TY - JOUR
T1 - Consolidation and Fragmentation in Environmental Scanning: A Review and Research Agenda
AU - Robinson, Craig
AU - AHMAD, FARHAN
AU - Simmons, John
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021/6/1
Y1 - 2021/6/1
N2 - Environmental scanning is a broadly defined concept, having first received attention from scholars in the late 1960s. Over the years a number of similar and overlapping constructs have emerged in management literature. The aim of this study, via a systematic review and thematic analysis of relevant empirical research, is to consolidate foundation environmental scanning knowledge, demonstrate how scanning research has developed and fragmented over time, and propose an agenda for future research. The first contribution of our review is a new typology of environmental scanning research made up of five discrete research views, which provides a more comprehensive and contemporary overview of the field than previous studies. The second is a proposed agenda for future research that explicitly acknowledges the role of technology, an area that is presently underdeveloped in foundation scanning literature. The third contribution is to signpost future directions for research on scanning and organisational performance using a number of theoretical perspectives. The overall outcome of our review is to move scanning research on from increasingly incremental contributions concerned with context to a place where the changing role of technology and the mechanisms through which environmental scanning contributes to competitive advantage can be more thoroughly understood.
AB - Environmental scanning is a broadly defined concept, having first received attention from scholars in the late 1960s. Over the years a number of similar and overlapping constructs have emerged in management literature. The aim of this study, via a systematic review and thematic analysis of relevant empirical research, is to consolidate foundation environmental scanning knowledge, demonstrate how scanning research has developed and fragmented over time, and propose an agenda for future research. The first contribution of our review is a new typology of environmental scanning research made up of five discrete research views, which provides a more comprehensive and contemporary overview of the field than previous studies. The second is a proposed agenda for future research that explicitly acknowledges the role of technology, an area that is presently underdeveloped in foundation scanning literature. The third contribution is to signpost future directions for research on scanning and organisational performance using a number of theoretical perspectives. The overall outcome of our review is to move scanning research on from increasingly incremental contributions concerned with context to a place where the changing role of technology and the mechanisms through which environmental scanning contributes to competitive advantage can be more thoroughly understood.
KW - Environmental Scanning
KW - Organisational Learning
KW - Organisational Capabilities
KW - Information Systems
KW - Ambidexterity
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2020.101997
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85086362222&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85086362222&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2020.101997
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2020.101997
M3 - Article (journal)
SN - 0024-6301
VL - 54
JO - Long Range Planning
JF - Long Range Planning
IS - 3
M1 - 101997
ER -