ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING: THE EFFECTS OF TASK COMPLEXITY AND SOURCE ACCESSIBILITY ON INFORMATION GATHERING BEHAVIOR*

Abstract

ABSTRACT This field study investigated the use of nine information sources (personal subscriptions to periodicals, company library, data bases, superiors, subordinates, peers, internal documents, consultants, and other outsiders) for environmental scanning by 362 professionals employed in the corporate headquarters of two large commercial organizations. The usage frequency of essentially all information sources was positively related to perceived accessibility; however, usage frequency also tended to be positively related to environmental complexity. These results suggest that the information‐gathering requirements associated with an individual's job may necessitate the use of less accessible sources, and this finding represents a break with prior research.