Classical Concepts and Current Approaches in Competitive Intelligence: A Bibliometric Study from 2005 to 2015

Abstract

This article aims to identify the concepts of Competitive Intelligence according to the approach of the main authors referenced to characterize their conceptual currents and their research areas. In order to do so, a bibliometric study was carried out in IC, from 2005 to 2015, during which time the CI began to establish itself as the main information provider in organizations. The data were collected in the international journals of the Web of Science. The compiled articles were processed through the Bibexcel Software, generating a matrix of citations and co-citations, which processed, resulted in exploratory factorial analysis, allowing to relate the main classical or seminal authors in the theme, as well as the main currents that they defend. It is the main conclusion that all the approaches of the identified chains, be it in marketing, knowledge management, business, technology, among others, allow organizations a better strategic structuring. It was also possible to identify the current authors who continue to publish, based on their research, on the classic themes as well as the evolutions of the conceptual approaches. As for the theoretical contribution, it is emphasized that in fact, there is little research on the theoretical foundations of competitive intelligence, revealing important areas such as maturity of use of intelligence in organizations and theory of intelligence processes.