Monitoring

• When monitoring, analysts observe environmental changes to see if an important trend is emerging from among those spotted through scanning.
• Critical to successful monitoring is the firm’s ability to detect meaning in environmental events and trends.
• Firms will continue monitoring to see if a trend is developing. Once they identify something is indeed a trend, they will seek to understand its competitive implications.
• Effective monitoring requires the firm to identify important stakeholders and understand its reputation among these stakeholders as the foundation for serving their unique needs.
• One means of monitoring major stakeholders is by using interlocking directorates.
• directors that serve on other boards of directors are referred to as

  interlocking directorates
• They facilitate information and knowledge transfer from external

  sources.

  interlocking directorates
• Scanning and monitoring are particularly important when a firm competes in an industry with high technological uncertainty.
• Scanning and monitoring also serve as a means of importing knowledge about markets and about how to successfully commercialize the new

  technologies the firm has developed.