Electronic Information: Scanning the Environment

Education in hospitality management must teach today's students—tomorrow's managers—how to use electronic databases to keep pace with technology, and this paper gives educators the knowledge to start this process now.

Abstract

Today's business environment is changing at an ever-increasing pace. Man-agers need to develop techniques that willprovide them with immediate access to accurate information. Electronic databases will be the information source tomorrow's managers use to meet theirgrowing information needs. /f education in hospitality management is to keep pace with technology, it must teach today's stodents-tornorrow's managers-how to use electronic databases. This paper gives educators the knowledge to start this process now. Key Words: Database, environment, marketing. The business environment includes factors outside of the organization that can lead to its success or failure. Without systematic environmental search and analysis, the time pressures of management can lead to inadequate responses to environ-mental changes (Glueck et al., 1984). Environmental analysis, once confined to corporate strategists, is now an activity that should be performedon the unit levelas wellas the corporate level. (Lewis and Chambers, 1989). Oneareaof environmental