Covid-19 and the Oxford scenario planning approach
How to best navigate your organisation through the uncertainty of the Covid-19 outbreak? In this discussion, Andrew White, Associate Dean for Executive Education and Corporate Relations spoke with Rafael Ramirez and Trudi Lang, Director and faculty of the award-winning Oxford Scenarios Programme.
Summary
The Oxford Scenario Planning Approach (OSPA) can offer a way of working methodically through the turbulent, uncertain, novel, and ambiguous conditions associated with Covid-19, a global audience heard.
Prof Rafael Ramirez and Dr Trudi Lang explained how OSPA – already deployed by companies, NGO’s, scientific and inter-governmental organisations – can be successfully applied during a pandemic, if practitioners follow six steps to ensure success.
The panel also discussed which issues might unfold in connection with the coronavirus outbreak. These included changes to globalisation and international supply chains, evolution in the role of the state, changing dynamics between the Eastern and Western world, and the development of new technologies.
During the session, chaired by Andrew White, Associate Dean for Executive Education and Corporate Relations, panellists added that while Covid-19 has had tragic consequences, it could drive innovation, and inform the response to even bigger future crises, such as climate change.
