Environmental Scanning

Environmental Scanning is the systematic collection and monitoring of  information describing changes in the internal and external environment in order to identify and assess developments, trends, and precursor events that may affect the strategic and operational objectives of an organization.    Objectives of the Process include:

• To proactively define the opportunities, potential threats, or areas of change in organizations impacted by internal and external environmental factors. 
• To encourage everyone in the organization to think innovatively about the future of the organization, their unit, and their specific areas of expertise.  
•  To provide a tool for management and staff to monitor trends and the degree to which they are converging, diverging, speeding up, slowing down, or interacting.