Technology forecasting: Planning: Toy or tool? Line managers frequently find little use for formal "forecasts." Here are guidelines for planners who wish to rectify that situation

Electrical engineers have shown a steadily increasing interest in the methodology of technological forecasting, assessment, and planning. Therefore, as a practitioner of this widely heralded art, I believe the time has come to examine realistically why it plays such a minor role in the actual process by which real-life business decisions are made. For the truth of the matter is that forecasting is still not, by and large, used very effectively, and it is my intention to explore in this article why this is so and then to provide some specific guidelines for line managers who wish to obtain more usable inputs from their corporate planning staffs or consultants.