Asset Details
Do you wish to reserve the book?
Information Specificity and Environmental Scanning: An Economic Perspective
Hey, we have placed the reservation for you!
By the way, why not check out events that you can attend while you pick your title.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place the reservation. Kindly try again later.
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
Information Specificity and Environmental Scanning: An Economic Perspective
Do you wish to request the book?
Information Specificity and Environmental Scanning: An Economic Perspective
Please be aware that the book you have requested cannot be checked out. If you would like to checkout this book, you can reserve another copy
We have requested the book for you!
Your request is successful and it will be processed during the Library working hours. Please check the status of your request in My Requests.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place your request. Kindly try again later.
Journal Article
Information Specificity and Environmental Scanning: An Economic Perspective
1997
Overview
This paper addresses two questions. First, how does an organization allocate its environmental scanning resources among all the potential sources of information in the environment? Second, how does an organization allocate responsibility for acquiring environmental information? Specifically, when does an organization choose to monitor an environmental source within its hierarchy, and when does it outsource the task? In the former case, when does the responsibility for acquiring information rest with the ultimate user, and when is it delegated, either to a subordinate or to a central environmental scanning unit? The paper proposes a set of economic arguments to answer these questions. Borrowing from transaction cost theory, the paper develops the concept of information specificity to parallel the idea of asset specificity. Information specificity has two dimensions- knowledge specificity and time specificity. The paper uses transaction cost theory and agency theory to propose that the information acquisition choices made by managers and organizations are based on the specificity of the desired information. In making its arguments, the paper introduces the notion of cognitive transaction and agency costs to complement the behavioral costs that are the focus of traditional transaction cost and agency theory logic.
