Perceived environmental uncertainty, information literacy and environmental scanning : towards a refined framework

Abstract

Introduction. Environmental scanning is serving as an effective way for organizations to detect environmental signals and hence formulate adaptive strategies for survival and success. Prior studies have put much emphasis on the frequency of scanning, as it was found to be positively correlated with environmental uncertainty. However, the role of related information literacy skills for conducting scanning activities has not received equal attention. Whether more frequent scanning or better information literacy competencies would result in more effective environmental scanning remains unexplored. Method. This study investigates the relationship between perceived strategic uncertainty and environmental scanning activities of forty-two travel agents in Singapore through a pre-tested, questionnaire-based survey. Analysis. Descriptive analysis was conducted for each varible. Correlation analysis and ANOVA test were carried out to test the proposed hypotheses. Results. It was found that the frequency of collecting and organizing information is positively correlated with perceived strategic uncertainty, and the information literacy skills for conducting all steps of environmental scanning are more important, in terms of the overall quality of the end product. Moreover, it is worth noting that the frequency of collecting information, which is emphasized by previous studies, does not have significant correlation with the information quality. Conclusions. More frequent information collection may not necessarily lead to better quality of information. The collected information should be properly processed, organized, disseminated and evaluated to realize its value.