Original Research
Towards a universal definition of competitive intelligence
Submitted: 18 February 2013 | Published: 15 October 2013
About the author(s)
Rene Pellissier, School of Business Leadership, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South AfricaTshilidzi E. Nenzhelele, Department of Business Management, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
Abstract
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.
Keywords
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Crossref Citations
1. Competitive intelligence tools used by small and medium-sized enterprises
Tshilidzi Eric Nenzhelele
Journal of Governance and Regulation vol: 4 issue: 3 first page: 191 year: 2015
doi: 10.22495/jgr_v4_i3_c2_p1