Importance of Intelligence for Strategic Scenario Building: The Information Section Role in Research and Development

Product development of Japanese companies has changed greatly from the post-war revival period, when it was promoted mainly to provide low-cost, high-quality products. In recent years, it has become necessary to develop products and services that correspond to social issues. Research and development has shifted from a technological basis to a perspective based on societal trends for developing next-generation products. According to Kubo (2011) and Asai (2013), scenario planning is an effective method for considering the future environment in R&D. Furthermore, the functions and roles of the information section, because of the contributions of information services, have changed along with the use of the R&D situation. Based on findings from questionnaires and interviews of Japanese companies, this paper presents a discussion of the importance of information collection and intelligence generation for scenario planning along with the role of an information section in the area of research and development.