Environmental Scanning and Higher Education
By Pat Artz
Prepared for Professor Sue Sampson
CIS 620 Management Information Systems
Fall Term 2002
October 10, 2002
Table of Contents
Introduction
Definitions
Strategic Planning
Environmental Scanning
Environmental Scanning in the Business World
Four Scanning Strategies
Perceived Uncertainty
Competitive Intelligence
Environmental Scanning in the Academic World
Why Scan?
Learning Organizations
Scanning as a Four-Step Process
Trends to Scan
Environmental Scanning at the University of Missouri System
Environmental Scanning at Ole Miss
Environmental Scanning at the Center for Information Technology, Bellevue University
General Attitudes Toward Scanning
Sources Being Scanned
Interview with Director Creagan
Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusions
Recommendations
Bibliography
Introduction
Environmental scanning is a tool used by strategic planners in the business and academic worlds. However, these terms often meet with a blank stare when presented to people outside of senior management. What is strategic planning? What is environmental scanning? How do businesses and universities use these tools? Is environmental scanning a tool that can be used more effectively at universities? These questions will be investigated, with specific attention on the role of environmental scanning at the Center for Information Technology at BellevueUniversity.
First, this paper will provide background information about strategic planning and the role of environmental scanning. Second, this paper will examine environmental scanning as business executives use it. Third, this paper will highlight the potential for environmental scanning in the academic world and investigate several examples of environmental scanning efforts at universities. Fourth, this paper will examine environmental scanning efforts and successes at the Center for Information Technology. Finally, some conclusions and recommendations will be offered to make even better use of environmental scanning at this center.
This paper will be submitted to Professor Sue Sampson to fulfill a research requirement for the CIS 620 course. Additionally, the paper will be submitted to Dan Creagan, the Director of the Center for Information Technology as part of the process of continuous improvement at the center.
Definitions
Strategic Planning
Strategic planning is focused on the future. Strategic planners examine the objectives of an organization, examine the resources available, and then make fundamental decisions about those objectives and resources in response to a dynamic environment. Strategic planners are disciplined in their approach as they gather information, test assumptions, and anticipate the future. A typical thought for a strategic thinker would be, “Are we doing the right thing?”
The resulting strategic plan is a set of decisions about what to do, the reasons for doing it, and the way that the organization will do it. The plan may have to adapt to changes along the way, and probably will. The strategic decisions are revisited as the environment changes and the organization responds to those changes (What is strategic planning?).
Environmental Scanning
Environmental scanning is a tool used by strategic planners. When an organization scans the environment, it looks for external trends and events important to the institution, and then identifies threats and opportunities that those trends and events may present.
Strategic decisions must be made today, but environmental scanning is oriented toward the future. The goal is to alert management and staff to trends that are on the horizon and may affect the organization in the future. The information from environmental scanning is incorporated in the next round of strategic planning (Morrison, 1992).
Environmental Scanning in the Business World
Four Scanning Strategies
Businesses conduct environmental scanning in a variety of ways, but studies have shown that the various approaches can be grouped into four general strategies. The first is called the defender strategy. Businesses that scan the environment defensively usually have a limited product line and need to be as efficient as possible. Innovation is not a high priority – efficiency rules all.
The second strategy is called the prospector strategy. If a company has a broad product line and values innovation and new opportunities, then this company will scan the environment for new prospects.
The third strategy is the analyzer. If a company has some product lines that are stable while other products are more variable, then the environment must be scanned in a more analytical way to discern opportunities for efficiency from opportunities for innovation.
The fourth strategy is reactive. If a company lacks a systematic way to scan the environment, then it will continually be reacting to external trends and events. The company scrambles to keep up and is continually surprised by environmental pressures (Hagen & Amin, 1995).
Perceived Uncertainty
One overriding factor in any environmental scanning strategy is the amount of perceived uncertainty in the environment. Is the environment complex and rapidly changing? Are the changes difficult to identify and track? Is the rate of change so fast that predictions are difficult? If the answers to these questions are yes, then companies are less likely to engage in systematic scanning of the environment. Some companies report great success as a result of environmental scanning, while others report great disappointment. The perceived level of uncertainty in the environment plays a key role in the effectiveness of scanning activities.
Business executives from high performing firms report higher levels of environmental scanning than executives from low performing firms. Executives typically reported that as much as 25% of their time is spent scanning the external environment. Scanning is an important activity for businesses, and it is especially effective at firms with lower levels of perceived uncertainty in their environments (Boyd & Fulk, 1996).
