The world's economy is going through a phase without a theory

The changes facing societies and organizations are no longer merely economic or political. They have become changes in demographics, politics, society, philosophy, and, above all, in vision.

The changes facing societies and organizations are no longer merely economic or political. They have become changes in demographics, politics, society, philosophy, and, above all, in vision. With these changes, traditional economic, political, and social theories have become inadequate for this stage. Some view the current phase as one without a guiding theory—a phase that will persist for some time—and confidence in the ability to predict what lies ahead has become a matter of doubt.

What remains constant, however, is the understanding of the nature of the situation, its managerial directions, and its methods for understanding economic and administrative phenomena: no one can deny that business organizations operate in an environment whose most important foundation now depends on answering a question recognized by management experts—a question they have embedded in organizational objectives and one that strategies are now meant to address. Unfortunately, however, many Arab organizations—whether service or industrial, governmental or private—merely analyze this question without providing an answer. This question revolves around the issue of the future of organizations and how to shape that future.

Business organizations are searching for ways to move beyond the challenge of merely living the future to actively creating it. This is because the successful strategy for the coming phase centers on building the future. Undoubtedly, building the future is a pure gamble, fraught with the risks of the surrounding environment. Yet, despite this gamble, attempting it is less dangerous than not attempting to shape the future (Drucker, 2004, p. 95). This necessitates that business organizations work diligently to adopt strategic thinking by formulating visions and plans, programming strategic goals, and linking this to the wise structuring of organizational resources—both material and human. This must be coupled with a sincere and committed adoption of the principles of strategic control, integrated with techniques for evaluating strategic performance in a way that contributes to achieving the aims of strategic planning.