| |
What is Environmental Scanning?
The act of identifying and documenting an increase in
frequency in activities, beliefs and behaviors from
newspapers, magazines, books, TV, radio and the Internet
and many other sources. One searches for such phrases
as "a growing number of people…", "increasingly…,"
a trend is developing in…" which are indicators
of a trend. ES is the act of finding more than one reference
to the same phenomenon. By environmental scanning one
can learn to distinguish trends from the general flood
of information put out by the media. One learns to analyze
the direction development appears to be headed in a
variety of areas. From such trends one can has a solid
basis for creating possible scenarios, both possible
and desirable.
Scanning Insight (External video link)
Why Environmental Scanning?
In order to:
- Understand what is happening today and realize
the importance this might have on the future
- Look at the current situation from many different
viewpoints
- Put together many different pictures of reality,
try to see patterns or parts of the systems to which
the information refers
- Learn to think in new ways
Suggestions to scanning areas (variables)
Education
Healthcare
Food and food production
Housing and community planning
Information technology
Transportation and tourism
Media
Culture, entertainment, sports
Environment
Family life
Values and lifestyle
Economy
Community Development
Work and work life
Globalization
Genetics
Aging
Regionalization
Demography
Politics
Technology/Science
Back to Consultant Services
|
|