Competitive Intelligence
Competitive intelligence is closely related to environmental scanning. Businesses often establish an intelligence need, collect data, analyze the data, communicate the finished intelligence, and then take action. The definitions of strategic planning and environmental scanning often overlap with competitive intelligence, especially in technology-oriented businesses. Technology changes rapidly, and developments that are on the horizon often come to market very quickly. If a firm gathers data on the new technologies appearing on the horizon, then this could be called either competitive intelligence or environmental scanning. The distinction seems to be that competitive intelligence focuses on upcoming decisions while environmental scanning is more future-oriented (McGonagle & Vella, 2002).
Environmental Scanning in the Academic World
Why Scan?
American universities and schools were created in the industrial age to serve the needs of the industrial society. These schools served the needs of the industrial age well, but the world has changed considerably in recent decades. In general, universities continue to look to the past for guidance and planning rather than looking to the future. Most universities lack an emphasis on strategic planning and environmental scanning. As a result, universities tend to be either static or oriented toward crisis management. If a university wants to stay relevant in the post-industrial age, and if a university wants to move beyond crisis management, then appropriate tools to employ are strategic planning and environmental scanning Slaughter, n.d.).
Learning Organizations
Currently, the model being advocated by strategic planners is called the learning organization. The desired characteristics of a learning organization are in response to repeated failures in strategic planning. In the past, organizations often engaged in strategic planning as a once-a-year formal planning session with senior managers, but this idea often lead to failure. The rest of the organization usually did not understand the plan presented by senior managers or did not understand how to implement it. In another model, planners tried to involve middle managers more and focus on implementing the strategic plan, but short-range obstacles often interfered with the long-range plans, and the entire process stalled. In yet another model, companies focused on readiness for change. Unfortunately, most organizations continued to fail, often because the reward systems and cultures of the organizations favored the status quo rather than dynamic change.
Now, organizations want to be learning organizations, which means a focus on constant readiness, continuous planning, improvised implementation, and action learning. Of these characteristics, perhaps action learning is the only one without obvious meaning. Action learning strives to evaluate change efforts as a routine course of action rather than waiting for an end-of-the-year report (Rowden, 2001).
Scanning as a Four-Step Process
Environmental scanning is a four-step process. First, people within an organization scan the external environment for threats and opportunities. Then, the threats and opportunities are ranked according to the likelihood that they will occur and the degree of impact they might have on the organization. Then, forecasts are made about the trends and events that might pose threats or present opportunities. Finally, these forecasts are monitored to see if the forecasts are accurate and if the threats and opportunities actually present themselves. It is a continuous cycle of scanning/evaluation/forecasting/monitoring, which reinforces the primary characteristics of a learning organization (Morrison, Renfro, & Boucher, 1984).
There is not a magic formula or secret recipe for scanning the environment effectively. Each university can establish its own goals, methods, and structure. In general, an organization will search for information resources, select the resources to scan, identify criteria by which to scan, do the actual scanning, and then decide on appropriate actions to take, if any. James L. Morrison is an often-cited source for information about environmental scanning at the university level. His article entitled “Futures Research and the Strategic Planning Process: Implications for Higher Education” provides a complete framework for implementing environmental scanning, with detailed explanations on possible courses of action. It is beyond the scope of this paper to describe the steps involved in implementing environmental scanning at a university. However, readers can see the attached bibliography for complete information on how to access Morrison’s full article.
Trends to Scan
What should a university scan for? The external environment is extremely complex, and the task is daunting. Where should a university begin?
Robert Walker summarizes some recent findings on his web page called “14 Trends of Environmental Scanning.” His list includes the following trends:
- Leadership that can manage change, risk, and diversity
- Value and Return on Investment
- Responsiveness to clients/customers
- Technology that links people and fosters community
- Change as an ongoing concern rather than a neatly planned event
- Identifying revenue sources
- Generational issues between levels of employees
- Securing a quality workforce
- Outsourcing
- Making boards of directors more diverse and responsive
- New competitors, and alliances with unexpected new partners
- Consolidations and mergers
- Globalization
- Image building (Walker, n.d.)
Environmental Scanning at the University of Missouri System
Sometimes it is helpful to see the results of an actual environmental scan in order to appreciate the process. The University of Missouri recently updated something they call EnScan Perspectives. The findings of the university reveal that eight trends are being tracked by the university system presently, with each trend presenting either a threat to or an opportunity for the system. The fourteen trends outlined by Walker in the section above can be seen in several of the trends being tracked by the University of Missouri.
The eight trends being tracked at the University of Missouri are:
- Financial conditions in the State of Missouri
- The implementation of new technologies in the administrative systems and procedures of the university.
