Towards a universal definition of competitive intelligence
Background: Enterprises face intense competition caused by globalisation. Consequently, enterprises look for tools that provide a competitive advantage. Competitive intelligence (CI) provides a competitive advantage to enterprises of all sizes. There are many definitions of CI but no universally acc...
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doaj-2018affc6e984014a2012db8556333352020-11-24T22:02:17ZengAOSISSouth African Journal of Information Management2078-18651560-683X2013-10-01152e1e710.4102/sajim.v15i2.559468Towards a universal definition of competitive intelligenceRene Pellissier0Tshilidzi E. Nenzhelele1School of Business Leadership, University of South Africa, PretoriaDepartment of Business Management, University of South Africa, PretoriaBackground: Enterprises face intense competition caused by globalisation. Consequently, enterprises look for tools that provide a competitive advantage. Competitive intelligence (CI) provides a competitive advantage to enterprises of all sizes. There are many definitions of CI but no universally accepted one. Objectives: The purpose of this research is to review the current literature on CI with the aim of identifying and analysing CI definitions to establish the commonalities and differences, to propose a universal and comprehensive definition of CI and to set the borders of CI for common understanding amongst CI stakeholders. Method: The study was qualitative in nature and content analysis was conducted on all identified sources establishing and analysing CI definitions. To identify relevant literature, academic databases and search engines were used. A review of references in related studies led to more relevant sources, the references of which were further reviewed and analysed. Keywords ‘competitive intelligence’, ‘marketing intelligence’ and ‘business intelligence’ were used in search engines to find relevant sources. To ensure reliability, only peer-reviewed articles were used. Results: The majority of scholars define CI as a process and acknowledge that CI is collected from the internal and external or competitive environment. They also outline the goals of CI, which are to help in decision-making and provide a competitive advantage. Conclusion: The proposed definition outlines the process, purpose, source, deliverables, beneficiaries, benefit, ethicality and legality of CI, sets out the borders of CI and ensures a common understanding amongst CI stakeholders.https://sajim.co.za/index.php/sajim/article/view/559Competitive IntelligenceCompetitive AdvantageEthicsDefinition of Competitive Intelligence |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Rene Pellissier Tshilidzi E. Nenzhelele |
spellingShingle |
Rene Pellissier Tshilidzi E. Nenzhelele Towards a universal definition of competitive intelligence South African Journal of Information Management Competitive Intelligence Competitive Advantage Ethics Definition of Competitive Intelligence |
author_facet |
Rene Pellissier Tshilidzi E. Nenzhelele |
author_sort |
Rene Pellissier |
title |
Towards a universal definition of competitive intelligence |
title_short |
Towards a universal definition of competitive intelligence |
title_full |
Towards a universal definition of competitive intelligence |
title_fullStr |
Towards a universal definition of competitive intelligence |
title_full_unstemmed |
Towards a universal definition of competitive intelligence |
title_sort |
towards a universal definition of competitive intelligence |
publisher |
AOSIS |
series |
South African Journal of Information Management |
issn |
2078-1865 1560-683X |
publishDate |
2013-10-01 |
description |
Background: Enterprises face intense competition caused by globalisation. Consequently, enterprises look for tools that provide a competitive advantage. Competitive intelligence (CI) provides a competitive advantage to enterprises of all sizes. There are many definitions of CI but no universally accepted one.
Objectives: The purpose of this research is to review the current literature on CI with the aim of identifying and analysing CI definitions to establish the commonalities and differences, to propose a universal and comprehensive definition of CI and to set the borders of CI for common understanding amongst CI stakeholders.
Method: The study was qualitative in nature and content analysis was conducted on all identified sources establishing and analysing CI definitions. To identify relevant literature, academic databases and search engines were used. A review of references in related studies led to more relevant sources, the references of which were further reviewed and analysed. Keywords ‘competitive intelligence’, ‘marketing intelligence’ and ‘business intelligence’ were used in search engines to find relevant sources. To ensure reliability, only peer-reviewed articles were used.
Results: The majority of scholars define CI as a process and acknowledge that CI is collected from the internal and external or competitive environment. They also outline the goals of CI, which are to help in decision-making and provide a competitive advantage.
Conclusion: The proposed definition outlines the process, purpose, source, deliverables, beneficiaries, benefit, ethicality and legality of CI, sets out the borders of CI and ensures a common understanding amongst CI stakeholders. |
topic |
Competitive Intelligence Competitive Advantage Ethics Definition of Competitive Intelligence |
url |
https://sajim.co.za/index.php/sajim/article/view/559 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT renepellissier towardsauniversaldefinitionofcompetitiveintelligence AT tshilidzienenzhelele towardsauniversaldefinitionofcompetitiveintelligence |
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