Personal Futures Studies (From Self-Perspective to Self-Prospective)

Personal foresight is a new trend in futures studies. Indeed, entrepreneurship is a concept that could not be imagined separately from the concept of “future”. Entrepreneurs possess high potential in shaping the future, as well as value generation. Hence, studying the process of personal foresight for entrepreneurs could offer insights for psychology, cognitive science, entrepreneurial sociology and futures studies. Grounded theory helps us to provide a model for the process of entrepreneurs’ foresight. Based on narratives of twelve entrepreneurs selected among managers/owners of established businesses in Iran with at least 3.5 years of life according to the definition by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), the model determines the causal conditions for occurrence of future-based attitude and behavior in personal life and careers of entrepreneurs, context, intervening conditions, strategies and the method of transformation of the process into consequences that bring personal and social growth.