Class Outline

Dates and Classes

October 28 - Session 1 - J1-50
November 4 - Session 2 - J1-33
November 11 - Session 3 - J1-33
November 18 - Session 4 - J1-33
November 25 - Session 5 - J1-33 (possible Van Gogh Session) -> moved to Friday 26 November
December 2 - Session 6 - J1-33
December 9 - Session 7 - J1-33
December 16 - Session 8 - J1-33

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Part 1- Creating Frameworks for Analysis

What can we expect from "the future"? What will happen to the Internet, business, our society in the next few years? How, why does one structure research on the future?

Session 1:
Theme: Scenario Thinking Introducing Scenario Thinking (Session 1 Class Notes)
Group Assignment:

1. Read through the previous year's scenario work (some of the links are dead, but most of them work)  final reports (click on scenario thinking, then on student projects  Each person should read 2 scenarios
2. As a group then rank them from best to worst with your reasons why.
3. The goal is to build insight into what are good and bad scenarios, learn from the past, and understand where whe are going to. (the past big set made by the whole class is the Future of the Information Society
4. Post your ranking and reasons why on the Scenario Quality Ranking page before 4 November

Post Class Required Reading:

 1. Scenarios Shooting the Rapids (Whack)
 2. Scenarios, Uncharted Waters Ahead (Wack)
 3. Strategic Thinking with Scenarios (IDON)
 4. A new language for strategy (Erasmus)
 5. Bridging Strategic Divides (Erasmus)

Session 2:
Theme: Storytelling The role of stories in creating organisational reality. How storytelling is important to scenario practice. Using cases from country level scenarios in East Africa (Tanzania, Uganda and Kenia)
Guest Speaker: Barbara Heinzen Scenarios in the public sphere

Session 3:
Theme: Thinking in Systems History of Systems Thinking, non-linearity, co-creation, open ended systems, connecting the driving forces in systems diagrams Theme: Drivers of a Digital Age Workshop: The Beer Game Guest Speaker: Paul de Ruijter

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Part 2 - Contextual Changes

What are the big questions that affect the development of the Internet and business? Are we to keep accelerating business and try to run and so called "Internet speed"? This part is to stand back, see the big picture, ask the big questions and understand what are the major Internet developments.

How will mobile commerce change the Internet? What is the position of governments, privacy, auctions, intelligent agents, etc. in this new economy?

Session 4:
Theme: Internet and Society Using McLuhan to think about what is happening to the world. Societal Implications of the Internet, Knowledge Networks, Truth, Trust, Netwar, Conflict Models, Post Capitalism, In vs OutGlobal Teenager, Disintermediarisation, Control of Cyberspace, State of the Internet, Role of the Internet Society, etc. Reader: The Economy of Ideas, McLuhan (Medium is the Message) Video: McLuhan's Wake

Session 5:
Theme: Identity and the Internet Case: Van Gogh Museum, exploring how virtuality can be used to create new identities and shape the power relationships by contrasting two sites developed for the Museum.

Session 6:
Theme: The New New Thing (technologies shaping the web now and in the future) New Technologies/ Web Site Creation Dynamic Web page, back office databases, XML, Java, JINI, Mobile IP, WAP, GPRS , Artificial Agents, etc.

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Part 3 - Converging to Scenarios and Strategy

Develop scenarios and strategies on the future of mobile commerce and other issues. You can look at all the last years final reports final reports (click on scenario thinking, then on student projects to get insight into what we shall be doing.

Session 7:
Theme: Critical View of the Scenarios Workshop: Interim presentation of the scenarios developed. Critical report on the strengths and weaknesses of each set.

Session 8:
Dinner at the RSM: Final presentations of scenarios with invited guests.