Shaping Strategic Thinking among Geographically Dispersed Stakeholders with the Application of Digital Scenarios

Scenarios have been used effectively over the years as a tool for helping to develop strategies in the face of uncertainty. This investigation involved delivering scenarios online with geographically distributed groups of transportation experts within the Asia-Pacific region and, by using a mixed-methods approach, examined their effectiveness as a way to challenge how participants think about the future. The results show that the perceived usefulness of the digitally delivered scenarios contributed to individual learning that led to a change in mental models, thereby supporting the intended benefits of scenarios to challenge management thinking during the strategy development process. The findings also provide an improved understanding of using digital technologies to engage a wide range of stakeholders in the scenario process who are geographically dispersed and relatively time-poor