May 2017