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Five Strategic Foresight Tools to Enhance Business Model Innovation

Teaching

Article · June 2019

DOI: 10.5278/ojs.jbm.v7i3.2637

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 Journal of Business Models (2019), Vol. 7, No. 3,

Five Strategic Foresight Tools to Enhance Business Model

Innovation Teaching
Matthew J. Spaniol1,2*, Christiana Bidmon1,2, Anna B. Holm1,2, René Rohrbeck1,2

Abstract
We discuss our lessons from 8 years of teaching business model
innovation to executives in our part-time MBA program. We ex-
amine how strategic foresight tools are particularly useful to help
students to overcome the cognitive bounds that inhibit business
model innovation and discuss the considerations of using student-
owned live cases.

Keywords: Strategic foresight; business model innovation; MBA teaching; live cases; cognitive bounds
Please cite this paper as: Spaniol et al. (2019), Five strategic foresight tools to enhance business model innovation teaching, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 1-12

1 Department of Management, Aarhus BSS, Denmark

2 Strategic Foresight Research Network
*Corresponding author

Acknowledgements: Matthew J. Spaniol is supported by EU-Interreg PERISCOPE Project, Grant/Award Number: J-No.: 38-2-13-17.
 Journal of Business Models (2019), Vol. 7, No. 3,

Introduction Research has established that business models must

This paper reflects upon 8 years of teaching business be “changed, refined and innovated on a systematic
model innovation (BMI) to executives in the part-time basis if companies aim to survive and stay competi-
MBA program at Aarhus BSS. Executives who return tive over time” (Nielsen et al., 2019: 9) However, path
to the classroom for part-time MBA education are dif- dependencies and lock-in effects make it difficult for
ferent from other business school students. They have executives to detect the need to explore new business
accumulated on-the-job experience, have gained in- models and implement the necessary changes in their
depth knowledge of their industries, and thoroughly organizations (Tripsas and Gavetti, 2000; Chesbrough,
comprehend the business models of their organiza- 2010; DaSilva and Trkman, 2014). For example, manag-
tions (Garvin, 2007). For teachers, this provides oppor- ers fear negative consequences for their current busi-
tunities for deeper discussions of the subject matter. nesses and are hesitant to move away from business
For example, in our part-time MBA course on BMI, we models that still yield profitable returns (e.g. Ches-
use live cases from students’ organizations to apply the brough, 2010; Günzel & Holm, 2013; Sosna, Trevinyo-
lessons. These discussions are motivating and reward- Rodríguez, & Velamuri, 2010). Research on strategic
ing for students. In fact, many students sign up for the decision-making, and strategic foresight in particular,
course because they are concerned about the future has provided further explanations for the origin of such
performance potential of their organizations’ business managerial resistance. Gavetti (2012) describes three
models. However, teaching BMI to executives is not obstacles that managers must overcome to detect and
without challenges. Having worked in their organiza- exploit new business opportunities:
tions for years, such students have often developed
hardened cognitive frames that make it challenging to • The rationality bound results from dominant rep-
see how their business model could be different. “This resentations shared across an industry or sector:
would never work in my organization” is a common Managers attend to the world around them and fail
remark that teachers encounter. to recognize more distant and radically innovative
business opportunities.
In our teaching approach, we have therefore decided to • The plasticity bound results from inertia, which
equip students with the tools and methods of strate- can have cognitive or physical roots: Firms might
gic foresight to systematically reduce cognitive bounds fail to act on opportunities because they fail to see
to BMI. Strategic foresight is particularly suitable for how they could, or they might lack the resources or
this task, given its focus on learning, exploring uncer- capabilities to address a new opportunity.
tainty, and decision making (Vecchiato, 2012; Rhisiart, • The shaping-ability bound describes the inability to
Miller and Brooks, 2015). Strategic foresight provides a legitimize needed action: Managers fail to secure
rich toolbox for identifying, observing, and interpreting, the necessary buy-in of stakeholders, such as board
the factors that induce change; determining possible members or investors, on a new course of action.
organization-specific implications; and triggering appro-
priate responses (Voros, 2003; Rohrbeck, Battistella and Overcoming these bounds in the minds of our execu-
Huizingh, 2015). Strategic foresight methods and pro- tive students motivates the curriculum design for the
cesses are generally aimed at (1) identifying key factors BMI course at Aarhus BSS. In the following section,
that drive change in an organization’s environment, (2) we describe our course’s structural setup and intro-
simulating and understanding the impact of potential duce five strategic foresight methods that, in our
futures, and (3) deriving actions that can improve an experience, have proven to be particularly helpful for
organization’s long-term competitiveness. Examples of overcoming executives’ cognitive bounds to BMI. We
strategic foresight methods include trend audits, sce- limit our discussion to these lesser-known tools, and,
nario planning, backcasting, and roadmapping (Popper, to the likely dissatisfaction of many readers, make
2008; Gordon, 2010; Rohrbeck, 2013; Spaniol and Row- mere mention of the more established tools and
land, 2019). By including such methods, we aim to over- techniques, such as dual BMs and BM roadmapping
come executives’ cognitive bounds to BMI. (Markides and Charitou, 2004; De Reuver, Bouwman
 Journal of Business Models (2019), Vol. 7, No. 3,

