TY - JOUR AB - Purpose This study aims to derive a sound definition of strategic thinking by horizontal analysis of past research and discussions with professionals.Design/methodology/approach The research design includes three broad stages: item generation, scale development and assessment of scale’s psychometric properties.Findings The eclectic composition cuts across vocations, religions, sex and age strengthen the flexibility of application of the scale. The resulting scale shows strong psychometric properties and is expected to be useful for academics, practitioners and organizations alike.Research limitations/implications The information on strategic thinking was self-reported through strategic thinking questionnaire (STQ) and is consequently at risk to be influenced by self-bias.Practical implications Using the scale of strategic thinking will empower strategic thinkers to draw a more extensive scope of strategies at all levels. This will additionally bring about higher-quality procedures, increased performance and greater competitive advantage.Social implications The study represents to be an imperative predecessor to strategic decision-making and may give a key to better comprehend authoritative change marvels and at last survival.Originality/value As the sample for our STQ has been collected from all across the country cross-sectioning different culture, gender and position of responsibility, the scale has significant robustness and implicative potential. VL - 20 IS - 3 SN - 1463-6689 DO - 10.1108/FS-10-2017-0059 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/FS-10-2017-0059 AU - Dhir Sanjay AU - Dhir Swati AU - Samanta Payel PY - 2018 Y1 - 2018/01/01 TI - Defining and developing a scale to measure strategic thinking T2 - foresight PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 271 EP - 288 Y2 - 2024/04/25 ER -