Chief executive scanning, environmental characteristics, and company performance: An empirical study

• Published in: Strategic management journal Vol. 9; no. 2; pp. 123 - 139
• Main Authors: Daft, Richard L, Sormunen, Juhani, Parks, Don
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.03.1988; John Wiley and Sons; John Wiley; Wiley Periodicals Inc
• Subjects: Best available technology; Business structures; Commercial regulation; Competition; Correlation coefficients; Correlations; Customers; Decision making; Economic regulation; Economic sectors; Economic uncertainty; Executives; Hypotheses; Information processing; Information sources; Manufacturing; Rates of change; Statistical mode; Strategic management
• ISSN: 0143-2095; 1097-0266
• DOI: 10.1002/smj.4250090204

Chief executives in 50 manufacturing companies were interviewed about the perceived strategic uncertainty in six environmental sectors, and the frequency and mode of scanning used for each sector. The findings suggest that customer, economic and competitor sectors generated greater strategic uncertainty than technological, regulatory and sociocultural sectors. When sector uncertainty was high, executives reported greater frequency of scanning and greater use of personal information sources. Chief executives in high-performing companies scanned more frequently and more broadly in response to strategic uncertainty than their counterparts in low-performing companies.