Scan™ Monthly No. 082 December 2009
The New Face of Scan™
Scan™ helps our clients cope with a flood of conflicting information and provides a mechanism to see emerging issues that could offer opportunities or threats. In our discussions with clients we have learned that it would be useful to modify the way we communicate Scan results to widen the view into the Scan process.
Effective in January 2010, we will take the first steps. Scan will continue to provide six Signals of Change each month; we will add 12 Patterns of change. These Patterns describe important topics from our Scan meetings but are at an earlier stage of development than the Signals. We think that the Patterns will provide a deeper look into the monthly results and add a wider range of topics of interest.
We will provide a Meeting Synopsis in place of the Scan™ Monthly. The Synopsis will provide a brief look at each month's Signals and Patterns. The Synopsis will have links directly to each piece, but organizations can also circulate it.
These changes will make Scan more accessible, while providing a wider view into the results each month. We appreciate your feedback about changes to the Scan effort and welcome additional ideas about how to make Scan more insightful and useful to you.
Best regards,
Martin Schwirn
Director, Scan™
The Scan™ Process: A Jump on the Future
Scan offers organizations a jump on the future.
The future is uncertain, and constantly changing dynamics alter the external environment at an ever-increasing pace. Scan is the strategic and tactical radar that searches the external environment for seminal events triggering those changes.
We provide early awareness of changes by analyzing and interpreting relevant events in the marketplace—our clients can focus on their organization. Our clients can customize our portfolio of evaluated and verifiable developments for all their tactical needs and strategies. Scan is the organizational radar to navigate the future.
SBI's Scan process is a continuous process that has improved and had updates frequently in the past 30 years. The following text describes a beginning and an end point of the process, but the process is in fact continuous, with many parts going on simultaneously and in concert to provide uninterrupted and systematic scanning of the business-relevant environments to our clients.
Calendar
Scan™ Abstract Meetings
Scan abstract meetings (in which Strategic Business Insights [SBI] staff participate in a free-form discussion of current Scan abstracts) are open for client observation/participation in Menlo Park on:
- 20 January 2010
- 17 February 2010
- 17 March 2010
- 21 April 2010
- 19 May 2010
- 9 June 2010
- 7 July 2010
- 4 August 2010
- 1 September 2010
- 6 October 2010
- 3 November 2010
- 1 December 2010.
Scan also sponsors frequent Scan Meetings in Croydon, England; Tokyo, Japan; and Washington, D.C. Contact your SBI marketing representative to schedule participation in any of the Scan Meetings.