Abstract
Increasing volatility and individualization has great impact on value creation, resulting in a complex and interdependent corporate environment. The analysis of possible developments of the future becomes a crucial success factor. By adopting the scenario technique this study aims at deriving future scenarios for value creation in the mechanical engineering context focusing on innovation leadership, differentiation through partnerships and hardware supplier status. The consistency is then evaluated and possible options for action are derived by mechanical engineering experts. The results not only support practitioners to understand future value creation but also inspires scientists conducting further research towards implementing futurology into strategy research.