Strategy in times of uncertainty

To survive in a context of great uncertainty, companies need to constantly restructure their strategic path, anticipating the environmental changes and adapting their business and organisational models accordingly. But that is not all. Fast-paced and unpredictable environmental transformations also require that strategy be developed in a new way, that is, with logic and tools that enable companies to achieve the agility and speed of decision-making and implementation that is now essential. This chapter is aimed at describing what it means to actually develop a strategy and to do so in a new way. More specifically, the chapter suggests a strategic process framework built around some specific tools that can be used to develop a new and flexible strategic approach able to modify and redefine the strategic path whenever the signals coming from the external environment make it necessary. The tools explored include scenario analysis, contingency plans, sensitivity analysis and continuous challenging of the assumptions underlying plans