Environmental scanning is the process of examining the external environment to determine trends and projections of factors that will affect the organization. It involves studying and interpreting the effects of social, political, economic, ecological, and technological events in an effort to spot budding trends and conditions that could become driving forces.
Environmental scanning can be accomplished by the following three ways:
- By systematically monitoring and studying current events: Environmental scanning can be accomplished by systematically monitoring and studying current events that might affect the concerned firm.
- Constructing scenarios: Scenarios are stories about what the future environment might hold and how a firm might respond to this future.
- Employing the Delphi method: the Delphi method is a technique for finding consensus among a group of knowledgeable experts.
So, these are the various ways of accomplishing environmental scanning.
