HOW TO MOTIVATE LINE MANAGERS
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Successful implementation of these tasks should provide increased awareness and understanding of long-term environments and improve the strategic planning capabilities of the firm. More specifically, environmental inputs are helpful in product design, formulation of marketing strategies, determination of marketing mix, and research and development strategies. In addition, the scanner should train and motivate line managers to become sensitive to environmental trends, encouraging them to identify strategic versus tactical information and to understand the strategic problems of the firm as opposed to short-term sales policy and tactics. Time Horizon Scanning may be for a short term or a long term. Short-term scanning is useful for of Scanning programming various operations, and the term may last up to two years. Long- term scanning is needed for strategic planning, and the term may vary from three to twenty-five years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rarely does the term of scanning go beyond twenty-five years. The actual time horizon is determined by the nature of the product. Forest products, for example, require a longer time horizon because the company must make decisions about tree planting almost twenty-five years ahead of harvesting those trees for lumber. Fashion designers, however, may not extend scanning beyond four years. As a rule of thumb, the appropriate time horizon for environmental scanning is twice as long as the duration of the company’s strategic plan. For example, if a company’s strategic plan extends eight years into the future, the environmental scanning time horizon should be sixteen years. Likewise, a com- pany with a five-year planning horizon should scan the environment for ten years. Presumably, then, a multiproduct, multimarket company should have dif- ferent time horizons for environmental scanning. Using this rule of thumb, a company can be sure not only of discovering relevant trends and their impact on its products/markets but also of implementing necessary changes in its strategy to marshal opportunities provided by the environment and to avert environmental threats.