ASSESSING ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING AT THE SUBUNIT LEVEL: A MULTITRAIT-MULTIMETHOD ANALYSIS

Environmental Scanning and Its Effect Upon Firm Performance: An Exploratory Study of the Foodservice Industry

The chief executive officers and members of their top management teams of 65 foodservice firms were surveyed to ascertain the extent of environmental scanning in support of the firm's intended strategy utilizing Hambrick's (1979) scales of frequency and interest; and, Porter's (1980) industry structure model for environmentaltraits. The effect of scanning activity on performance was determined; as was the difference in scanning levels of high versus low performing firms. Significant differences were found.

Environment, Executive Information Search Activities, and Firm Performance

This study examines the relationships between perceived strategic uncertainty, environmental scanning, information source use, and firm performance in Hong Kong and Nigeria. The results of the study provide strong support for the assertion that the external environment of firms differs from country to country. The results indicate that there is a positive relationship between perceived strategic uncertainty and frequency and level of interest in the industry and macro sectors of the environment for both samples of decision-makers. Hong Kong decision-makers ascribe a greater level of dynamism to the technology sector, while the Nigerian sample attribute a greater degree of perceived strategic uncertainty to the political/legal, economic, and resource availability sectors. The two samples of decision-makers seem to differ in their use of information sources, with the Hong Kong executives relying on a broad range of sources and the Nigerians depending primarily on impersonal sources. There are also differences in the impact of scanning on firm performance. Significant relationships exist between scanning frequency, interest, and performance in Nigeria but not in Hong Kong.

Culture, Context and Structure: A Test on Hong Kong Banks

This research examined both context and home society culture as predictors of organizational structure in 39 multinational banks operating in Hong Kong. Organizational structure and context were operationalized using the Aston instru ments and culture was operationalized using Hofstede's measures of power dis tance and uncertainty avoidance. The results showed that the contextual variable of size was more strongly associated with structural differentiation while the cultural variable of power distance was more strongly associated with authority. These findings help explain the inconsistent relationships reported in previous studies.

Impact of environmental scanning on the organisational performance of local authorities in Malaysia

Purpose

Previous studies on scanning behaviour focused mainly on the performance of the private sector, leaving the public sector, especially local authorities (LAs), largely understudied. Primarily, this paper aims to examine the element of strategic management tools associated with the impact of environmental scanning (ES) on organisational performance in the LAs. It explores the above relationship in the context of public sector organisations in Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative approach has been used for this study where the data were collected through a mail survey (n=75) of local authorities in Malaysia, which consists of four categories – City Council/City Hall, Municipal Council, District Council and organisations that exercise the functions of local authorities.

Findings

Overall, the results show that the scope of general environmental scanning is seen as a prerequisite to the successful alignment of competitive strategies as a result of changing the needs and demands of the larger society, and the diverse nature of businesses. In the context of Malaysian LAs, there is a significant relationship between the environmental scanning (operation) and the overall achievement of the organisation's performance.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is limited to the Malaysian context, and, hence, the findings cannot be applied generally.

Practical implications

This study could be used effectively as a road map to assist the council members, senior staff and stakeholders in evaluating their success and steering the organisation's performance and sustainability.

Originality/value

This paper provides important insights into the performance of local governments in Malaysia. To the authors' knowledge, this study is the first attempt to look at a more holistic perspective in exploring environmental scanning of LAs in the country. Increased understanding in this area is of critical importance in relation to implementing effectively the current and future modernisation and reform initiatives. It is of interest to both researchers and practitioners.

Signal detection as the first line of defence in tourism crisis management

The vulnerability of the tourism industry to a range of crises has attracted many scholars to investigate the crisis strategies and practices employed by destinations and tourism organizations mainly with regards to crisis preparedness, containment and damage limitation, crisis recovery and subsequent learning. One over-looked area has been that of crisis signal detection. This paper proposes a three-stage conceptual framework for crisis signal detection consisting of signal scanning, capture and transmission to the crisis response centre. With this framework as a basis, 16 corporate level executives of international tourism organizations were interviewed in order to explore the significance of signal detection in their crisis management practice and the challenges faced in each of these three stages. The findings offer insights into the design of crisis management mechanisms and open areas for further research.