The essence of scenarios : learning from the Shell experience / Angela Wilkinson and Roland Kupers.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wilkinson, Angela, author.

Kupers, Roland, 1959- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij.

Strategic planning.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (168 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In 1965, Royal Dutch Shell started experimenting with a new approach to preparing for the future. This approach, called scenario planning, eschewed forecasting in favor of plausible alternative stories. By using stories, or 'scenarios,' Shell aimed to avoid the false assumption that the future would look much like the present - an assumption that marred most corporate planning at the time. The Essence of Scenarios offers unmatched insight into the company's innovative practice, which still has a huge influence on the way businesses, governments, and other organizations think about and plan for the future. In the course of their research, Angela Wilkinson and Roland Kupers interviewed almost every living veteran of the Shell scenario planning operation, along with many top Shell executives from later periods. Drawing on these interviews, the authors identify several principles that characterize the Shell process and explain how it has survived and thrived for so long. They also enumerate the qualities of successful Shell scenarios, which above all must be plausible stories with logical trajectories. Ultimately, Wilkinson and Kupers demonstrate the value of scenario planning as a sustained practice, rather than as a one-off exercise.

Contents:

Front matter

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface / Ho, Peter

Introduction: The "Gentle Art"

Sources

I. A Unique Legacy

II. Shell Scenarios - A History, 1965-2013

III. The Essence of the Shell Art

IV. Looking Ahead

V. Conclusion

Epilogue: Scenario Team Leaders

Afterword

Appendix A - Timeline

Appendix B - Summary of Scenarios

Index

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 22 Feb 2021).

ISBN:

1-04-077323-0

1-003-70604-5

1-04-078194-2

90-485-2209-9

9781003706045

OCLC:

880148071