Environmental Scanning

Definition of Environmental Scanning

o One component of the global environmental analysis. Environmental monitoring,
environmental forecasting and environmental assessment complete the global
environmental analysis.
o Can be defined as the study and interpretation of the political, economic, social and
technological events and trends which influence a business, an industry or even a total
market.
o Careful monitoring of an organiation!s internal and e"ternal environments for detecting
early signs of opportunities and threats that may influence its current and future plans. #n
comparison, surveillance is confined to a specific ob$ective or a narrow sector.
o Strategic sense is about building a global conte"t for your work, your organisation, your
competitive environment and your industry.
o Environmental scanning is the art of systematically e"ploring the e"ternal environment
to%
better understand the nature and pace of change in that environment, and
#dentify potential opportunities, challenges and likely future developments
relevant to your organisation.
o Environmental scanning is what Choo &'(()* calls formal searching, using formal
methodologies for obtaining information for a specific purpose. #t is systematic. #t is
much more than reading newspapers or industry $ournals, or checking the latest statistics
about your market. #t is about e"ploring both present certainty and future uncertainty, and
moving beyond what we accept as valid ways of doing things today.
o Is the internal and external collection of data to assess current company performance
and to forecast future performance. Internal scanning involves an evaluation of the
company's performance through analysis of the effectiveness of operations, quality of
personnel and financial success. External scanning involves customer satisfaction,
review of the marketplace and product, and nationwide and global economic factors. The
scanning process can be scheduled for a shortterm specific pro!ect, an ongoing and
continuous review or a predetermined time frame.
o is a recently developed and increasingly important tool often used in business to examine
and forecast the marketplace.
#mportance of Environmental Scanning
o Effective Utilization of Resources
In environment scanning, we find the company's strength and weakness. With these
strength and weakness, company can find future risk and opportunities. or reducing
risk and getting the opportunities, company can use its resources effectively.
o !onstant "onitoring of the Environment
or success in #usiness, it is very necessary to keep eye on its changing environment.
With environment scanning, we can scan important updates of environment. $ow, #y
studying these environment changes, it is very easy to find the challenging way.
o Environmental scanning is used as an early warning system for the entity developing and
analy"ing the data. #usiness strategies can be planned and implemented based upon the
findings of the scans. Innovation in I$T often leads to corresponding advancement in
environmental scanning.
Source%
http://www.ehow.com/facts_7879244_importance-scanning-business-ict-environments.html
http://business.svtuition.org/2011/09/importance-of-environment-scanning.html
http://www.asaecenter.org/esources/!"ow#etail.cfm$%tem"umber&1119''
http://en.wi(ipe)ia.org/wi(i/*nvironmental_scanning
Choo, C.+. &'(()* #nformation ,anagement for the #ntelligent Organisation% -he .rt of Scanning the
Environment, .S#S ,onograph Series, ,edford /ew 0ersey.