Executive foresight : definitions, illustrations, importance

THE general purpose of this paper is to contribute to a clearer understanding of an executive behavior sometimes, but not always or alone, called "foresight." Through selective utilization of psychological sources as well as other sources probably more familiar to the business executive, certain conceptual steps will be suggested that I believe can fruitfully be taken at this time. Although the focus here is on the business executive, the suggested approach would seem to be equally applicable to the leadership of any organization competing in a rapidly changing environment. In the section on background we will observe that concern with the long-term future is more characteristic of managerial than of psychological literature and that the managerial literature neglects the problems of defining foresight and of individual differences in manner of conceiving the future. BACKGROUND