A continuous‐learning process that updates and enhances planning scenarios

Purpose – This paper aims to describe how, during the period after the scenarios have been sketched out but before the company leadership reaches the strategy‐development or investment‐decision stage, a continuous learning process can help planners and senior decision‐makers identify and track the unfolding events that are most relevant to the challenges and big issues facing their organization. Design/methodology/approach – In the case example, a web‐connected Event, Pattern, Structure (EPS) tool allows all members of a multi‐stakeholder Scenario Planning Steering Group, as well as invited experts, to submit news articles, conference reports, research, scholarly articles and other published information into a database that is organized with links to four scenarios and their driving forces. Findings – As the case demonstrates, an ongoing EPS process related to the scenarios and key drivers can support strategic monitoring of the business environment with the scenarios serving an organizing structure. Practical implications – This continuous learning tool is particularly useful for companies that develop scenarios that evolve over long periods of time, a practice that is usually determined by the investment window or marketing cycle of an organization. Originality/value – Research collected in the EPS system can be used to watch for developments that portend operating‐environment changes. Planners can generate early indicators that signal whether a particular scenario or trends within a scenario are emerging.