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The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss possible future pathways of the Finnish science, technology and innovation (STI) system. The paper sketches three speculative pathways for the Finnish STI system.

Theoretical considerations behind the pathways are based on analyses of the determinants and behaviour of small open economies, their innovation systems and governance. The empirical background of the paper is in the current trends of the Finnish economy and STI system. The analysis of pathways is based on three dimensions: institutionalized policy environment and economy, domestic interest groups and policy and STI institutions and funding. Changes in these dimensions are analysed by paying special attention to two variables: the position of the nation state and the general economic development.

The first future pathway outlined is based on an optimistic view by setting Finland on the basis of past success factors as an European and global STI hotspot. The second pathway is based on the assumption that the Finnish STI system will be increasingly subordinated to international structures and decision-making. The third one is geared around the assumption that the Finnish STI system will be dominated by industries.

While Finland has been seen as a European showpiece of innovation since the early 2000s, currently the country’s national economy and STI system are undergoing a critical period. The paper sheds light on this transformation and its potential future outcomes and attempts to raise debate on the options policy makers may face in the increasingly complex global environment in small countries.

The paper introduces potential future avenues for the Finnish STI system and provides a contribution to the debate of the future of small countries’ STI systems and innovation policies by emphasising the limited space of the STI policy choices and how the development paths and space for policy making evolve from the interaction of socio-economic factors between domestic and wider international context.

The purpose of this study is to explore the principal research query and whether strategic foresight deployed by entrepreneurial firms in energy transition aims at crafting future readiness.

With a focus on entrepreneurial firms working in the alternative energy segment in the Indian context, the intent is to examine the deployment of strategic foresight by incumbent firms and their entrepreneurial journey. The authors have adopted the approach of Eisenhardt for this research. The area of interest for the authors entailing strategic foresight by entrepreneurial firms in energy transition aligns with defining features reflecting the aim of Eisenhardt method for this exploratory research coupled with constructivism.

While the future scenarios in the energy sector have to be necessarily multiple, their alignment with different geographic, economic, demographic and political outlooks shall be defined by the pathways niched through the deployment of strategic foresight for arriving at those scenarios.

Strategic foresight deployed by entrepreneurial firms has the potential to create future readiness through self-reliant sustainable economic value chains for local populace, thus propagating holistic development in remote regions.

This paper attempts to knit together the domains of strategic foresight, entrepreneurial firms and energy transition through case research and present the future thinking deployed for navigation in uncharted pathways by capturing the foresight component of these incumbent firms chosen through careful case selection. The narrative has been strengthened by the varied interviews across participants and the observations made by the authors during the research work.

The use of socio-economic scenarios in small island developing states (SIDS) when assessing, and planning for, the impacts of global changes on national socioeconomic and environmental systems is still in its infancy. The research conducts a cross-scale foresight scenario exercise to produce regional scenarios and national storylines for Caribbean islands that are of “partial” consistency to the shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) and representative concentration pathways (RCPs) and shows how future socioeconomic and climatic changes can be applied to inform natural resource management decisions.

To develop the scenarios, the study uses a three-staged linking process using mixed methods to “triangulate” each technique to compensate for weaknesses of one method by introducing a complementary method at each stage. A participatory-expert stepwise approach with feedback loops is used and complemented with a climate sensitive tourism water demand model.

Four regional exploratory socio-economic scenarios were constructed that are partially consistent with global scenarios. In addition, national storylines for four island states were developed based on the regional scenarios. Using RCP 4.5 hotel water demand in Barbados is estimated under three of the regional scenarios based on compatibility. The results indicate there is a 17% difference between the highest and lowest estimated water demand, indicating the effect of varying socio-economic conditions on water demand.

The paper contributes to the literature by presenting regional socio-economic scenarios, specifically for SIDS, that are partially consistent with both global climatic RCPs and SSPs using a cross-scale approach. The scenarios are then used to demonstrate how future socio-economic pathways impact on freshwater demand.

The purpose of this paper is to present findings, based on a report for the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), of the preferred visions, scenarios and strategies of stakeholders articulated at a workshop held in Dubai from November 25 to 26, 2012.

The “six pillars” approach to foresight was used to articulate visions of preferred futures of over 50 international stakeholders, including representatives from the UAE Government, national and international donors, the private sector and leading scientists from universities and international scientific institutions. These visions were then translated into a strategic and business plan for ICBA.

The research center was successfully able to use foresight methods to develop a long-term strategic plan, continuing its history of innovation in knowledge-based research relating to saline and marginal environments. Novel visions and strategies for water and food futures were developed. A risk assessment of each vision was conducted.

This case study presents visions with scenarios and strategic pathways. It illustrates the utility in setting long-term visions first and then linking with strategic plans. Limitations include that the success of such a venture cannot be judged for at least five to six years. While in the short run, resources – human, partnerships, capital and leadership – have been mobilized, it is too soon to gauge real success of the foresight workshop, project.

The study shows links between visions, scenarios and strategic pathways.

The study includes valuable discussions by leading scientists of water and food futures as well as the organizational and leadership capabilities required to deliver alternative futures.

One of the few workshop-oriented interventions in the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA) region using the anticipatory action learning six pillars framework is included. The study contrasts normal expert-based conferencing in the MENA region.

