Affiliated Organization

University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

Environmental scanning is the acquisition and use of information about events, trends, andrelationships in an organization's external environment, the knowledge of which would assistmanagement in planning the organization's future course of action. Depending on the organization'sbeliefs about environmental analyzability and the extent that it intrudes into the environment tounderstand it, four modes of scanning may be differentiated: undirected viewing, conditioned viewing,enacting, and searching. We analyze each mode of scanning by examining its characteristicinformation needs, information seeking, and information use behaviors. In addition, we analyzeorganizational knowing processes by considering the sensemaking, knowledge creating and decisionmaking processes at work in each mode.

Volume

2

Issue

1

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