Culture and future orientation. An organisational perspective

Future Orientation (FO) is closely linked to foresight, the latter defined by literature as the universal capacity of human beings to look forward into the future. In a sense, FO enables human beings’ thinking of the future (Hideg, Nováky, 1999) and, as a consequence, it is as universal as foresight. However, its characteristics are not universal, but influenced by specific cultures and by individual perspectives onto cultural patterns of a given society (Hannerz, 1992). Culture is here defined very broadly as the organised set of meanings (symbols and values) of a given social system. Thus, it is necessary to analyse these influences and their effects on FO of individuals and social groups.