Background: Foresight is a vague concept with several definitions. There is barely any existing practical evidence of how it should be conducted or what effect it could have on a company’s performance. Due to the lack of research done, a study within the field was justified. Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to investigate and measure if, and how, foresight practices influence company’s financial performance. Method and theory: A theoretical framework was established in order to compile knowledge about the field. These theories were used as a basis for upcoming in-depth interviews. To make foresight measureable the foresight maturity model was applied in order to assess the company’s foresight practices and to compare it with financial performance. The financial performance was assessed by doing an archival analysis on the company’s annual reports. Findings: The study indicated that foresight practices were limited within the studied companies. However, all the companies used it to some extent. Conclusion: The practices of foresight are greatly contextual and a clear relationship between how the foresight practices affect financial performance is difficult to map out and is need of further research. Tendencies of foresight practices influencing financial performance were however noticed. These tendencies indicated that there is a positive relationship between foresight practices and financial performance.

Studies show that the average lifespan of large companies is decreasing and that companies of today face a higher degree of market-saturation caused by globalization. In order for companies to stay alive, they need to scan for trends outside their business scope, which can be done by adopting corporate foresight. This thesis investigates the uniqueness of corporate foresight in large Swedish companies when compared to a European sample. The focus lies on measuring differences with regards to need, capabilities and maturity of corporate foresight. This thesis establishes that there is an ever-growing interest in studying corporate foresight from a Swedish perspective due to the high rate of innovation in the country. Based on a theoretical framework, a method is established for measuring the three main dimensions of need, capabilities and maturity. The data for the Swedish companies is empirical data from 11 Swedish companies gathered using a survey provided by the collaborator Rohrbeck Heger GmbH. The Swedish data is then compared to a European sample by using an existing database. Through the use of a quantitative method with two statistical tests, one non-parametric test (Mann-Whitney U-test) and one parametric test (Welch’s t-test), several interesting differences were found. For need, it was found that Swedish firms act in a less dynamic environment than its European counterparts, but that Swedish firms’ environment is more complex. For capabilities, Swedish firms have stronger internal capabilities with regards to culture, method sophistication and information usage. Finally, for maturity, Swedish firms have stronger perceiving abilities but weaker prospecting abilities than European firms. In summary, it is not possible to say that the overall need or maturity with regards to corporate foresight is greater or more advanced for Swedish firms. However, a conclusion is that Swedish firms have stronger capabilities for corporate foresight than its European counterparts. / Studier visar att genomsnittslivstiden för stora bolag minskar, samt att dagens företag möter en högre grad av marknadsmättnad orsakad av globalisering. För att företag ska överleva behöver de skanna efter trender utanför deras nuvarande verksamhet, vilket kan göras genom att arbeta med affärsförutseende. I detta examensarbete undersöks unika egenskaper gällande affärsförutseende i stora svenska bolag jämfört med stora europeiska bolag. Fokus ligger i att mäta skillnaderna i behov, färdigheter samt mognadsgrad av affärsförutseende. Detta examensarbete konstaterar genom flertalet källor att intresset och behovet av att utforska affärsförutseende för svenska bolag finns, eftersom Sverige är ett av världens mest innovativa länder. Från litteraturstudien etableras en metod för att mäta nivåer på de tre dimensionerna behov, färdigheter samt mognadsgrad. Empirisk data har samlats in på 11 stora svenska bolag genom en enkätbaserad intervju, där tillgång har erhållits till en granskad enkät genom samarbetspartnern Rohrbeck Heger GmbH, samt tillgång till deras databas med europeiska bolag. Den svenska datan jämförs därefter mot ett europeiskt dataset, där en kvantitativ metod används för att jämföra dessa grupper; ett icke-parametriskt test (Mann-Whitney U-test) samt ett parametriskt test (Welch’s t-test). Genom dessa tester erhålls flera intressanta skillnader mellan svenska och europeiska bolag. Gällande behov, visade resultatet att svenska bolag har ett lägre dynamiskt affärsklimat, men där affärsklimatet är mer komplext. Gällande färdigheter skiljer sig svenska bolag på de interna färdigheterna kultur, metodraffinering samt informationsanvändning. Slutligen, gällande mognadsgrad för affärsförutseende, är svenska bolag starkare på att uppfatta trender men svagare på att analysera trender. Sammanfattningsvis är det inte möjligt att dra någon slutsats överlag huruvida behov och mognadsgrad gällande affärsförutseende är mer avancerat bland svenska bolag. Däremot kan slutsatsen dras att svenska bolag har starkare färdigheter för affärsförutseende än dess europeiska motsvarigheter.