A structuration approach to scenario praxis

Scenario planning has become a widely used approach for making sense of complexity and uncertainty in turbulent organizational environments. While its early development is rooted primarily in the practitioner world, more recently scholars have been directing attention to its theoretical and methodological presuppositions as they seek to establish rigorous epistemological and ontological axioms that can further advance these methods. In this article we seek to contribute to this lively area of scholarly activity by demonstrating how structuration theory can inform scenario planning by offering a set of concepts that can be used to consistently and systematically analyse future uncertainties within a flexible sociological framework. Structuration theory posits that social systems are reflexively structured through actor–structure interactions over time.

► Scenario planning has become a widely used strategic planning approach. ► Structuration theory offers a consistent set of theoretically-infused concepts. ► Social systems are reflexively structured through actor-structure interactions. ► We build three exploratory scenarios into the healthcare system in Ontario, Canada. ► Our study advances scenario praxis by drawing on structuration concepts.