Study of the Information Sources Features and its Effect on Manager's Environmental Scanning Behavior

The purpose of the present study is to identify the features of information sources and its influence on manager's environmental scanning behavior in second industrial area of Ahvaz. An analytical survey method is used to analyze the relationship between variables. The findings showed that from among 16 information sources, managers used subordinate staff (M=3.37) more than other sources for environmental scanning. Also they revealed that work experts had the greatest quality and richness with means of (M=3.81) and (M=3.69), respectively; and that subordinate staff (M=3.58) were the most accessible information sources. In addition, the personal information sources within the organization, compared to impersonal sources out of the organization were more qualified, accessible and rich. Executives used managers or assistant's (M=3.73) as information sources more frequently than other information sources in environmental scanning. Furthermore the results of testing hypotheses showed that there was a significant relationship between perceived accessibility, quality, and richness of the source from the view point of managers and the frequency with which managers used it for environmental scanning.