- The Missouri Coordinated Board for Higher Education, which makes strategic plans for higher education in Missouri
- The graying of the faculty the recruitment of new faculty members
- Distance education
- E-Commerce
- Intellectual property in the information age
- Future technologies (EnScan Perspectives: Environmental Scanning Update 2001-2002)
Environmental Scanning at Ole Miss
The environmental scanners at the University of Mississippi framed their scanning as an effort to locate information on eight issues. Once again, the fourteen trends that Walker identified as important can be seen in the trends being tracked at Ole Miss. The eight trends at Ole Miss are:
- Challenges posed by competitors in the higher education market
- Student preparedness and expectations
- Opportunities for external funding
- Partnering with other entities
- Attitudes of the public toward higher education
- Employment outlooks in Mississippi and the USA
- Sources for student financial aid
- Demand for off-campus and online courses and programs (Ole Miss 2010 Environmental Assessment Task Force, n.d.).
Environmental Scanning at the Center for Information Technology, BellevueUniversity
General Attitudes Toward Scanning
Professor Sue McDaniel offered to be interviewed for this paper. According to McDaniel, the professors in the center value the importance of scanning the external environment for trends and events that may affect the center. In particular, the center is involved in several training initiatives in the corporate world that are directly related to the willingness of the center to adapt quickly to market trends in the technology world.
The center has several traditional degree programs. According to McDaniel, these degree programs are evaluated periodically to make sure that they stay current. New courses are pondered and existing courses are modified as needed. The corporate training programs are modified almost continuously, while the traditional degrees are modified periodically. There is a balancing act in the traditional degrees between the stability necessary for students to complete a degree program versus the rapidly changing world of technology. Professors in the center press forward with innovations that the market demands as much as possible while still maintaining the stability necessary for students as they complete a sequence of courses leading to a degree.
Sources Being Scanned
One of the first steps in environmental scanning is to identify the sources to be scanned. In a quick oral survey, the professors in the Center for Information Technology at BellevueUniversity were asked to list the newspapers, magazines, and journals that they scan on a regular basis. Six of the seven professors were available for the survey, and they listed these sources, which are not in any particular order:
- Technology Today
- People
- The TechRepublic
- InfoWorld
- Microsoft Certified Partner Magazine
- Air Force Association Magazine
- Microsoft Certified Partner email bulletins
- Women In Technology Industries newsletter
- PC World
- Ebusiness Weekly
- Java Development Journal
- Interface Architect
- Syllabus
- CNN Business Report
- Deans and Provosts
- ComputerWorld
- EduCause
- EduPage
- The Omaha World-Herald
- The New York Times email bulletin
- Circuit Celler
- Harvard Business Review
- Journal of the American Association for Higher Education
The list of sources being scanned reveals that technology is well-represented in the list, with business and education also figuring prominently.
Interview with Director Creagan
An email interview with Dan Creagan, Director of the Center for Information Technology, provides further information on environmental scanning at the center. Creagan listed several additional sources of information, including Gartner Group reports and CompTIA, which is a non-profit organization specializing in entry-level technical certifications. The main topic being scanned when reviewing the Gartner Group reports and the CompTIA web site is market trends that might impact the curriculum offerings at the center.
Creagan also highlighted the role of the Advisory Board, which consists of senior executives in the Omaha metropolitan area’s technology companies. The board meets annually to examine the degree programs at the center, review past progress, and plan for the future.
In addition, Creagan pointed out the university has a professional growth program that assists in keeping professors current in their fields. Professors can use university funds to attend conferences and workshops, hear the latest in their fields, and then report the information to their colleagues.
Finally, Creagan pointed out that all of this information is then coordinated with the short, medium, and long-range planning processes of the university. A Project Planning Committee, composed of senior executives at the university, meets regularly to review and coordinate the various initiatives and projects throughout the university.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusions
This paper presented an overall picture of strategic planning and environmental scanning. Then, the paper investigated the general role of environmental scanning in the business and academic worlds. Key trends in environmental scanning were listed, and examples of results from two universities were highlighted.
Then, this paper investigated environmental scanning at the Center for Information Technology at BellevueUniversity. The professors were surveyed about the sources of information that they scan regularly, Professor McDaniel was interviewed about general attitudes toward environmental scanning at the center, and Director Creagan was interviewed via email about environmental scanning.
Several conclusions can be made as the goals and methods of environmental scanning are compared to the current practices of environmental scanning at the center.
- The professors read a range of sources in technical, business, and education areas.
- The center uses regularly scheduled meetings of an advisory board and a planning committee to help plan and coordinate strategic planning and environmental scanning.
- Professors are encouraged to look to the future when planning curriculum.
- Professors are encouraged to keep their skills current.
Scanning at the center falls into the analyzer mode as described earlier in this paper. The traditional degrees are relatively stable, while other opportunities in corporate training are much more dynamic. Innovation and efficiency are valued in all of the degrees programs, but there is room for more innovation in the corporate training area, and attitudes toward scanning reflect that difference.