A Scenario-based Approach to Strategic Planning – Integrating Planning and Process Perspective of Strategy

For 20 years the conflict between the planning school and the process school of strategy has shaped the debate on strategy creation. In our paper, we argue that a scenario-based approach to strategic planning can serve as a management innovation in the field, thus having the potential to overcome the discrepancies between the two opposing schools of strategy. The scenario-based approach to strategic planning builds on the strengths of traditional scenario planning, i.e. its open and creative approach that considers multiple strategy options and takes multiple perspectives into account. Simultaneously, it overcomes the weaknesses of traditional scenario planning by offering a systematic process to scenario creation that is build on specific management tools and thus easy to implement. The outcome of this approach is a core strategy which is complemented by several strategic options that are derived from different scenarios. We illustrate the benefits of this management innovation on the basis of experiences collected in a consulting project in the German photovoltaic industry.