"The main rationale for business environmental scanning is the same as for most of the futures methodologies, that is, the world and the operating environment for communities, organizations and individuals is increasingly turbulent and uncertain. Change is rapid and can be quite unanticipated unless a structured process is in place that scans for emerging developments. Similarly, social organizations, like living organisms are open systems exchanging information, energy and materials. The boundaries operating in the increasing complexity and interdependence of today, have become extremely permeable and caused organizations to be far more sensitive to external factors than they were previously. Thus, the external environment has become as responsible for shaping an organization as much as internal forces have. Several studies have explored the relationship between environmental scanning and corporate performance and all have found a positive link between environmental assessment and performance. It has also been noted that environmental scanning has become a widely accepted part of the strategic planning process of many firms and that the effectiveness of strategic planning in an organization depends greatly on the capacity for environmental scanning."

Please send the papers via email address: markku.wilenius@tse.fi

Chairs:

Markku Wilenius, Research director Tel. +358 9 6227 0470, +358 50 592 9121 Email markku.wilenius@tse.fi Dr. Markku Wilenius has since June 1999 worked as a director of Finland Futures Research Centre at the Turku School of Economics. Currently Dr. Wilenius is research director of the centre. He has a long-term interest on future-related issues. He acted 1996-1999 as co-ordinator of a major futures research initiative Citizenship and Ecomodernisation in the Information Society. Dr. Wilenius has also extensive research experience on issues involving the politics of climate change. His output includes three books, a doctoral dissertation and numerous articles in international scientific journals. His research interests include sustainable development, information society, futures methodologies and Intellectual Capital management. He does extensively presentations and consultations for private companies and public institutions. He is a director of the Finnish partner in two on-going EU/IST research projects, Terra2000 and Ecostat.

Mika Aaltonen, Development director Tel. +358 9 6224 054, +358 40 590 2131 Email mika.aaltonen@tse.fi Mika Aaltonen is a Ph.D. (economics and business administration), author of eight books and over 50 articles about visionary leadership, strategic thinking, foresight, competitiveness, sense making and storytelling related issues. He is development director in the Finland Futures Research Centre.