Abstract
Privatization, partial tariff liberalization and entrance of foreign insurance companies in Iranian market pose serious challenges to domestic insurance companies. This paper discusses competitive intelligence as a means of gaining competitive advantage for insurance companies and seeks to study its effects on creation of sustainable competitive advantage. A sample of 123 middle and senior managers working in Iran Insurance Company in Tehran were surveyed. Data were collected via questionnaire and analyzed using Structural Equation Model (SEM) in PLS software. Results showed that competitive intelligence had a positive effect on creation of competitive advantage based on two sets of process and contextual factors, with the former exerting greater effect in this regard. It was concluded that companies were required to gain competitive advantage by establishing a strategic unit to collect, analyze and share intelligent information derived from internal and external environment.
Highlights
In the 21st century, new types of organizations based on knowledge and networks have emerged in response to a complex, vague and changing environment characterized by indistinct organizational boundaries (Ahmad, 2015)
Competitive intelligence (CI) is a process in which actionable intelligence is produced and published through planning, legal and ethical information gathering in the competitive environment, information processing and analysis to help decision making and develop competitive advantages in organization (Pellissier & Nenzhelele, 2013)
The questionnaire comprised of 65 items that included; demographic questions (5 items), competitive intelligence (36 items), and competitive advantage (24 items), which were scored on a 5-point Likert scale and option “never, rarely, sometimes, often, and always” were scored 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, respectively
Summary
In the 21st century, new types of organizations based on knowledge and networks have emerged in response to a complex, vague and changing environment characterized by indistinct organizational boundaries (Ahmad, 2015). Companies are faced with an increasingly competitive environment that makes it difficult to keep a sustained competitive advantage (Nenzhelele & Pellissier, 2014). CI is a process in which actionable intelligence is produced and published through planning, legal and ethical information gathering in the competitive environment, information processing and analysis to help decision making and develop competitive advantages in organization (Pellissier & Nenzhelele, 2013). In other words, this intelligence portrays a comprehensive image of current and future nature of competition in the marketplace for managers to make more informed decisions
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