and Haaker, 2013). We conclude with a few reflections BM complete the first in-class module. Days 3 and 4
on the feasibility of our approach in other settings. are designed to expand the innovation toolbox and
identify creative solutions for BM challenges. Here, we
use additional SF tools, namely science fiction, design
thinking, and forecasting future markets, to explain
Course Context and Structure how to create quantitative estimates about market
Our part-time MBA students are typically middle-level
sizes in the future. On the last day, students learn how
managers in their 40s preparing for upper-manage-
to evaluate BMs, work with dual business models, and
ment roles. The primary reason they choose the BMI
prepare for implementation. Figure 1 below shows the
course is the search for knowledge, approaches, and
structure of the course.
tools to solve strategic challenges and lead change
efforts in their organizations. Consequently, our BMI On the first day of in-class teaching, the class is divided
course is designed to achieve three core learning into groups of 4–6 students and each student is asked
outcomes: (1) Being able to describe and assess any to describe their employing organizations’ business
business model using systematic tools, (2) making model to the group. Students then select one group
cognitive leaps towards novel business models, and (3) member’s organization to serve as the live case that
ensuring transferability—that participants can select they will work on for the duration of the semester.
from across a portfolio of tools and apply the appropri- Groups are checked to avoid that colleagues or stu-
ate ones to overcome the three cognitive bounds and dents from competitor organizations are together and
drive BMI in their organizations. to ensure a diversity of backgrounds. We ensure that
the cases selected are neither those of CEOs – as they
The BMI course is a semester-long elective that are already in highly bounded role – nor are those of
includes in-class instruction modules at the beginning start-up organizations, because the cognitive bounds
and end of the course. Each module lasts 2 days, and may not have been sufficiently hardened. The case
class sizes range from 15 to 30 participants. Day 1 draws “owner” serves as an authority and proxy for applica-
from Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010), supplemented tion simulation, and the information she or he provides
with discussion on the importance of creating strong forms the platform for applying the methods and tools
narratives about a company’s BM.[INSERT FOOTNOTE that the group members learn throughout the course.
1 HERE] Day 2 introduces, demonstrates, and has stu- It is within this particularly challenging environment of
dents work with two strategic foresight (SF) tools, the student-owned live cases that the strategic foresight
trend audit and stress test, to identify weaknesses in methods must overcome cognitive bounds, break away
current business models. The principles of innovating from path dependency, and unstick cognitive inertia.

Figure 1: Course structure

 Journal of Business Models (2019), Vol. 7, No. 3,

The group must produce a report of no more than fif- of the project depends heavily on the suitability of the
teen pages that consists of three parts: (1) A description live case. The main two criteria for choosing a case are
and stress test of the current business model, (2) pro- that it has a medium level of complexity and that it
posed innovations to the business model, and (3) a tran- is possible to identify a clear value proposition and
sition plan for implementation. Students are provided customer(s). We prefer to include both for-profit and
with a template to guide the project work for the next non-profit/governmental cases to broaden in-class
two months. The 2-month project phase is split into 9 discussions and deepen the learning outcomes. Stu-
steps. The first three steps (describe and analyse, trend dents are, as a consequence, better prepared to use
audit, and stress test) produce three outputs: (1) The the methods and tools in different contexts and can
current BM represented as a canvas and a narrative, (2) comprehensively reflect on their application and use-
a list of stress factors, and (3) a stress test map. Each fulness. Below, we elaborate on the five strategic fore-
group’s output is presented to- and reviewed by- the sight methods that are taught in the class and explain
instructor(s) in a 1-hour session. Steps 5-7 (innovate, how they are applied for BMI.
describe future BM, propose transition plan) occupy the
students for the following 4 weeks, with each partici-
pant allocating 20–25 hours to the project.
Five Strategic Foresight Tools
To improve the knowledge of other students’ cases Applied to Business Modelling
and to intensify reflection on the assignment, the out- The five strategic foresight tools that we use are based
put from these steps is added to the first part of the on our experiences as instructors, and play a crucial role in
project, and the whole project is subjected to a peer- expanding the solution space that participants consider
feedback review in which comments and suggestions when innovating their business models. Collectively,
for improvement are provided by individual students they aim to overcome the cognitive bounds associated
based on a rubric provided by the instructors (Reinholz, with the failure to change BMs—the rationality, plastic-
2016). The peer-feedback criteria include transparency ity, and shaping-ability bounds (see Table 1).
in the description of the current BM, analysis of chal-
lenges, convincing new value proposition, consistency Trend audit (assessment)
of new BM, feasibility of development and transition To execute the trend audit, groups are tasked to iden-
plan, clarity of report, and overall feasibility of the pro- tify 3–5 trends that are driving change in the larger
posed BMI. industry or sector in which the case is situated. The
challenge here is to look beyond the scope of the cur-
Following peer feedback, a final 1-hour review ses- rent business, by anticipating 3 or more years into the
sion with the instructors completes the project work. future. After a brainstorming session to create a list of
To intensify the learning experience of defending the candidate trends, those that are deemed particularly
new BM, we often invite colleagues of the case owner important to the business model are selected and sub-
or external case providers to join the review sessions, jected to a “trend audit” that consists of four questions
i.e. Steps 4 and 9. (Gordon, 2010):

