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Objetive. To investigate the effect of environmental scanning on the relationship between individual and organizational factors and the use of information by the electronic publishing managers. Method. The current research is completely practical. The survey-analytical method was applied on 152 managers which were active in the electronic publishing industry. Data was collected through a researcher-made questionnaire. Results. As the average results indicate, individual factors (information awareness = 16.21 and information disclosure =7.039), organizational factors (information climate = 7.105 and external attention = 9.96), T value in environmental scanning (50.197) and the use of information (62.92) are above the average level. The analysis and explanation of the findings in this case reveals that after imposing of a mediator, the β value was changes subsequently from (β=0.576) and (β=0.0383) to (β =0.267) and (β=0.341). This means and reinforces the trivial but crucial effect of the mediator. Conclusions. The positive attitudes toward the informational based activities, intermittent interaction with experts with high and enriched informational backgrounds and resources, the amount of conditional and organizational access to information and finally the reciprocal action with the environment has a great impact on the amount of environmental scanning and information to which the managers use.

Firms in the last decade have faced a turbulent environment, characterized by increasing complexity in relationships, changes in the needs of customers, and increased uncertainty in decision making. Some companies respond to this situation using the same strategies of industry leaders, leading to a convergence process, which affects the profitability of the sector. This paper presents a methodology that allows a better way to see what happens in one sector and determine the degree of convergence.Las organizaciones en la ultima década se han enfrentado a un entorno turbulento, caracterizado por un aumento en la complejidad de las relaciones, cambios en las necesidades de los clientes e incremento de la incertidumbre en la toma de decisiones. Algunas empresas para responder a esta situación utilizan las mismas estrategias de los lideres de la industria, lo que lleva a un proceso de convergencia, que afecta la rentabilidad del sector. Este documento presenta una metodología que permite percibir de una mejor manera lo que ocurre en un sector y determinar el grado de convergencia.

Este artigo identifica as dimensões nas quais o governo e a mídia do Brasil têm configurado o macroambiente para os biocombustíveis líquidos ao longo do tempo e testam a existência de similaridade entre esses meios de expressão da sociedade na configuração do macroambiente. Para atingir o objetivo, foi realizada uma pesquisa documental a partir das notícias sobre o tema "biocombustíveis líquidos" veiculadas pela mídia escrita e de documentos oficiais do governo brasileiro tratando do mesmo tema. Foram coletados documentos textuais em formato eletrônico para um período de 10 anos (1997 a 2006). A extração do conhecimento dos textos em formato eletrônico foi realizada por meio de mineração em textos, aplicando-se uma estrutura de análise específica contendo as dimensões macroambientais e suas respectivas "palavras-d", que foram definidas a partir das palavras mais frequentes nas áreas do conhecimento relacionadas a cada dimensão. Os resultados indicam que a configuração do macroambiente para os biocombustíveis líquidos pela mídia e pelo governo difere quanto ao uso das dimensões macroambientais. A configuração do macroambiente também apresentou variações ao longo do período analisado, tanto na mídia quanto no governo. Testes de similaridade, aderência e homogeneidade confirmam a existência de diferenças entre a mídia e o governo. As implicações dos resultados encontrados para a atividade de escaneamento macroambiental destinado ao planejamento estratégico das organizações em geral e dos biocombustíveis líquidos em particular são discutidas.This article identifies the dimensions in which the Brazilian government and the media have shaped the macroenvironment for liquid biofuels through time, and tests the similarities among these means of expression of the society in the macroenvironmental setting. It conducts a documental research of the news on liquid biofuels published by the press and of official documents of the Brazilian government about the same subject. Electronic written documents covering a 10-year period (1997 to 2006) were collected and the information from them was extracted through text mining applying a specific analytical framework containing the macroenvironmental dimensions and their respective 'd-words', which were defined from the most frequent words in the knowledge areas related to each dimension. The results show that the configuration of the macroenvironment for liquid biofuels differs in the press and in the government. The setting of the macroenvironment also presented variations throughout the period. Similarity, adherence and homogeneity tests confirmed the existence of differences between the press and the government. The article discusses the implications of the results for the activity of macroenvironmental scanning related to the strategic planning of the organizations in general and of the liquid biofuels specifically.

Embora mais desenvolvidos no exterior, as pesquisa sobre monitoramento do ambiente ainda são incipientes no Brasil e, apensar dos bravos esforços já iniciados, pouco se tem feito para conhecer o processo de monitoramento ambiental em especial quando se trata de organizações inseridas no setor de viagens e turismo. Esse estudo tem por objetivo analisar as práticas de monitoramento do ambiente em meios de hospedagem da região de Florianópolis comparando os resultados com os dados obtidos em pesquisa semelhante realizada na região de Balneário Camboriú. A pesquisa caracteriza-se por ser do tipo exploratório-descritivo, de corte transversal, do tipo levantamento com envio de questionários auto-administrados. Dentre os principais resultados verificou-se que as empresas das duas regiões apresentaram maiores diferenças na utilização de fontes de informação do que nos aspectos dos ambientes monitorados.Altough most developed abroad, environmental scanning research is still imature in Brazil, in spite off the brave efforts already donne. This study aims to examine the environmental scanning practices in hotels of Florianópolis region comparing the results with data from a similar research conducted in Balneário Camboriú region. Of a exploratory and descriptive nature the study used self-administered questionnaires. Among the main results it was found more differences in the use of information sources than the scanning of environmental sectors.

