Corporate foresight among small- and medium-sized enterprises in forest-based bioeconomy: conceptual framework and empirical evidence from Finland

Empirical evidence on how corporate foresight is conducted in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remains scarce. Our study constructed a practical framework by comparing the theoretical elements of corporate foresight found in existing literature with corporate foresight practices identified in Finnish forest-based bioeconomy SMEs. The empirical part relied on a mixed method approach consisting of interviews with 15 company managers and a complementary questionnaire dataset from 53 representatives of Finnish forest-based SMEs. According to the empirical findings, foresight practices predominantly relate to short-term operational planning conducted within each SME and its business field. However, the findings cannot be generalised to all SMEs due to convenience sampling and the rather low response rate in the survey (11%). Adoption of the proposed corporate foresight framework could help companies recognise the full value of the foresight practices that they are already conducting and facilitate taking steps toward implementing these practices more effectively. Integrating open and collaborative approaches into the longer-term future planning of SMEs can provide alternative insights of futures as opposed to trying to predict the future, thus supporting the reconfigurations of operations and renewal of organisational culture within the uncertain and complex operating environment.