Business environmental scanning practices and SME
performance, was submitted in 2001 and the researcher examined various types
of information collected by entrepreneurs, methods of collection, and use of
information in business decision making. Thus, the thesis provided some insight
into management styles linked to information and enterprise success. For
purposes of the research, business environmental scanning was defined as
gathering and using information about events, trends and changes in an
enterprise’s external environment, the knowledge of which assists owners and
managers in enterprise decisions. The need to find and collect such external
information is a reflection of the attitudes of owners and managers and hence this
area of small enterprise research is relevant in looking at management styles and
success in Asia. This thesis and its research outcomes is referred to also in the
following section dealing with functional and technical procedures adopted by
owners and managers of small enterprises in Asia