THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE PROCESSES AND HOTELS' PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM MALAYSIA

Abstract

Competitive intelligence (CI) is a proven systematic process used to improve an organization's competitiveness through the systematic collection, analysing, and communication of information to decision-makers. However, there is still ambiguity about the impact of each process of competitive intelligence process (CIPs) on performance, particularly in the hotel industry in a developing country like Malaysia. Thus, the purpose of this research is to detect the level of CIP practiced in Malaysian hotels, as well as to investigate the impact of each process from the CI processes (planning and focus, gathering, analysis, and communication) on the financial and non-financial performance of Malaysian hotels. A quantitative research design was adopted in this study. To obtain the necessary data for analysing the hypothesised model of the study, 505 questionnaires were issued to marketing managers in member hotels of the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH), and a total of 184 analysable questionnaires were gathered, with a response rate of 34.44%. The research data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Despite that half of the responding hotels practiced CI informally, and many of these hotels began practicing CI five years ago, the study found that the level of CIP practice was high. Furthermore, the results indicate that the planning and focus, gathering, and analysis processes of CIP had a positive and significant impact on hotels' performance, while the communication process had a negative but insignificant impact on hotels' performance. Additionally, the results show that the planning and focus process is the most relevant, followed by the analysis processes, and finally the gathering process. These findings enrich those in positions of power like owners, managers, and practitioners, as well as academicians, with greater knowledge of the relationship and influence of CIPs on firms' performance, particularly for hospitality and tourism firms.