An environmental scan is a critical first step in strategic planning, involving the collection and analysis of information about external and internal factors that can affect the organization. Among essential elements, competitive analysisis fundamental as it helps identify the organization's competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, and potential threats or opportunities in the competitive landscape. This aligns with IASP's focus on understanding external environmental factors, as the competitive environment directly influences strategic decision-making. Long-term climate predictions or workload analysis, while potentially useful in some contexts, are not universally essential, and management biographies are internal data that do not inform external environmental scanning. Competitive analysis enables organizations to proactively position themselves in the market and anticipate changes that impact strategic success.#IASP SPP Study Guide - Environmental Scanning##Porter, M.E. Competitive Strategy, 1980#