Competitive Intelligence Strategies Research Articles

Modern Management Intelligence Competitive Strategies and Organizational Performance

This study evaluates the impact of Modern Management Competitive Intelligence Strategies (MCCI Strategies) on the performance of selected telecommunication firms. The construct of MMCI Strategies, which includes both technological intelligence and strategic intelligence, is the independent variable of the study. The dependent variable, organizational performance, is the primary data collected from 130 staff members and customers. A total of 125 sets of questionnaire were administered, resulting in a total of 125 retrieved (96.2%), with 5 rejected. Correlation and multiple regression analysis were employed as the primary analytical tools. Findings demonstrate the importance of technological intelligence opportunity for business competitive advantage. This is confirmed by the findings of the study by Venter et al. (2014). Modern management competitive intelligence (MCCI) strategy is better suited to predicting a firm’s future performance by speaking directly with competitors, suppliers and regulators, and even customers. Competitive intelligence provides insight into what groups are actually intending to do, as opposed to predictions based on historic data. The study recommends that a modern MCCI strategy should have a singular purpose - to develop strategies and tactics to move market share, gainfully and consistently, from a particular competitor to the company, as the foundation for modern MCCI strategies lies in managerial decisions about how to position a business to maximise the value of capabilities that set it apart from its competitors.

MACHINE LEARNING MODELS FOR EXTRAPOLATIVE ANALYTICS AS A PANACEA FOR BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE DECISIONS

The application of business intelligence (BI) in data analytics helps organizations access critical information in finance, marketing, healthcare, retail, and other critical infrastructures. However, there is a dearth of strategies to effectively leverage BI to empower businesses to refine useful data, understand newer industry trends, and improve competitive intelligence strategy for effective decision-making. This study implemented predictive data analytics to determine how the subjective decision-making process of used dealerships conducts their sales of vehicles and other business variable decisions. Scouring over forty-five different aspects of typical vehicle items, the study randomly selected twelve (12) features considered important. The data points were classified on the machine learning algorithms using a Support Vector Machine (SVM) to find the hyperplane of the (N-dimensional) features number for the training supervision of the dataset, while the Contingency Table Method (CTM) summarizes the relationship between the variables in the frequency distribution table. When six variables were outlined for comparison in the frequency distribution table, The models with optimal hyper-parameters showed similar predictive performances for all predictions while the “support vector regression algorithm” performs best with a strong output of 85% prediction analytics at a specific time of when certified used vehicles would be sold within a specified period. Consequentially, the extrapolative accuracy of the traditional decision-making process, when compared showed relative statistics of just around 50%. The study concludes that implementing business intelligence (BI) using machine learning models for predictive data analytics leads to increased revenue, effective customer satisfaction, an increase in market share, and improved decision-making.

IMPRESSÃO 3D: DA PESQUISA AO SETOR PRODUTIVO UM ESTUDO EXPLORATÓRIO SOBRE SUA EVOLUÇÃO HISTÓRICA, ORIGEM, TECNOLOGIAS, APLICAÇÕES E INOVAÇÕES

3D Printing is a technological category present in the production processes of the 21st century. Thus, this article aims to show the relevance of knowledge about techno-scientific and its physical-virtual and social-economic transformations over time. In addition to supporting new research and competitive intelligence strategies in the areas of 3D printing. Thus, this article describes the historical evolution of additive manufacturing and its impacts on society, presenting a technological mapping carried out through a systematic review of the scientific literature (articles and patents) associated with bibliometric analysis. The results and the construction of a new methodological path based on the technological information obtained in the research lead to the understanding of 3D Printing from a time frame for decades since its emergence. This panorama allowed the identification of authors, inventors, science and technology institutions (ICTs), as well as global players in 3D printing.

Developing a competitive intelligence strategy framework supporting the competitive intelligence needs of a financial institution’s decision makers