International Journal of Operations and Production Management (IJOPM)'s Impact Pathway (IP) section has been launched in 2020 to host short contributions grounded in current managerial practices and/or policy development, challenging established operations and supply chain management (OSCM) knowledge and highlighting innovative and relevant research directions. This commentary reflects on the achievements of the section, delineates the key features of IP papers and stimulates further development.

This commentary provides a brief overview of the IJOPM's IP section, taking stock of the contributions that have been published so far, analysing their topics, methodologies, insights and impact.

The 19 contributions published over the last three years have dealt with a variety of emerging topics, ranging from the COVID-19 response to additive manufacturing, leveraging on key evidence from managerial practice that challenges consolidated knowledge and theory, providing clear research directions as well as managerial and/or policy guidelines.

The commentary reflects on the importance of phenomenon-driven research that seeks to bridge the gap between theory and practice, thus increasing the impact and reach of OSCM research. This is a call for contributions from scholars, business leaders and policymakers to develop further impact-oriented research.

The massive expansion of digital platform has been responsible for the widespread progressive engagement created amongst learners and educators. The practice of requiring student feedback on online learning services ensures that teacher education continues to advance its strategic approach to online learning. This paper aims to examine the level of accessibility and adaptability of digital technology with particular focus on Malaysia, by elaborating the value of superior learning service and practical adaptability of online learning during the pandemic era.

This study was conducted using qualitative approach of data collection, namely via structured interview. The listed respondents included 30 higher learners who participated in the study by providing feedback on the issues encountered during the research process.

The findings revealed that the strategic enhancement of digital accessibility continued with digital adaptability to sources of learning services would contribute to advancing achievement of digital learning pathway.

Increasing accessibility to digital platforms in digital learning system can help to shape the digital environment. Digital expansion can create unlimited boundaries for online knowledge acquisition.

The social implication refers to acquiring the abilities developed through online engagement with peers by actualising and exploring information together with continuous inter-connectedness of sharing pathway in online platform. The instructor would need to give a proportional gateway to make learners experience the digital environment for future education.

This study aims to assess the value of developing accessibility of digital technology for students' online learning services during the pandemic and beyond. A well-structured plan would enable digital learning capabilities and mutual accessibility amongst learners. This can allow digital abilities to be transformed into collaborative teamwork amongst learners.

The purpose of this study is to identify the pathway that leads to cities to proceeding towards urban sustainability.

This study intends to propose a theoretical analysis on the city as sustainable community that drives urban development adopting a smart vision for urban growth.

Cities as sustainable urban communities develop smartness as a vision for change understanding and developing the potential offered by information technology reinforcing the community by shaping collaborative governance.

Cities using information technology as a source for urban sustainability develop smartness to evolve as smart communities following a managerial and organizational view towards sustainability as a source for continuous innovation and change within urban ecosystem.

Cities identify a sustainability-oriented and community-driven pathway as a vision for continuous change that helps to improve urban competitiveness, innovation and democracy ensuring high quality of life by strengthening the potential offered by technology-enabled and human-centred smartness.

To address lessons that specify the impact and contribution of current scenario methods when focused on facilitating transition management processes.

Comparative literature review based on transition management and scenario development.

Need of further systemic thought about the required criteria of transition scenarios and the embedding of scenario use in transition management processes.

Processes of transition management are in need of transition specific scenarios.

Because transition management implies a complex and long‐term steering paradigm with which current scenario applications are not familiar, conclusions are drawn on the (changing) requirements of scenario development processes in transition management and on the need to innovate current scenario methods in the context of transition management.

The purpose of this chapter is to review the accumulated research on a strategically important intangible asset – organizational reputation – and articulate promising research pathways forward. To do so, I first provide definitional clarity by comparing reputation to the related constructs of status, celebrity, legitimacy, and social approval and highlight the codifiable, cumulative, and beneficial nature of reputation. I then discuss three developments in reputation literature: (1) conceptualizing reputation as a multidimensional, rather than generalized, construct; (2) theorizing about reputational malleability rather than its path dependence; and (3) focusing on the costs of a high reputation in addition to its benefits. Based on these developments and the increasing role of social media in affecting and reflecting stakeholder perceptions, I discuss three pathways for future reputation research. Specifically, I focus on the decrease in credibility of powerful intermediaries and increase in stakeholder empowerment, conceptualization of reputation as a flow rather than a stock, and the role of strategic reticence. My hope is that this chapter will stimulate conceptual and empirical work on the role of reputation in the complex and dynamic era of social media.

The purpose of this paper is, firstly, to review existing schools of thought and to identify present research fields in new service development (NSD) and service innovation research, and, secondly, to discuss future research opportunities.

The literature review is based on a search for “service innovation” and “NSD” in titles, abstracts and keywords of articles. As a result of looking at the references, as well as through analysis of papers which cite the articles identified, additional publications are included in this study.

Four schools of thought and five distinct research fields are presented. Herein, the authors show that there is a lack of studies of organisational innovations, and that differences in the drivers for radical or incremental innovations may be of degree rather than of kind. Further, contradictory results in the research field on differences versus similarities of new product and NSD are identified. In addition, the authors propose possible pathways for future research for each research field and school of thought.

The scope of publications included in this review may be subject to criticism as book‐publications may be under‐represented in this review. Also, the keywords used for the initial search could include additional words.

The paper groups previously scattered research activities from various backgrounds such as marketing and operations into distinct research fields, and presents both the status quo and a discussion of possible directions for future research.