Environmental scanning
Environmental scanning is a process in which an organisation monitors its internal and external environment as a means of formulating or altering a strategic plan. It involves the ongoing tracking of trends, occurrences, patterns and relationships within its different environments and detecting early indications of opportunities or threats to the current and future plans of the organisation.
In a construction context, an organisation may gather information about the external environment; its competitors, pricing, technology, legislation, government policy, consumer behaviour, as well as information about its internal environment; its strengths and weaknesses.
This allows the state of the organisation to be assessed, and compared to the vision for where it plans to be in five or ten years’ time. This can be used to develop a forward strategy, identifying changes to company policy, objectives, activities and so on that can be made.
One popular method of environmental scanning is SWOT analysis. Each letter stands for one area to review: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The strengths and opportunities are factors within the company, and the weaknesses and threats come from sources outside the company.
Most scans include a thorough look at competition, economics, technology, legal issues, and social/demographic factors.
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
Roles and responsibilities of domestic clients
ACA Safety in Construction guide for domestic clients.
Plumbing and heating for sustainability in new properties
Technical Engineer runs through changes in regulations, innovations in materials, and product systems.
Awareness of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
What CBAM is and what to do about it.
The new towns and strategic environmental assessments
12 locations of the New Towns Taskforce reduced to 7 within the new towns draft programme and open consultation.
Buildings that changed the future of architecture. Book review.
The Sustainability Pathfinder© Handbook
Built environment agency launches free Pathfinder© tool to help businesses progress sustainability strategies.
Government outcome to the late payment consultation, ECA reacts.
IHBC 2025 Gus Astley Student Award winners
Work on the role of hewing in UK historic conservation a win for Jack Parker of Oxford Brookes University.
Future Homes Building Standards and plug-in solar
Parts F and L amendments, the availability of solar panels and industry responses.
How later living housing can help solve the housing crisis
Unlocking homes, unlocking lives.
Preparing safety case reports for HRBs under the BSA
A new practical guide to preparing structural inputs for safety cases and safety case reports published by IStructE.
Male construction workers and prostate cancer
CIOB and Prostate Cancer UK encourage awareness of prostate cancer risks, and what to do about it.
The changed R&D tax landscape for Architects
Specialist gives a recap on tax changes for Research and Development, via the ACA newsletter.
Structured product data as a competitive advantage
NBS explain why accessible product data that works across digital systems is key.
Welsh retrofit workforce assessment
Welsh Government report confirms Wales faces major electrical skills shortage, warns ECA.
A now architectural practice looks back at its concept project for a sustainable oceanic settlement 25 years on.
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence
Government report and back track on copyright opt out for AI training but no clear preferred alternative as yet.