Assessing Delphi panel composition for strategic foresight - A comparison of panels based on company-internal and external participants

Decision makers seek advice from others in order to make more accurate decisions, justify these decisions, and share responsibility. The Delphi survey technique finds broad acceptance as a decision support and forecasting tool. Recent research has discussed the composition of Delphi panels and whether company internal or external panelists should be consulted for strategic foresight. We make a contribution to this discussion by investigating whether internal and external participants of Delphi studies lead to differing results and how the differences can be utilized by decision makers. We consider differences that might be inherent not only to quantitative but also to qualitative Delphi data. Results of our research reveal that there are several significant differences between the two panels' evaluations, which lead to varying consultation practices for different strategic purposes.