ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests a theory of early awareness which promises that, by perceiving structural trends, will be able to anticipate changes in their environment in time to respond in a proactive manner. It investigates empirically, using fifteen cases, whether this anticipatory planning is really possible. The cases were investigated in which consumers, for ecological or health-related reasons, changed their previous consumption behaviour. One requirement for strategic planning is anticipating environmental changes that might potentially influence the company's performance. T. Dyllick identifies five basic strategies that stakeholders can use to force companies to reach certain goals: mobilisation of public pressure, mobilisation of government pressure, mobilisation of market forces, activism of stockholders and direct negotiations with the companies. Mobilisation of public pressure by stakeholders has both a direct and an indirect impact. An instrument for recognising and representing the development process of weak signals is the 'diffusion curve', based on diffusion theory.
