Environmental Scanning on the Internet

This study investigates the important organizational task of environmental scanning in an Internet context. A theoretical model relating potential causal factors to effectiveness of environmental scanning was formulated based on a synthesis of environmental scanning literature that took into consideration the Internet context. A questionnaire was developed for data collection. Responses from 105 organizations were tested for convergent and discriminant validity before the theoretical model was assessed using PLS analysis. Results showed that smaller organizations tend to scan more frequently on the Internet, both use of external consultants and volatility of competitor sector tend to cause organizations to scan more frequently on the Internet, and both use of external consultants and scanning frequency on the Internet tend to result in effectiveness of environ- mental scanning. Additional insights on these results were obtained through telephone interviews with 10 respondents

Results of Environmental Scanning Applied to the Design of a Deer Management Decision Support System (DSS) For The United States and California

Using freely available internet search tools for environmental scanning, information related to deer management was collected, categorized, and evaluated with the goal of providing public decision support. Key issues raised in the public debate discovered by the search are addressed with relevant information formatted as output for a decision support system – dashboard elements. A graph addresses contradictory reports about the current direction of the deer population; the trend since 2006 appears to be down. Another graph illustrates the approximate longterm population trend; the current U.S. white-tailed deer population is about the same as in 1500. A table summarizes profiles of state deer issues and strategies. Only eleven states are trying to reduce their deer population. A graph illustrates the rise and fall of the California population, the most dramatic population decline in the U.S. over the past 100 years. Hunting pressure and herd demographic management are found to be related to the decline, making these candidate variables for attention in the decision support system. This case application is designed to illustrate methods the author has learned in creating a variety of decision support applications for technology companies

Weak signal identification with semantic web mining

We investigate an automated identification of weak signals according to Ansoff to improve strategic planning and technological forecasting. Literature shows that weak signals can be found in the organization's environment and that they appear in different contexts. We use internet information to represent organization's environment and we select these websites that are related to a given hypothesis. In contrast to related research, a methodology is provided that uses latent semantic indexing (LSI) for the identification of weak signals. This improves existing knowledge based approaches because LSI considers the aspects of meaning and thus, it is able to identify similar textual patterns in different contexts. A new weak signal maximization approach is introduced that replaces the commonly used prediction modeling approach in LSI. It enables to calculate the largest number of relevant weak signals represented by singular value decomposition (SVD) dimensions. A case study identifies and analyses weak signals to predict trends in the field of on-site medical oxygen production. This supports the planning of research and development (R&D) for a medical oxygen supplier. As a result, it is shown that the proposed methodology enables organizations to identify weak signals from the internet for a given hypothesis. This helps strategic planners to react ahead of time

Hydrogen-powered road vehicles : the health benfits and drawbacks of a new fuel

Because of the political, social and environmental problems associated with dependency on fossil fuels, there is considerable interest in alternative energy sources. Hydrogen is regarded as a promising option, particularly as a fuel for road vehicles. The Dutch Energy Research Centre (ECN) recently published a vision of the future, in which it suggested that by 2050 more than half of all cars in the Netherlands could be running on hydrogen. A switch to using hydrogen as the primary energy source for road vehicles would have far-reaching social consequences. As with all technological developments, opportunities would be created, but drawbacks would inevitably be encountered as well. Some of the disadvantages associated with hydrogen are already known, and are to some degree manageable. It is likely, however, that other drawbacks would come to light only once hydrogen-powered cars were actually in use. With that thought in mind, and in view of the social significance of a possible transition to hydrogen, it was decided that the Health Council should assess the positive and negative effects that hydrogen use could have on public health. It is particularly important to make such an assessment at the present early stage in the development of hydrogen technologies, so that gaps in existing scientific knowledge may be identified and appropriate strategies may be developed for addressing such gaps. This report has been produced by the Health and Environment Surveillance Committee, which has special responsibility for the identification of important correlations between environmental factors and public health

USING THE INTERNET IN THE ACTIVITIES OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING IN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DOI:10.5773/rai.v1i1.526

