Environmental scanning refers to $...$

setting up a regular schedule to assess the performance of different divisions within a firm.

requiring all employees to spend time outside the office to avoid the "ivory tower" syndrome.

assessing any possible negative impact a firm's activities might have on the local ecology.

initiating an internal talent search to identify employees who can think "outside the box" to generate solutions to marketing problems caused by changes in the marketing environment.

continually acquiring information on events occurring outside the organization to identify and interpret potential trends.