Scanning the organizational environment: Some empirical results

Organizations acquire information concerning environmental changes through their scanning operations. Different types of environments are expected to call forth different scanning activities. This paper presents the analysis of an empirical investigation of the scanning process. The analysis is based on proposed relationships between different environmental states (dynamic and stable) and scanning behaviors (surveillance and search) of the executives. Analytical considerations are also given to hierarchical levels of executives (upper and lower) and to the functional specialities of the managers (marketing, technology, government, etc.).

This study is unique in that it is one of the first to focus on scanning behavior in Japanese industries. Its value lies in its concern for a vital corporate need—the need of organizations to know where and how they acquire information.