This study examined sources of information used, environmental scanning practices, and organisational performance of CEOs of 47 small to mediumsized Nigerian manufacturing rms. The results show that environmental scanning practices vary from rm to rm depending on the characteristics of the environment within which they have to operate. For the Nigerian sample there was greater scanning frequency in the economic and political/legal sectors of the environment, followed by the customer/market and competitor sectors. Environmental scanning frequency did not appear to affect organisational performance as measured by pro t margin and return on equity. There was a preference for internal over external sources of information, but there was no difference in the use of personal and impersonal sources. The results are evaluated in light of the characteristics of the Nigerian environment and the results of prior scanning research.
Data are presented to support the argument that motivation to manage is a major cause of managerial effectiveness, that it declined sharply in the college population during the activism of the 1960s and early 1970s, and that it is now severely lacking in the United States relative to many other countries. Thus America's competitiveness problems appear to be largely motivational in nature. Possible solutions are discussed, including recruiting and selecting for managerial motivation, increasing motivation to manage using training and development techniques, and changing organizational designs (telescoping the scalar chain, moving managerial tasks into non-managerial positions, resorting to professional forms, and expanding venture structures). 0 1995 by John WiIey & Sons, Inc. 2. Motivation to manage exhibited a sharp decline on college campuses during the activism of the 1960s and early 1970s, and this de-CCC 0090-4848/95/030363-25 90% 96% Favorable attitude to superiors 83 40 64 Desire to compete I 50 60 54 Desire to compete II 34 40 36 Desire to exercise power 66 100 82 Desire to assert oneself 83 40 64 Desire to be distinct 17 80 45 Desire to perform routine du-83 60 64 ties responsibly Miner, Ebrahimi, and Wachtel: Deficiencies in Motivation / 381
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