Abstract:

This paper is to be a personal memoire with acknowledgements for the title to Iverson and to Alexander, Ishikawa, and Silverstein. It is in no sense a review of SRI's position on either Strategic Planning, or for that matter Market Research. The Institute has been closely connected with both topics almost from its inception, but perhaps the only safe generalisation from that experience is that times change and we must change with them. Before we talk about the future, you must decide if you understand and agree with most of what I am saying about the present. I will not be discussing in any detail the internal process by which SRI develops strategic plans for its own purpose. This is both exhaustive and exhausting. Nor will I discuss the market research commissioned by SRI for its own marketing purposes. This research is mainly informal and small in scope compared with the size of the Group.