Environmental scanning practices during periods of high uncertainty

Abstract

The research on environmental scanning practices of medium sized finance companies in Thailand, during and after the 1997 economic crisis, shows that companies with well-organized and managed environmental scanning process have steered through the turbulent environment and have become highly competitive in their posture. As companies focus on short and long term horizons and look at a broader set of factors they are able to better foresee changes in the environment and respond towards these movements more pragmatically. The multi tier environmental scanning process inside these organizations helps in identifying opportunities for new products and services. However, companies who base their decisions on imitating competitors are vulnerable to the turbulent changes in the environment and are on the horns of a dilemma. They have not only to recover their non-performing loans but also need big effort to improve their products and services to face stiffer competition.