A Framework for Effective Environmental Scanning and Analysis

Areas such as competitive intelligence and environmental scanning are becoming increasingly more important business practices, particularly under the intense competition of the technology industry. However, organizations are reluctant to search for information which they cannot act on immediately and are also reluctant to experiment in the absence of reliable information; conditions leading to organizational inattention. On the other hand, many organizations are spending valuable resources either on projects assessed with insufficient information or on information that they are unable to internalize. This paper provides a framework, based on environmental turbulence and organizational flexibility, to aid organizations in developing the appropriate strategy for effective environmental scanning and analysis.