INSIGHTS ON ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

Part 2: Scanning Systems, Actors and Stakeholders

The increasing levels of complexity, turbulence and uncertainty of the economic, technological, and societal context have been leading companies to develop and implement different types of internal systems able to monitor their competitive environments, with the purpose of incorporating and better deal with strategic surprises (Aguilar, 1967; Ansoff, 1975, 1984; Mevel, 2004).

The capability of companies to raise their competitive advantages in a sustainable way strongly depends on their capability to get (or to make use of) “relevant” information (Baumard, 1991; Lesca, Blanco, 1998: 3). In this sense, one of the main objectives of the scanning and strategic intelligence systems is to obtain and provide “relevant” information to decision makers (Jakobiak, 1988).

This need (and practice) of companies to implement scanning activities about their organizational environment allowing managers to support their decisions on “relevant” and “precious” information have evolved throughout time, having itself suffered a process of formalization and adaptation of concepts, tools and procedures to make the selection and treatment of information, regarding the needs and specific characteristics of companies (Godet, 1997, Lesca, Blanco, 1998, Lesca, 2003, Mevel…