Background: For competitive intelligence (CI) to have the greatest contribution to strategic management, CI professionals require an in-depth understanding of the CI needs of decision makers. CI professionals have to carefully plan how to best inform corporate decision-making.A strategy framework is a planning tool which can be used to explore ways to enhance an organisation’s strategic planning capabilities.Objective: To investigate the CI needs of a financial institution’s decision makers in order to develop a CI strategy framework. To present the strategy framework as a planning tool to CI professionals in the financial services industry as well as mapping the process of developing a planning tool, thereby enabling a financial institution’s CI capability to better meet the CI needs of decision makers.Method: The guiding paradigm of interpretivist research directed the research design of a single qualitative case study, using an inductive approach. Qualitative data analysis techniques were used, which included the use of numerical data, to develop a planning tool for CI professionals based on a thorough understanding of the CI needs of decision makers.Results: Decision makers place considerable value on CI in terms of its contribution to strategy development, decision-making, gaining advantage over competitors and enhancing the financial performance of the organisation. Relationships between concepts and patterns or trends that were identified and utilised to establish themes in the data resulted in a 12-point strategy framework.Conclusion: A financial institution’s CI capability can be enhanced to better meet the CI needs of the organisation’s decision makers when CI professionals carefully plan their approach of informing corporate decision-making. This paper presents a 12-point CI strategy framework as a planning tool for CI professionals.

Proposing a competitive intelligence (CI) framework for Public Service departments to enhance service delivery

Background: The aim of public service departments in South Africa is to improve service delivery through the transformation and improvement of human resources and the improvement of service delivery practices. Furthermore, it is important for the public service sector in South Africa to improve the quality of its service delivery, not only by comparing its performance with other sectors within South Africa but also by positioning itself amongst the best in the world. This can be achieved by benchmarking with other global industries and by implementing the most recent competitive intelligence strategies, tools and techniques. The environment of the public service organisations consists of competitive forces that impact the functioning of these organisations.Objectives: This article focuses on proposing competitive intelligence-related strategies, tools and techniques for gathering and analysing information in the public service departments in South Africa in order to enhance service delivery.Method: The study was qualitative in nature and was divided into two components, namely, (1) theoretical – through an extensive review of the literature and (2) empirical – an ethnographic study at the chosen public service department, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). Ethnographic interviews with management-level staff, focus groups and document analysis were used to obtain adequate information to determine the current state of public service delivery in South Africa.Results: The results of the study was the development of a new competitive intelligencerelated framework for gathering and analysing information, and it represents a formal and systematic process of informing managers in public service departments about critical issues that these departments face or are likely to experience in future.Conclusion: The strategic planning tools and techniques of this framework will fill the gap that exists in public service departments. Once this framework has been implemented, it could assist these departments to improve service delivery to its citizens.

Cross‐cultural competitive intelligence strategies

PurposeCompetitive intelligence (CI) is a promising tool in the strategic planning arsenal of top managers. As companies expand globally, it is imperative that CI be conducted across national boundaries and cultures. The practice of CI in various international markets is clearly impacted by the cultural context of gathering and analyzing information. Therefore, one of the key ingredients to successfully conducting CI globally is the ability to understand the local culture and business practices, and then integrate this knowledge within contemporary CI strategies. This paper aims to address these issues.Design/methodology/approachThis study analyses CI practices in the developed markets of Europe and Japan, as well as the emerging markets of China, Russia, South Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East by using extant literature, primary as well as secondary sources.FindingsOwning to the complexity of cross‐cultural CI practices, often companies fail in their entry into foreign markets. This is due to misjudgment and poor understanding of the countries' cultural, social, and political environment. As cultural factors have a major influence on the collection, analysis and outcome of any CI project, firms doing international business must have a cross culturally aware CI program, which can be established with the help of a five‐step process as described in the paper.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper provides a snapshot of comparative CI practices from across the globe, and contrasts developed and emerging CI practices. This is a qualitative review‐based paper, and hence does not have any empirical corroboration. Most the understanding is gleaned from the extant literature as well as our in‐depth interviews with 12 CI consultants in various global markets.Practical implicationsGlobal managers need CI in order to succeed in foreign markets. Most of times, these managers use the same CI practices that are being used in their home markets. This paper provides a good approach through which they could develop a “cross‐culturally aware” CI program in their company.Originality/valueCultural factors play a major role in CI practices of firms across the globe. This research compares and contrasts CI practices in various cultures and markets, and provides some key guidelines and approaches for global managers in order to conduct successful CI in a variety of cultures. This research would be very valuable to global companies as it provides timely and practical solutions.

Intellectual assets management: from patents to knowledge

The article describes a prototype software package that allows the user to create, organize and automatically update patent collections in order to manage companies’ intellectual assets. Its tools help to monitor technological trends and support competitive intelligence strategies. The package automatically collects patents from the IP provider network, contextualizes and extracts all their structured and unstructured data and, using information extraction, text-mining, and statistical and clustering analysis, extracts knowledge. It enables a decision maker to analyze this knowledge and to build up a successful strategy.