Strategic Scenario Planning

Courses Syllabus

Introduction

In today’s environment of geopolitical uncertainty, technological disruption, economic volatility, climate risks, and changing customer expectations, organisations require more than forecasting—they need strategic scenario planning. This intensive five-day programme equips executives with practical tools to anticipate multiple futures, reduce strategic uncertainty, improve resilience, and develop flexible long-term strategies. Participants will learn internationally recognised scenario planning methodologies inspired by the approach developed and taught through Oxford’s Scenarios Programme while applying them to real organisational challenges

Learning Objectives
By the end of the programme participants will be able to:

• Understand strategic uncertainty and complexity
• Differentiate forecasting from scenario planning
• Identify key driving forces shaping the future
• Analyse critical uncertainties affecting organisations
• Develop robust strategic scenarios
• Test organisational strategies against multiple futures
• Build resilient decision-making frameworks
• Integrate scenario planning into strategic planning processes
• Improve executive decision-making under uncertainty
• Develop an organisational scenario planning capability

Who Should Attend

• Senior Executives
• CEOs
• Directors
• Strategy Managers
• Business Unit Leaders
• Government Officials
• Policy Makers
• Transformation Leaders
• Risk Managers
• Innovation Managers
• Corporate Planning Professionals

Contents

Day One

Foundations of Strategic Scenario Planning
Module 1

• The Future of Strategy
• Why forecasting fails
• Complexity versus uncertainty
• Strategic surprises
• Black Swan events
• Weak signals
• Emerging trends

Module 2
Understanding Scenario Planning

• History of scenario planning
• Evolution of modern scenarios
• Strategic conversations
• Multiple plausible futures
• Decision-making under uncertainty

Module 3
Environmental Scanning

• PESTLE Analysis
• STEEP Analysis
• Horizon scanning
• Megatrends
• Drivers of change

Workshop

• External drivers
• Internal drivers
• Trends
• Risks
• Opportunities

Day Two

Building Strategic Scenarios
Module 4
Driving Forces Analysis

• Political
• Economic
• Social
• Technological
• Environmental
• Regulatory

Module 5
Critical Uncertainties

• Identifying uncertainties
• Ranking uncertainties
• Impact analysis
• Likelihood assessment
• Influence mapping

Module 6
Scenario Framework Design

• Scenario matrix development
• Two-axis methodology
• Four future worlds
• Scenario narratives

Workshop
Develop four strategic scenarios for participants’ organisations.

Day Three

Scenario Development and Strategic Thinking
Module 7
Creating Rich Scenario Narrative

• Storytelling techniques
• Future personas
• Industry evolution
• Customer behaviour
• Technology disruption

Module 8
Strategic Implications

• Strategic opportunities
• Strategic threats
• Risk identification
• Opportunity mapping

Module 9
Decision-Making Under Uncertainty

• Robust strategies
• Flexible strategies
• Adaptive planning
• Dynamic capabilities

Workshop
Scenario storytelling exercise.
Day Four
Strategy Testing and Organisational Resilience
Module 10
Stress Testing Strategy

• Strategy robustness
• Strategic resilience
• Vulnerability assessment
• Portfolio analysis
• Deep Needs & Fears

Module 11
Strategic Options

• No-regret moves
• Hedging strategies
• Real options
• Early investments
• Strategic partnerships

Module 12
Early Warning Indicators

• Leading indicators
• Trigger events
• Monitoring dashboards
• Strategic intelligence

Workshop
Stress-test participants’ current organisational strategy.
Day Five

Embedding Scenario Planning into Strategy
Module 13
Scenario Planning Governance

• Executive ownership
• Governance structures
• Strategic reviews
• Continuous scanning

Module 14
Building an Organisational Scenario Process

• Annual planning
• Strategy refresh
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Decision frameworks

Module 15
Future Leadership

• Strategic agility
• Adaptive leadership
• Organisational resilience
• Future-ready organisations

Capstone Exercise
Participants work in teams to:

• Build a complete scenario planning project
• Present future scenarios
• Recommend strategic actions
• Develop implementation roadmaps

Practical Activities
Throughout the programme participants will complete:

• Horizon scanning exercises
• Driver mapping
• PESTLE workshops
• Scenario matrix construction
• Future world creation
• Scenario storytelling
• Strategy stress testing
• Early warning indicator design
• Executive presentations

Case Studies

• Shell’s Scenario Planning
• COVID-19 and Business Resilience
• Artificial Intelligence and Future Business Models
• Banking Sector Digital Transformation
• Government Long-Term Planning
• Healthcare Future Scenarios
• Global Supply Chain Disruptions

Learning Methods

• Expert-led presentations
• Interactive workshops
• Group discussions
• Strategic simulations
• Team exercises
• Case studies
• Executive debates
• Individual reflection
• Scenario development labs