During the second two-day in-class module, an instruc- • What are the driving forces that create and sustain
tor delivers a “best of” presentation that consists of a the trend?
compilation of elements (images) selected from across • What enables, catalyses, or supports the drivers of
the interim reports of all groups in an attempt to “raise the trend?
the bar” of the expected quality of the final reports. • What inadvertently stands in the way of the trend,
slowing it down?
While instruction is concentrated during the four • What or who is working to actively block the trend?
teaching days, the main learning outcomes—and the
knowledge transfer in particular—are realized through The trend of digitalisation, for example, can be thought
the group project. We have observed that the success of as driven by the human need for social connection and
 Journal of Business Models (2019), Vol. 7, No. 3,

pressures to increase productivity; these may encounter discussion on how the pending failure of the BM can be
friction in the form of legacy software and dominant linked to individual building blocks.
products in the market. Counter-cultural movements to
urge people offline also work against this trend. Science fiction
In this step, we use science fiction vignettes, images,
The trend audit establishes an understanding of the and states of the future to help students think through
complexity inherent in the larger contextual environ- radically different frames. They may be dystopian or
ment in which the case, in a first attempt to persuade utopian in nature and often involve an exaggeration of
students to embrace a wider perspective on external current technological capabilities. These images chal-
forces that will shape the BM in the future. The trend lenge the status quo and current mental models by
audit provides the material and shared language to inciting fear or optimism, and reframe our conceptual-
construct and make explicit hypothetical statements ization of “how things work” (Peper, 2017).
about futures (Rowland and Spaniol, 2015).
In class, examples of technological innovation sparked
Business model stress testing by science fiction novels are given, and students are lec-
To stress-test the current business model, we apply an tured on the power of storytelling and imagining one-
approach loosely based on Haaker, Bouwman, Janssen, self in a distant reality. A group exercise is undertaken
and de Reuver (2017) that assesses a BM’s robustness to create a business model for a problem described for
in the medium term (5 years) and in the long term (10 a fictitious future society. We use passages from sci-
years). Groups are tasked to assess how each building ence fiction novels and invite students to prototype
block would perform under the conditions of the trends a business model for a future use case (Schwarz and
(stress factors) that they identified as being salient to Liebl, 2013).
their case. Students assign colours to BM elements
that reflect the viability, or the “level of stress”, that Science fictioning broadens students’ horizons and
affects the BM elements. This results in a visualization search scope, allowing them to move outside exist-
that shows how the current, well-functioning business ing mental frames, and lays the foundation for non-
model will increasingly fail as trends unfold their dis- incremental innovation. The utility of a mobile phone
ruptive force (see Figure 2 below). that allows the captain of the Star Trek ship Enter-
prise to stay in contact with his crew when he is on
The output from the stress test creates a sense of another planet is obvious to fans. In organizations,
urgency, which, in a real situation, is imperative to cre- these science-fiction inspired visions can play the role
ate buy-in among upper management and other rel- of powerful catalysts that consolidate and refines BMI
evant stakeholders. In class, it allows group members initiatives across technical and marketing units, as
to consolidate complex discussions about the robust- well as top management. In other words, science fic-
ness of their existing BM. It also facilitates a focused tion, strategic foresight, and BMI can be brought into

Figure 2: Exemplary output of the BM stress testing

 Journal of Business Models (2019), Vol. 7, No. 3,

a mutually reinforcing relationship through this tech- cover all plausible futures and that they are sufficiently
nique (Zaidi, 2017). distinct from the status quo without becoming unre-
alistic (van der Heijden, 2005). Again, we leverage out-
puts from the trend audit and identify branching points
in the trends that could result in different outcomes
and implications. Different outcomes from multiple
trends are combined to provide base elements from
which the scenarios can be constructed (see also Van
der Heijden, 1996).