Este artigo tem como proposta compreender a importância da sistematização do monitoramento ambiental em PMEs (pequenas e médias empresas), considerando que o entendimento de como as empresas buscam e utilizam informações da Internet é de grande relevância para esse processo, mantendo-as mais competitivas no seu mercado. Foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica sobre monitoramento ambiental, avaliando que vários modelos genéricos são descritos na literatura, apesar de que muitos não direcionam seus esforços para empresas de pequeno ou médio porte. A metodologia utilizada foi descritiva com estudo de caso único, de forma a apresentar os procedimentos realizados por uma empresa ao utilizar dados da Internet em seu monitoramento ambiental, comparando a prática utilizada com as etapas do modelo descrito na literatura. Os resultados demonstraram que a Internet é utilizada como uma importante fonte para o monitoramento ambiental dessa empresa, mas a busca por informações on-line ocorre sem sistematização, intuitivamente e de forma reativa. Este artigo contribui para que PMEs vislumbrem a importância de monitorar o ambiente e passem a adotar um modelo formal que sistematize a obtenção e o uso da informação on-line, tornando-as mais estratégicas para o seu negócio.This article aims to understand the importance of systematic environmental scanning in SMEs (small and medium enterprises), whereas the understanding of how companies seek and use information from the Internet is of great relevance to this process, keeping them more competitive in their market. For this was a literature review of environmental scanning, evaluating that several generic models are described in the literature, although many don’t direct their efforts for small and medium enterprises. The methodology used was a descriptive single case study to present the procedures performed by a company that uses data from the Internet in its environmental scanning, comparing the practice used with the steps of the model described in the literature. The results showed that the Internet is used as an important source for environmental scanning of this company, but the search for on-line information happens without systematic, intuitively and reactively. This article contributes to help SMEs to perceive the importance of scanning the environment and begin to adopt a formal model that systematizes the search and use of on-line information, making them more strategic to their business

A framework on information behaviour of SME managers for decision-making on emerging ICTs

The aim of this study is to explore the perceived information needs and information behaviours of manager of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As technology advancement and innovation are changing rapidly affecting organisations in different ways, organization executives are introducing new technologies for their operations and business environment becomes more complex and dynamic, government introducing different policies to guide the use of these emerging ICTs. As a result, information becomes significant during adoption decision-making process for SME managers to make an inform decision. To achieve this aim, a framework is developed based on existing literature, using the technology organization environmental (TOE) model as the theoretical underpinning for empirical investigation on information behaviour of SME managers in this study. This study is qualitative in nature, and semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with twenty SME managers in the UK service sector. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. Following Myers and Newman’s (2007) guidelines for qualitative interview and triangulation method were used to validate the conceptual framework and established the research rigour and quality. The research findings explained information behaviours of SME managers in the contexts of technology organisation environment as information behaviour triggered and perceived information needs during the adoption decision in SMEs. These findings provide further insight into ICT adoption in SMEs through information behaviours and highlighted the significant of sources of information and pre-information needed during the decision-making process. The research also contributes to theory in the information systems field by using relevant literature from information science field to explore information behaviours of SME managers. Future research can be done in other sectors of the economy to show more holistic behaviours of SME managers

USING THE INTERNET IN THE ACTIVITIES OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING IN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DOI:10.5773/rai.v1i1.526

Este artigo tem como proposta compreender a importância da sistematização do monitoramento ambiental em PMEs (pequenas e médias empresas), considerando que o entendimento de como as empresas buscam e utilizam informações da Internet é de grande relevância para esse processo, mantendo-as mais competitivas no seu mercado. Foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica sobre monitoramento ambiental, avaliando que vários modelos genéricos são descritos na literatura, apesar de que muitos não direcionam seus esforços para empresas de pequeno ou médio porte. A metodologia utilizada foi descritiva com estudo de caso único, de forma a apresentar os procedimentos realizados por uma empresa ao utilizar dados da Internet em seu monitoramento ambiental, comparando a prática utilizada com as etapas do modelo descrito na literatura. Os resultados demonstraram que a Internet é utilizada como uma importante fonte para o monitoramento ambiental dessa empresa, mas a busca por informações on-line ocorre sem sistematização, intuitivamente e de forma reativa. Este artigo contribui para que PMEs vislumbrem a importância de monitorar o ambiente e passem a adotar um modelo formal que sistematize a obtenção e o uso da informação on-line, tornando-as mais estratégicas para o seu negócio.This article aims to understand the importance of systematic environmental scanning in SMEs (small and medium enterprises), whereas the understanding of how companies seek and use information from the Internet is of great relevance to this process, keeping them more competitive in their market. For this was a literature review of environmental scanning, evaluating that several generic models are described in the literature, although many don’t direct their efforts for small and medium enterprises. The methodology used was a descriptive single case study to present the procedures performed by a company that uses data from the Internet in its environmental scanning, comparing the practice used with the steps of the model described in the literature. The results showed that the Internet is used as an important source for environmental scanning of this company, but the search for on-line information happens without systematic, intuitively and reactively. This article contributes to help SMEs to perceive the importance of scanning the environment and begin to adopt a formal model that systematizes the search and use of on-line information, making them more strategic to their business