Journal of Futures Studies, August 2009, 14(1): 1 26 Is there a way to gauge whether one person is more proactive than another about the future? Furthermore, could any of an individual's proactive behavior be explained by their internal disposition, or what Dian (2003) calls a person's foresight style? This paper is a response to Dian's (2009) recent paper introducing the Foresight Styles Asses...

a Technology Foresight Group, Department of Management, Science and Technology, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran b Office of Sustainabilty, Amirkabir University of Technolgy, Tehran, Iran c Futures Studies Research Institute, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran d Aalto University, School of Science, P.O. Box 14100, FI-00076 Aalto, Espoo, Finland e Escuela Técnica Su...

Futures research means observation and understanding of today’s operational environment as well as identification and positioning of future opportunities. Lots of technology foresight and assessment initiatives are being made, probably in virtually all countries of the world. Articles concerning foresight rarely include assessments of what kind of materials they are based on. If they do, descri...

The main purpose of this paper is to present a three-phase periodization of modern Western futures studies to construct historical classification. In order to reach this goal, the following intellectual traditions are introduced to review the philosophical and historical contexts that affect the very foundations of futures studies: (a) religions, (b) utopias, (c) historicism, (d) science fictio...

The paper delivers the main findings of a research project we recently completed on the relationship between the use of foresight and the design of firm business strategy, which is intrinsically linked with a “foresight” analysis about the future of the industry in which the firm competes. Today many companies, in all industries, continuously monitor the emerging technologies and investigate th...

The idea of foresight as a new tool for S&T policies rests on the need to face the challenges of high tech developments, to respond to increasing global competition and to develop inter-organisational strategies. However, the impact of technological and global changes varies per country and per innovation sector, as do possibilities to develop interorganisational strategies. In this article we ...