Introduction

Scanning the environment is the necessary preliminary to everything we do; whatever our individual situation we cannot ignore what goes on around us - changes in society, new ways of working, re-engineered business processes, revised organizational cultures, personal empowerment, electronic information sources, new technological applications. What other professionals are doing in the face of these changes, and how organizations can adapt and survive also need to be monitored, both for ideas we may gain and for niches we may exploit. Our own effectiveness as managers and our appreciation of the information commodity represent a third segment of the environment, and we need all the support we can get as we scan the world for new influences.