The evolving role of organisational foresight: Implications for the food service industry

This article examines the evolving role of organisational foresight (OF), by integrating economics of innovation and managerial economics perspectives. The analysis investigates the interplay between foresight practices, coordination of routines and innovation, and how OF can be adopted to address mounting environmental and social challenges in the underexplored context of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) of the food service industry (FSI). Hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling on data collected from 204 managers of Brazilian FSI firms via an online questionnaire, complemented by a subsequent qualitative investigation. The results reveal that OF positively affects coordination of routines and innovation of firms. Innovation also positively affects green corporate social responsibility (GCSR) and sustainable performance (SP) of firms. Coordination of routines plays a mediating role that strengthens the association between OF and innovation. Furthermore, innovation mediates the relationship between OF and GCSR, as well as between OF and SP. In the context of FSI SMEs, foresight appears as a more informal, experiential sense-making capability. Although OF is a systematic process of thinking strategically about the future, OF per se is not enough. Firms should integrate a selection of dynamic capabilities into OF to strengthen their innovation, GCSR, and sustainable performance. The formalisation of additional management capabilities related to the coordination of routines, can make this process more effective. OF can shift from a theoretical exercise towards more socially- and environmentally-oriented actions which should be embedded into the culture of FSI firms.