Conduct an Environmental Scan

An environmental scan is an analysis of a company's external, industrial, and internal environments to determine if there is a market for a product or service. Since there is not a standard report called an environmental scan, you'll need to collect and analyze the information from multiple sources.

The three tools primarily used to help survey the external, industrial, and internal environments an organization operates in are:

• Company and Industry Reports: Many of the company or industry profiles you locate in the library will have some information on environmental factors that impact the organization.
• 10-Ks: Review the Risk Factors and Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) sections.
• Industry Associations: Associations monitor industry trends and developments.
• News and Current Events: Business publications and news articles will report on current events related to the company and/or industry.
• SWOT Analysis: These reports provide the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the organization.
• Government Agencies: Agencies provide a multitude of reports and statistics covering all the environmental components included in a scan.

If you are seeking international information, search the search box on the library home page using:

Marketline AND “country report” AND country name

Need help finding additional information? Ask us!

We’ll work with you to identify specific resources and search techniques to keep you moving forward.