Procura-se identificar a extensão da utilização de abordagens de monitoramento ambiental entre profissionais de inteligência competitiva (IC) e como tais abordagens afetam os ciclos de inteligência. Este estudo é de natureza quantitativa com dados obtidos por meio de questionários junto aos profissionais de IC, a maioria deles, associada à SCIP (Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals). Como resultado, verificou-se que diferentes abordagens de monitoramento demandam diferentes ciclos de inteligência, sendo o ciclo tradicional adequado apenas a uma das abordagens. Como conseqüência, propõem-se novos ciclos de inteligência para atender a todas as abordagens de monitoramento utilizadas pelas organizações.This study investigates in what extent the competitive intelligence (CI) community makes use of different environmental scanning modes. This study has a quantitative nature and was based on data collected via questionnaires sent to CI professional, being the large majority of them members of the SCIP (Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals). As an outcome of this study, we propose that different scanning mode calls for different intelligence cycles and that the traditional fits in only one of the scanning modes used by one organization. Consequently, new intelligence cycles are proposed so as to match all scanning modes used by the organizations.

Introduction. This paper examines the business external environment scanning theory for information in the context of Greece. Method. A questionnaire was developed to explore the relationships between general and task business environment, perceived uncertainty, scanning strategy, and sources of information with respect to type of environment, size and industry.The research was based on a sample of 144 private organizations operating in North Greece. Analysis. Data collected were analysed using SPSS. The statistical procedures of chi-squared homogeneity test, ANOVA, Duncan's test of homogeneity of means, and related samples t-test were followed for testing the hypotheses developed. Results. The results show that perceived uncertainty of the general and task business external environment factors depend on the type of the environment, size of organization, and industry where the organizations operate; organizations adapt their scanning strategy to the complexity of the environment; personal sources of information seem to be more important than impersonal sources; external sources of information are equally important with internal sources; and higher levels of environmental uncertainty are associated with higher levels of scanning the various sources. Conclusion. Business external environment scanning of information is influenced by the characteristics of the organizations themselves and by the characteristics of the external environment within which the organizations operate. The study contributes to both environmental scanning theory and has important messages for practitioners.

A number of theoretical works focus on the potential revolutionary impact of the Internet and other Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) upon Competitive Intelligence, but only a few empirical research papers can be found on it. Is the real impact still unknown, or is it too insignificant to talk about? The present paper searches for the answers to this question both in literature and on the field, focusing on the point where the impact is expected to be the greatest: Information Gathering. Important empirical essays in academic literature are overviewed, including extensive American and also French surveys. These works did not report any major development of Environmental Scanning Systems throughout the years or significant changes due to the Internet. Based on literature the authors establish 7 groups of hypotheses with respect to the influence of external environment, internal structure and development of IT on the Information Gathering activities of firms. These hypotheses are then investigated by quantitative methodologies applied to a large sample: a survey of more than 500 firms over two consecutive years. Internal structure shows only partial influence, but for IT and external environment, the correlation was high. On the other hand, firms are still underdeveloped. The presented results provide better understanding of the level of development of Information Gathering in firms and of the factors influencing it, and suggest new ways for further research in order to understand why firms are still underdeveloped.

Environmental scanning is the acquisition and use of information about events, trends, and relationships in an organization's external environment, the knowledge of which would assist management in planning the organization's future course of action. Depending on the organization's beliefs about environmental analyzability and the extent that it intrudes into the environment to understand it, four modes of scanning may be differentiated: undirected viewing, conditioned viewing, enacting, and searching. We analyze each mode of scanning by examining its characteristic information needs, information seeking, and information use behaviours. In addition, we analyze organizational learning processes by considering the sensemaking, knowledge creating and decision making processes at work in each mode.

This paper identifies and analyses the factors internal to the organization, which affect the activity of environmental scanning, understood here as the information seeking activity of managers, directed at the company's external environment. These factors include individual factors, such as information consciousness and exposure to information, and organizational factors such as information climate and "outwardness". The main relationships among them are also analysed. These factors were identified in the course of research aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of the environmental scanning process (Correia & Wilson, 1996). The methodology used - a case-study approach coupled with the grounded theory method of qualitative analysis - was of major importance in obtaining information that is grounded largely on the personal experience of managers.

This paper summarizes the principal findings of research that sought to provide a comprehensive understanding of the environmental scanning process. The methodology used was of major importance in obtaining data that are grounded largely in the personal experience of managers, but also in documentary evidence and in direct observation by the researcher. The purpose of the study was to investigate how managers in the Portuguese chemical industry scan their environment for information, what are the contextual factors that affect this activity, and also how managers' perceptions of environmental change affect the strategic change they implement.

Este artigo visa relatar pesquisa que identifica como os maiores curtumes de Mato Grosso do Sul monitoram o ambiente informacional externo de seu negócio. O estudo foi realizado por meio de pesquisa descritiva com abordagem qualitativa, sendo os três participantes da pesquisa responsáveis por 43% da produção de couro wet blue bovino do Estado. Foi utilizado como suporte o modelo de monitoramento informacional proposto por Davenport, que engloba monitorar informações sobre consumidores, fornecedores, concorrentes, órgão governamentais e políticas públicas e tecnologias. Percebeu-se que os três curtumes participantes monitoram, muitas vezes informalmente, todas as variáveis estudadas em diferentes níveis de detalhamento e utilizam diversas fontes de informações, constatando-se assim a presença do modelo estudado.