Wind-tunnelling is undertaken in a role-play activity in

which one advocate explains why the BM will perform
well in a given scenario, and the other team members
explain how and where failure might occur. This can
be seen as a lean version of scenario-based business
wargaming (Schwarz, Ram and Rohrbeck, 2018). This
is repeated for each scenario while changing the roles
Forecasting future markets
of advocates and adversaries, who act as stand-ins for
The forecasting future markets block teaches students
management, investors, and colleagues in the case
how to create quantitative estimates about market
organization. This process provides a time-efficient to
sizes. The groups are tasked with forecasting the com-
check on the robustness of a BM under various condi-
mercial viability of business models by first creating a
tions and from various perspectives.
value formula and estimating the values for the vari-
ables. We explain different approaches to estimate cal-
culations (e.g. Fermi’s approximate calculation of the
number of piano tuners in Chicago) and various ways of Discussion and Conclusion
running estimate calculations (top-down, bottom-up, One of the major obstacles in BMI is the difficulty of
and explicit estimates). We aggregate these calcula- breaking free from cognitive bounds due to manag-
tions using the principle of triangulation to produce to ers’ deep embeddedness in the daily life of the existing
a future market forecast. In the classroom, groups work organizations and their business model logic (Gavetti,
to forecast the market for a fictitious product before its 2012). Even when managers are confronted with the
launch in Europe, after which the groups compare their task of BMI in the relatively safe environment of an
market potential estimates (in number of sold units). MBA class, they find it difficult to move beyond obvious
As a result, they are equipped with a method for mak- rationalizations. This state of cognitive lock-in, or cogni-
ing assumptions and forecasting the future market tive inertia, is clearly observed by the course instructors
potential of their project’s new business model. in those students working on the cases from their own
organizations. Managers’ hardened cognitive frames
BM Wind-Tunnelling make it difficult to evolve beyond their current business
Strategic wind-tunnelling builds upon, but goes models and ideate novel business models. In real-life
beyond, the stress test. The metaphor comes from the situations, this also prevents managers from overcom-
testing of plane designs in controlled environments— ing the threefold cognitive bounds (Gavetti, 2012). One
in front of a large fan—where wind and other weather design principle of the course is the use of visualizations
conditions are blasted at a prototype until the wings that can be expected to help in collaboration, but are also
fall off or other structural failures occur. associated with decreased creativity and willingness to
adopt new BMI ideas (Eppler and Hoffmann, 2012). We
Wind-tunnelling requires a set of scenarios, each of therefore also adopted a second design principle to apply
which describes a different future state of the oper- strategic foresight tools where creativity and out-of-
ating environment. It is important that the scenarios the-box thinking are particularly necessary. The impact
 Journal of Business Models (2019), Vol. 7, No. 3,

Impact on Bound*

Tool Purpose RB PB SAB Learning Outcome

Trend audit Increase awareness of the need  Learn how to systematically scan the
to change the current business environment for changes and assess their
model impact on BMs
Stress testing Assess the impact of trends on  Learn how to use visualizations to help
the current BM and the robust- decision-making
ness of the new BM
Science fiction Open students’ perspective and  Learn how to use mental images to induce
broaden the solution scope change and motivation to move
Forecasting future Reduce anxiety related to having  Learn how to develop estimates quickly
market potential to develop fully-fledged business and systematically enhance forecast
plans quality
Strategic Engage the leadership team in   Learn how to use novel tools in a decision-
wind-tunnelling checking the robustness of BMs making arena

