Foresight and Strategic Management

About

This course equips participants with foresight and managerial skills needed to thrive in an uncertain, rapidly changing future. Through a blend of theory and hands-on practice, students will develop the ability to foster resilience and drive innovation in the face of disruption.

The course opens with a deep dive into the concept of foresight—its importance, methods, and applications. Students will work on a real-world assignment, gaining practical experience by applying foresight techniques to concrete organizational challenges. Visits to a partner organization will further enhance participants understanding of real-world factors and dynamics.

Throughout the course, participants build practical skills through mapping organization environments with a focus on systemic understanding of the current situation, and creating trend analysis and horizon scanning to identify emerging patterns and potential disruptions. In interactive sessions, students will design future scenarios and bring them to life by creating "future artefacts."

The course culminates in the development and presentation of a foresight-informed strategy, which students will pitch to the partner organization. The final session shifts the focus to personal foresight and resilience-building, equipping participants with future-oriented skills that are valuable across business, non-profit, and public sector roles.

This programme is designed as a part of our Intensive 2 Week Summer School, where multiple courses from a wide variety of Masaryk University study programmes and departments will be offered. These courses will be arranged in an intensive and dynamic form, each working day there will be an academic session. In the afternoon and evenings students come together from across disciplines to enjoy everything Brno has to offer!

Course leader

Michal Jirásek, Eva Švandová, Renata Čuhlová

Target group

This course is targeted for bachelor and master students with economic background.

Course aim

After completing the course, students will be able to:
- Understand the nature of uncertainty in the modern world
- Apply foresight methods and tools
- Evaluate what different futures would bring for an organization
- Create foresight-informed strategy for an organization

Fee info

The cost breakdowns as follows: Tuition fees; Accommodation in Brno (12-26 July); Breakfast; Orientation; Daily cultural and social activities including welcome and farewell receptions; Saturday trip to one of the local Czech UNESCO sites; 24/7 support. Students should budget an additional €200-500 depending on their spending habits for food (lunch, dinner) and other expenses. Public transport ticket is in additional costs.