About us

The Oxford - Hyundai Motor Group Foresight Centre researches how foresight informs strategy and policy-making.

Our multidisciplinary research team combines academic and business expertise to critically evaluate how taking a broader view of organisational contexts can more effectively inform strategy and policy.

Through active collaboration with senior academics, industry professionals, regulators and policy makers, we are advancing the scholarly understanding of foresight methodologies. We create actionable tools for strategic planning which enable strategists to:

  • question and reframe strategic situations
  • find novel strategy options
  • evaluate existing policies and strategies and plans
  • navigate uncertainty and anticipate futures in an ever-changing turbulent world
  • leverage foresight for better preparedness and innovation
  • scope and use scenario planning more effectively

Our research

The Centre has a remit to conduct research on foresight’s effectiveness based on six distinct high impact themes over a five-year period.

We use the Oxford Scenario Planning Approach to frame our methodology and have already begun applying our academic and industry expertise to rigorously examine the following first two themes.

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Theme one: Longer term mobility futures

  • The roles of software, data and AI
  • Future vehicle types in different settings/geographies
  • Lifestyles beyond fossil fuels and during the transition, and relevant value transformations
  • Futures of commuting (and of the office)
  • Future of cities and of inter-urban transportation
  • Climate change effects and tipping points
  • Futures of relevant regulatory systems, governance and standards
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The Selden Map of China, The Bodleian Library

Theme two: East Asian societal futures

  • Economic growth futures - regional and related to the global economy
  • Futures of business and government relationships within the region and with the wider international community
  • Developments in societal values related to reputation, culture, religion etc
  • Futures of supply chains
  • Impacts of technological changes
  • Climate change effects
  • Demographics (particularly ageing)
  • Mobility trends across Korea, China, Japan and beyond

Our team

Directed by Rafael Ramirez and Trudi Lang, the Centre is situated in the heart of the strategy group at Saïd Business School and uses world-renowned expertise in strategy, management and scenario planning.

  • Rafael Ramirez

    Centre Director, Professor of Practice

  • Trudi Lang

    Centre Co-Director, Associate Professor in Management Practice

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    Judith Facer

    Centre Manager

Recent publications

How ghost scenarios haunt strategy execution
Journal article | MIT Sloan Management Review | 11-10-2023
Trudi Lang, Rafael Ramirez

Strategizing across organizations
Journal article | MIT Sloan Management Review | 6-3-2023
Rafael Ramirez, Trudi Lang, Matthew Finch, Gail Carson, Dale Fisher

The best strategies don't just take a long view. They take a broad view
Journal article | Harvard Business Review | 23-5-2022
Trudi Lang, Richard Whittington

Being and becoming: reconciling the temporal mismatch between organizational identity and strategy by providing identity with a future
Journal article | Strategic Management Review | 31-1-2022
Trudi lang

Getting the most from publicly available scenarios: 5 ways to avoid costly mistakes
Journal article | California Management Review | 29-4-2021
Trudi Lang, Rafael Ramirez

Our partners

The Centre is funded through a generous research sponsorship from Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) comprising Hyundai and Kia.

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