*RB= Rationality Bound; PB= Plasticity Bound; SAB= Shaping-Ability Bound

Table 1: Summary of Strategic Foresight Tools and Their Impact

of the SF tools on cognitive bounds and learning out- suspend their disbelief for the sake of the group and
comes is summarized in Table 1. to complete the assignment, regardless of whether the
actual BMI will be implemented. The challenge of over-
Unlike other approaches, strategic foresight provides a coming mental models is aggravated by using student-
toolbox of methods that can be expected to broaden owned live cases. However, we still prefer to present
the solution-search scope and offer a systematic this challenge in the classroom rather than leaving it
framework for exploring distant strategic options to the participants to attempt implementation alone
(Gavetti and Menon, 2016; Lehr et al., 2017). They com- when back in their organizations.
plement the classic BMI tools of design thinking and
the use of analogies, and are guided by instructors in For students who are working on other students’ live
the knowledge transfer process to enhance the like- cases, it is important to provide space to envision and
lihood of successful implementation. We therefore plan how implementation could happen in their own
foresee the continued combination of various BMI organizations. By making their anticipated difficulties
tools with future-oriented strategizing approaches to explicit in plenum, students can exchange implemen-
expand the BMI horizons and cut across BMI process tation ideas to which the instructor can provide guid-
phases to have a bigger impact on strategy develop- ance. At the end, instructors pose questions to the
ment in general (Wirtz and Daiser, 2018). class to foster reflection for increasing the likelihood of
successful implementation, such as:
Over the years, we have also learned that groups with
complex cases (e.g. regulated industries, high-tech ser- • Which tools will (and will not) be attempted;
vice providers with interrelated offers, and governmen- • Why (why not);
tal agencies) face more difficulties than groups with • When (and when might timing be suitable); and
easier cases, such as a company that manufactures • Who (and who not) to include.
one consumer product or provides a single service.
With difficult cases, executive students often need For the oral exam, students are asked to start with a
to be urged during the process or sparring sessions to five-minute reflection, and many of them choose to
 Journal of Business Models (2019), Vol. 7, No. 3,

reflect on such implementation considerations in their

organizations.

We would, however, advise teachers to reflect carefully

on the feasibility of running these exercises with stu-
dents who have no prior work experience. Another con-
sideration is that our propositions might work best for
smaller classes or classes where the primary teacher
is supported by teaching assistants. Interim reports,
sparring sessions, and clear guidelines on how to struc-
ture group reports have proven to be fundamental
for success of the course—because not only the tools
and techniques are foreign, but also because students
appreciate the attention and the instructor can address
any problems the students face. Additionally, the in-
class facilitation skills of the instructor(s) are impor-
tant to ensuring the correct use of foresight methods
(Rohrbeck, 2014; Rowland and Spaniol, 2017). Thus,
we recommended this approach in settings and struc-
tures where instructor(s) are acquainted with strategic
foresight methods and have the opportunity to work
closely with the groups throughout the course.

Our motivation to incorporate foresight into BMI teach-

ing stem from the experience of teaching MBA stu-
dents and executives. However, what we described in
this article may not be limited to this audience. Stra-
tegic foresight tools have emerged and matured in
practice before their assignation by academics to the
rational, evolutionary, processual, or other paradigm of
strategic management, where the tools serve to medi-
ate and discipline strategic conversations (Lehr et al.,
2017). Our aspiration is not only that learning takes
place in the classroom, but that students put the tools
to work in their organizations to create better strate-
gies. As we move forward, we are delighted when past
students return to us with their BMI success stories,
which we proudly present to the newest cohort.

1
Here we use the video of Charles Baden-Fuller,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AB1s4pc48k
 Journal of Business Models (2019), Vol. 7, No. 3,

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 Journal of Business Models (2019), Vol. 7, No. 3,

About the Authors

Matthew J. Spaniol is a Postdoctoral fellow

at Aarhus BSS, where he manages the PERI-
SCOPE project, an EU-Interreg collaboration
using open foresight to catalyze business
model innovation and entrepreneurial discov-
ery in the maritime, marine, and ocean econ-
omies. He completed his PhD dissertation,
“Scenario Planning in Practice: Empirical Phi-
losophy, Social Foundation, Paradox, and Defi-
nitions” in 2017. He is from the United States
of America.

Christina M. Bidmon is a PhD candidate at

Aarhus BSS, Aarhus University, where she
works within the Strategic Foresight Research
Network. Her research interests include the
emergence of novelty in incumbent organi-
zations, sustainability-driven innovation, and
business modelling.
 Journal of Business Models (2019), Vol. 7, No. 3,

About the Authors

Anna B. Holm is Associate Professor at the

Department of Management, Aarhus Univer-
sity, Denmark. She holds a PhD (2010) in orga-
nization and management theory from Aarhus
University, and an MBA (1995) from the Brad-
ford University School of Management, UK.
Her research areas include virtual organizing,
business model design and innovation, and
media management. Prior to her academic
career, Anna worked for over a decade as busi-
ness development consultant and in various
managerial positions in industry.

René Rohrbeck is Professor of Strategy and

Associate Dean for Corporate Relations at
Aarhus BSS, Aarhus University. He leads the
Strategic Foresight Research Network that
develops methods for participatory foresight
and scenario-based strategizing and runs reg-
ular benchmarking studies.

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