Responding to the Challenge of True Uncertainty: Stakeholder Sensing and Predictions of Emergent Strategic Issues

We construe a conceptual framework for responding effectively to true uncertainty in the business environment. We drill down to the essential micro-foundational capabilities - sensing and seizing of dynamic capabilities - and link them to classical strategic issue management theory with suggestions on how to operationalize these essential capabilities. By definition true uncertainty represents environmental conditions that are hard to foresee, which can catch the unprepared by surprise while presenting opportunities to the conscious organization. We demonstrate that organizations relying on aggregation of stakeholder sensing and predictions of emergent strategic issues can positively influence the two capabilities and help the firm adapt in the face of uncertainty and unpredictability. Robust measures predicating performance based on information from key stakeholders involved in the firm’s core operations provide faster, more accurate, and updated insights about environmental developments identifying important strategic issues and solutions to them. This provides corporate decision-makers with a proactive tool in the quest for timely and effective strategic responses.