Managing risk in a new telecommunications service development process through a scenario planning approach

Managing risk in a new product and service development process is one of the major challenges for many business managers. A scenario planning approach was incorporated into a new telecommunications service development process in order to understand the uncertainties shaping the future economic, business and technological environments. Understanding the major drivers for uncertainties helped in gaining insight and thereby generated new strategies for reducing risks and taking advantage of opportunities from uncertainty. In order to demonstrate the process and value of the approach, it was applied to a new telecommunications service concept, the Phoneweb service, which allows Internet access through telephones rather than a computer interface.