Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Toward a Model of Environmental Scanning

Toward a Model of Environmental Scanning Scanning is the communication activity through which organizations learn about trends and events in their environment. In this exploratory study, I examined how individuals from many different departments, including public relations and human resources, conduct environmental scanning in 16 large U.S. organizations. Specifically, I examined the formality of environmental scanning in 16 organizations and its relation to the number of issues monitored and the length of time those issues are monitored. I also considered the role of organizational culture and environmental complexity in shaping the structure of environmental scanning efforts. Findings indicate that organizations with formal environmental scanning systems tend to monitor a larger number of issues in their environments for shorter periods of time, when compared to organizations with informal environmental scanning systems. In addition, findings suggest that although both organizational culture and environmental complexity are related to the structure of environmental scanning efforts, culture is more strongly related to scanning efforts than is environmental complexity. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Public Relations Research Taylor & Francis

Toward a Model of Environmental Scanning

Journal of Public Relations Research , Volume 7 (3): 17 – Jul 1, 1995

Toward a Model of Environmental Scanning

Journal of Public Relations Research , Volume 7 (3): 17 – Jul 1, 1995

Abstract

Scanning is the communication activity through which organizations learn about trends and events in their environment. In this exploratory study, I examined how individuals from many different departments, including public relations and human resources, conduct environmental scanning in 16 large U.S. organizations. Specifically, I examined the formality of environmental scanning in 16 organizations and its relation to the number of issues monitored and the length of time those issues are monitored. I also considered the role of organizational culture and environmental complexity in shaping the structure of environmental scanning efforts. Findings indicate that organizations with formal environmental scanning systems tend to monitor a larger number of issues in their environments for shorter periods of time, when compared to organizations with informal environmental scanning systems. In addition, findings suggest that although both organizational culture and environmental complexity are related to the structure of environmental scanning efforts, culture is more strongly related to scanning efforts than is environmental complexity.

Loading next page...
 
/lp/taylor-francis/toward-a-model-of-environmental-scanning-tbwOxcgibe

References (17)

Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN
1532-754X
eISSN
1062-726X
DOI
10.1207/s1532754xjprr0703_02
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Scanning is the communication activity through which organizations learn about trends and events in their environment. In this exploratory study, I examined how individuals from many different departments, including public relations and human resources, conduct environmental scanning in 16 large U.S. organizations. Specifically, I examined the formality of environmental scanning in 16 organizations and its relation to the number of issues monitored and the length of time those issues are monitored. I also considered the role of organizational culture and environmental complexity in shaping the structure of environmental scanning efforts. Findings indicate that organizations with formal environmental scanning systems tend to monitor a larger number of issues in their environments for shorter periods of time, when compared to organizations with informal environmental scanning systems. In addition, findings suggest that although both organizational culture and environmental complexity are related to the structure of environmental scanning efforts, culture is more strongly related to scanning efforts than is environmental complexity.

Journal

Journal of Public Relations ResearchTaylor & Francis

Published: Jul 1, 1995

There are no references for this article.