Characteristics in information processing approaches

This paper describes and compares different information processing approaches (terms). The purpose is to identify similarities and differences in the terms, relate them to and compare them with each other, but also to identify their underlying concepts and the course of events they represent. The terms or approaches addressed are Environmental scanning, Business, Competitive, Competitor, Market and Political intelligence, Marketing research and Information management. It was concluded that all approaches have a strong future orientation and strong ties to decision-making, and advocate that information is ennobled in one way or the other. The main differences lie in their focus, and in their scope. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.