This paper proposes a comparative model of organizations as interpretation systems, describing four modes of interpretation: enacting, discovering, undirected viewing, and conditioned viewing. Each mode is determined by management's beliefs about the environment and organizational intrusiveness. The authors hypothesize that these interpretation modes are associated with differences in environmental scanning, equivocality reduction, strategy, and decision-making within organizations. The model integrates various ideas and empirical facts about organizational environmental interpretation, aiming to stimulate future research on scanning and interpretation processes. The paper also discusses the implications of the model for organizational research and management practice, emphasizing the importance of interpretation in organizational behavior and the need for managers to understand and adapt their interpretation strategies.This paper proposes a comparative model of organizations as interpretation systems, describing four modes of interpretation: enacting, discovering, undirected viewing, and conditioned viewing. Each mode is determined by management's beliefs about the environment and organizational intrusiveness. The authors hypothesize that these interpretation modes are associated with differences in environmental scanning, equivocality reduction, strategy, and decision-making within organizations. The model integrates various ideas and empirical facts about organizational environmental interpretation, aiming to stimulate future research on scanning and interpretation processes. The paper also discusses the implications of the model for organizational research and management practice, emphasizing the importance of interpretation in organizational behavior and the need for managers to understand and adapt their interpretation strategies.