CI practices in project-dominant component supplier businesses : A practical exploration of information-seeking activities with scarce resources

Abstract

Business environments across industries are constantly changing due to various external factors such as consumer trends, technological disruptions, new environmental regulations, or the rising number of new market entrants for instance. Due to the increasingly competitive nature of today’s business, the ability to anticipate changes in the business environment is paramount in maintaining the company’s competitive edge and for making well-informed decisions.

The aim of this study is to investigate the competitive intelligence (CI) practices of companies acting in project-based industries with scarce resources. The main research question of this study is therefore: How is competitive intelligence conducted in project-intensive businesses with scarce resources? To answer this question, two additional sub-questions are defined: Which CI activities can be currently identified within the company under study? What critical success factors for CI practices can be currently identified within the company under study? The study met these research questions by employing qualitative research methods on a single subject company to gain a profound understanding of how competitive intelligence activities are conducted on a practical level, and what factors may affect these activities.

The findings of this study suggest that companies operating with scarce resources within the long-term project business do not integrate their CI activities within their companies as explicit, formal processes. On the contrary, they may leverage their network of partners to make CI practice a collaborative, and informal process to make sense of their competitive environment. This behaviour is mostly driven by several resource barriers that affect CI implementation, such as lack of time, money, skill and human resources. The results of this study provide valuable insights for companies working in similar contexts and environments.

This research argues for further inquiries on the inter-connected nature between managers’ attitudes toward competitive intelligence practices and firms’ lack of resources, as well as additional research on the practicalities of competitive intelligence in different industries and business contexts.