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The idea that environmental scanning can be a key factor in sustained competitive advantage calls for the integration of business strategy and the environment. Not surprisingly, environmental scanning is widely viewed as the first step in the process that links strategy and the environment. The main debate over the roles of strategy and environment is nowadays concerned with the primary importance of environmental scanning to strategy formulation and implementation. More specially, effective scanning of the environment is seen as necessary to the successful alignment of competitive strategies with environmental requirements and the achievement of outstanding performance in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This chapter explores the above relationship in the British electronic manufacturing industry. It is based on the empirical evidence and the findings of a survey of 132 Chief Executive Officers’ (CEO) views on environmental scanning and strategy in SMEs. It is concluded that there is a significant relationship between increasing the environmental scanning of the firm, and the success of small- and medium-sized manufacturing firms in electronic industry. Accordingly, because of the dynamic nature of the electronics industry, obtaining information on environmental factors facilitates alignment between business strategy and its environment.

The external environment is becoming more uncertain and volatile. To be successful and retain competitiveness, organisations have to regularly detect external signals, systematically process and use such information. Environmental scanning is an effective way for organisations to adapt to their external environment by overcoming threats and grasping opportunities. However, some organisations may not be able to conduct environmental scanning due to lack of resources or adequately trained personnel. To satisfy their needs of environmental knowledge, they may have to outsource for such kind of information services, provide training for their existing staff, or hire specialised business information professional. As there is a degree of overlap between information management and environment scanning activities, some of the competencies covered by current LIS programs in Asia would be useful for undertaking environmental scanning activities. Nevertheless, information professionals still need an additional set of competencies to effectively provide this service. For example, LIS professionals would need a basic understanding of business and marketing principles to effectively understand and meet the information needs of their clients; improve their knowledge of various kinds of specialised business information sources and planning. This chapter first introduces the concept of external environment, the definition and process of environment scanning, and how environmental intelligence could be used for strategic planning and organisational learning. Then it discusses the role of environmental scanning as an emerging discipline for LIS education, covering topics as environmental scanning based information services and competencies required for conducting environmental scanning. Finally, it provides an overview of efforts have been made by LIS education programs in Asia in imparting new skills to their graduates for undertaking environmental scanning activities.

This chapter attempts to reinvigorate scholarly interest in executive scanning by outlining a model to guide future research on executive search within the context of international strategy. Executive scanning has received considerable empirical attention but only limited theoretical attention. Most of this research has studied scanning as the receipt rather than the search for information. Based on the application of learning theory, we outline a model advancing two broad categories of executive search exploitative and explorative, consisting of six specific search behaviors. We advance search as integral to managerial decisions relating to the various aspects of internationalization, notably choice of location, corporate strategy, and mode of entry. The implications for future research are presented.

There is growing evidence that managers perceive the general environment inaccurately, but very few studies have looked at the accuracy of specific strategic issue probability estimates, and at whether or not managers are aware of the accuracy or inaccuracy of their perceptions, something referred to as knowledge miscalibration. I explore perceptual inaccuracy and knowledge miscalibration in the form of overconfidence, in the context of demographic ageing, an issue currently affecting the tourism and hospitality industry. Using data from a survey of hotel managers, I find a high prevalence of perceptual error and evidence of a relatively large minority of respondents displaying knowledge overconfidence. Furthermore, I find a link between accurate environmental perceptions and strategic issue importance, suggesting that managers are better at accurately perceiving an issue when it is strategically important for their business. The same link does not exist with overconfidence, lending support to scholars arguing that overconfidence may be a trait, rather than being question-specific.

Despite the extensive research on the determinants and consequences of firm growth, research focusing on how the actual process unfolds is still evolving. An important part of firm growth process research is entrepreneurial cognition. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the relationship between entrepreneurial cognition and firm growth intentions. Specifically, we propose a theoretical model of entrepreneurial cognitive interpretation and categorization of market information as it relates to firm growth intentions. Drawing from the strategic cognition literature in general and strategic issue interpretation literature in particular, we propose that entrepreneurs’ interpretation of market information as opportunity or threat, gain or loss, and controllable or uncontrollable influences their firm growth intentions. Furthermore, our theoretical model discusses the condition under which favorable interpretation of market information leads to higher growth intentions by incorporating insights from the Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) construct. This chapter extends our understanding of firm growth processes by highlighting the important role cognitive interpretation and categorization play in facilitating or hindering entrepreneurial firm growth.

The tourism marketing environment consists of internal and external forces which could impact the organisations’ performance. To be successful, companies must adapt to ongoing trends and developments in their macro- and micro-environments. When organisations scan their marketing environment, they will be in a position to deal with any possible threats from the market and to capitalise on any available opportunities. Therefore, this chapter explains the external environmental factors of tourist destinations, including political, economic, social and technological influences. It also considers their internal environmental factors, including capital structures, resources, capabilities and marketing intermediaries, as it identifies competitive forces from differentiated or low-cost service providers.

Information overload is a norm in the era of big data. The threats and opportunities presented to organizations, institutions, and individuals have only increased in their volume and velocity. This chapter looks at how an individual’s scanning of environmental and external information is affected by bias. The term subscriber or subscription bias is introduced. Tools for increasing the speed of processing large new data relationships through visualization are evaluated. Additionally, the role and benefit of Cognitive Analytics in presenting fresh insight, as well as its role in mitigating publication and other biases, is reviewed. Last, some of the networked world tools and web services available to researchers and practitioners are considered in terms of how these emerging offerings can enhance productivity and their human capital with reusability of data and reproducibility of results.