Scenario planning, strategic practice and top management team hyperopia

Hyperopia – or long-sightedness – describes a capacity to focus with acuity on that which is far off whilst experiencing deficiencies in interpreting and acting on that which is close at hand. We surface insights into the under-researched topic of hyperopic top management team (TMT) strategic practice and seek to better understand influences on and between hyperopia and TMT scenario planning approaches. We present empirical findings from a contemporary case where scenario planning practices are used extensively by the TMT. We also critically review an analogous historical case of hyperopic TMT strategic practice in a comparable sectoral context. Our findings suggest that the business impacts of hyperopia might be masked by munificent institutional conditions but as these conditions evolve, damaging effects of hyperopic strategic practice might be experienced. We also argue that further research is required to elaborate the relationship between TMT hyperopia and an over-reliance on scenario planning practices.