Organizational strategy and scanning strategy. An organization's overall business strategy is related to the sophistication, scope and intensity of its environmental scanning. An organization that follows a particular strategy, such as a product differentiation, cost leadership or focus strategy, or adopts a certain strategic stance, such as prospector, analyzer or defender, is likely to operate a scanning mode that provides the required information and information processing capabilities to pursue its desired strategy. There is also tentative evidence to suggest that a balanced organizational culture is likely to encourage managers to scan more frequently and take on a more adaptive outlook. Information needs, seeking and use.
Business organizations focus their scanning on market-related sectors of the environment.
Information about customers, competitors and suppliers is seen to be the most important. In industries where other sectors of the environment, such as technology or demographics, are perceived to be having a large impact, these sectors would also be considered high scanning priorities. Although managers scan with a wide range of sources, they prefer live information from personal sources when seeking information about market-related environmental sectors that are highly fluid and equivocal. There is some evidence to indicate that source selection for scanning is influenced by the perceived quality of the source and not just its perceived accessibility. Information derived from environmental scanning is increasingly being used to drive the strategic planning process in business and public-sector organizations.