Environmental Scanning

Environmental Scanning
Definition

Careful monitoring of a firm's internal and external environments for detecting early signs of opportunities and threats that may influence its current and future plans.

Objectives of an Environmental Scanning System
•Detecting scientific, technical, economic, social, and political trends and events important to the institution,
•Defining the potential threats, opportunities, or changes for the institution implied by those trends and events,
•Promoting a future orientation in the thinking of management and staff, and
•Alerting management and staff to trends that are converging, diverging, speeding up, slowing down, or interacting.
Fahey and Naravanan (1986) suggest that an effective environmental scanning program should enable decision makers to understand current and potential changes taking place in their institutions' external environments. Scanning provides strategic intelligence useful in determining organizational strategies. The consequences of this activity include fostering an understanding of the effects of change on organizations, aiding in forecasting, and bringing expectations of change to bear on decision making.

Experimental Research Designs
In an attempt to control for extraneous factors, several experimental research designs have been developed, including:
•Classical pretest-post test - The total population of participants is randomly divided into two samples; the control sample, and the experimental sample. Only the experimental sample is exposed to the manipulated variable. The researcher compares the pretest results with the post test results for both samples. Any divergence between the two samples is assumed to be a result of the experiment.
•Solomon four group design - The population is randomly divided into four samples. Two of the groups are experimental samples. Two groups experience no experimental manipulation of variables. Two groups receive a pretest and a post test. Two groups receive only a post test. This is an improvement over the classical design because it controls for the effect of the pretest.
•Factorial design - this is similar to a classical design except additional samples are used. Each group is exposed to a different experimental manipulation

Advantages and Disadvantages of Experimental Research
Advantages
*Gain insight into methods of instruction
*Intuitive practice shaped by research
*Teachers have bias but can be reflective
*Researcher can have control over variables
*Humans perform experiments anyway
*Can be combined with other research methods for rigor
*Use to determine what is best for population
*Provides for greater transferability than anecdotal research

Disadvantages
*Subject to human error
*Personal bias of researcher may intrude
*Sample may not be representative
*Can produce artificial results
*Results may only apply to one situation and may be difficult to replicate
*Groups may not be comparable
*Human response can be difficult to measure
*Political pressure may skew results