Editorial
Enviromental Scanning
Upon the drying of a lake, two frogs were forced to seek water elsewhere.
As they searched they came upon a deep well.
“Come, said one frog to the other, let’s go in without looking any further.”
Said the companion,
“You believe this fine, but what if the water should fail us here too?
How shall we get out again?”
The Moral: “‘Tis good advice to look before we leap” (Aesop’s Fables)
In its best form strategy setting is a deliberate and disciplined process built upon an accurate, robust and transparent set of facts, trends and perceptions about the environment within which the organization operates. A common information base built by the planning team serves to cut through the fog of ones own perceptions and shines a bright light on the broader perspective of the entire team and/or stakeholder group. This process of “leveling of the playing field” is a vitally important step in the strategy setting process and is referred to as environmental scanning.
From the LBL perspective environmental scanning is defined as the internal communication of information about issues that may potentially influence an organization's reason for existence or its purpose. This work focuses on the identification of emerging issues, situations, and potential pitfalls that may affect an organization's future state.
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The information gathered, including the events, trends, capabilities and relationships that are external and internal to an organization, is compiled from input received from key stakeholders, planning team members, secondary research findings and, when necessary, primary research activities.
There are two overall dimensions to the environmental scan.
External Environment
- Definition - Anything occurring outside the organization that impacts its ability (positively or negatively) to effectively pursue its mission and achieve its vision.
Internal Environment
- Definition - The conditions and capabilities (positive and negative) inside an organization that impact operations and the ability to effectively pursue its mission and achieve its vision.
Together this information provides an enlightening assessment of where the organization is at the present time. An effective scan brings the strategic landscape into focus while building the planning team’s knowledge base on issues and options.
Environmental Scan – External Analysis
Within the external dimension two sets of trends, events or situations shape the outside operating environment.