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In-Depth Information
As reported in the previous study on corporate
planning, a systematic ES could lead to organi-
zational performances. Researches (such as Dev
& Olsen, 1989; West, 1990) have found a positive
relationship between environmental scanning,
strategy and performances. In a dynamic situation
confronting hospitality industry ES can be seen as
becoming more important as a tool for corporate
planning.
on the information/data collected on which strate-
gic decisions are made (Bischoff, et al., 2012). Past
researches show that scanning firms demonstrate
significant performance than non-scanning firms
(Newgren, et al., 1984; Jain, 1984, Karim & Hus-
sein, 2008).
Preservation of organizational memory
becomes increasingly important to organizations
as it is recognized that experiential knowledge and
organizational learning is the key to competitive-
ness. Nevertheless, the information/data collected
is not properly organized (Stein, et al., 1995).
Mayer (2012) proposed five ways to improve
today's Environmental Scanning system (1) design
a more comprehensive information model (2)
set up a collective learning process for interpret-
ing information (3) use IS to enable management
technique familiar to executives (4) design proc-
esses for more internationalization and (5) acceler-
ate prototyping.
The business environment is increasingly
becoming uncertain and complex. Environmental
Scanning is a systematic way for organizations to
detect changes and trends. Therefore, information
literacy skills are required to conduct effective and
efficient environmental scanning activities as it is
an information intensive process (Zhang, et al.,
2010). Good quality information can improve deci-
sion making, enhance efficiency and allow organi-
zation to gain competitive advantage (Karim &
Hussein, 2008).
1.2
Hotel industry in Malaysia
Hotel sector are vital to the Malaysian economy
as tourism industry is the 2nd contributor to
the country's Gross Domestic Products (GDP).
Tourist arrival into Malaysia for 2010 is about
24 million people. Hospitality industry at large
strives in unpredictable business environments
characterized by technological advancement,
economic structure, intense competition, chang-
ing social preference and uncertainty of climate
change. There are about 2,503 hotels in Malay-
sia (MOT, 2013) with average occupancy rate of
60 percent, the competition is very intense and
organizations that can anticipate changes and
address them before-hand can assist hotels to
remain relevant to the market. In Kuala Lumpur
city centre alone, there are about 180 five star
hotel establishments.
In the Malaysian Economic Transformational
Program (ETP), tourism has been earmarked
as one of the National Key Economic Areas
(NKEA). Malaysia is to focus on 12 NKEAs to
boost the economy and achieve a high income
status by 2020. These 12 NKEAs are the core of
the Malaysian ETP that will receive prioritized
government support including funding, top tal-
ent and national attention. In addition, policy
reforms such as the removal of barriers to com-
petition and market liberalization will be targeted
at these NKEAs. This program will be the driver
to stimulate economic activity that will contribute
towards attaining high income, sustainability and
completeness to the nation. The development of
new luxury Hotel sectors under ETP is one of the
driving forces for NKEA (12_National_Key_Eco-
nomic_Areas, 2102).
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1
Environmental scanning
Environmental Scanning is the acquisition and use
of information about events, trends and relation-
ships in an organization's external environment,
the knowledge of which would assist management
in planning the organization's future course of
action (Aguilar, 1967, Choo & Auster, 1993).
Environmental Scanning is a process that sys-
tematically surveys and interprets relevant data to
identify external opportunities and threats.With
the changes in economy, Environmental Scanning
becomes the main driver for competitiveness (Raja
Mejri, et al., 2013).
An organization gathers information about the
external world, its competitors and itself. The com-
pany should then respond to the information gath-
ered by changing its strategies and plans when the
need arises (Choo, 1998).
It is a system using formalized procedures to
provide management at all levels in all functions
with appropriate information, based on data from
both internal and external sources, to enable them
1.3
Research issue
Environmental scanning systems are an important
instrument for supporting managerial decision
making, especially in turbulent times. The recent
economic crisis provided a sustainable impulse for
focusing earlier on emerging threats and opportu-
nities. Although a rich body of knowledge exists,
concepts remain unused in practice. Most often
they lack applicability due to the lack of integrity
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