Abstract
Can competitive intelligence (CI) be used to assist in regional and sectoraleconomic development? This article looks at intelligence initiatives (largely around training)sponsored by various government departments and agencies in Canada and their link toregional and sectoral economic development. The article provides examples of the kind ofintelligence initiatives that have been used in Canada to support regional and sectoral(industrial) economic development. The article proposes a method for categorizing theseregional and sectoral intelligence programs and suggests methods for assessing the impact ofthese programs on regional and sectoral economic development. The Canadian programs aredivided into three broad categories 1) Government programs aimed at enhancing their ownability to develop competitive intelligence 2) Programs that are sponsored by the governmentfor industry and others to develop competitive intelligence and 3) Programs sponsored by thegovernment to help communities develop competitive intelligence for local economicdevelopment. Positive economic impacts were identified using program review documents,government officer reports and anecdotal evidence from program participant surveys. However,while the evidence does support positive impact a more comprehensive approach to evaluatingthese impacts should be considered in the future.
Highlights
AND OVERVIEWMaking better decisions based on a proper understanding of the competitive environment is at the heart of competitive intelligence (CI)
Competitive intelligence assists organizations in developing a proactive approach that identifies and responds to changes in the competitive environmental, helping organizations thrive in turbulent times. This need for understanding the external environment and its impact on success has been echoed in the regional economic development planning literature
The objective of this paper is to look at how government competitive intelligence initiatives have been used in Canada to enhance economic development at both the regional and sectoral level
Summary
Making better decisions based on a proper understanding of the competitive environment (present and future) is at the heart of competitive intelligence (CI). Competitive intelligence assists organizations in developing a proactive approach that identifies and responds to changes in the competitive environmental, helping organizations (companies, governments, universities, associations and others) thrive in turbulent times This need for understanding the external environment and its impact on success has been echoed in the regional economic development planning literature. This article uses, as its base for discussing these initiatives, a comprehensive review of competitive intelligence in Canada (Calof and Brouard, 2004) and programs that the author of this article has extensive knowledge about either through active involvement in them (e.g. training programs delivered by the author, organizational systems created by the author etc.) or because the author reviewed and/or studied them for academic purposes (for example, the National Research Council’s competitive intelligence unit study as reported in Calof, 2014). Programs and initiatives in these three categories are examined for evidence of economic impact at the regional and/or sectoral (industry) level
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