The ever more global, rapid paced and volatile business environments define new rules of competition, compelling firms to possess flexibility, promptness and the ability to learn quickly. Competitive Intelligence (CI) enters this new panorama playing a critical role: to provide companies with insights about the competitive environment and bolster their competitiveness. However, on both the theoretical and empirical grounds, CI is lacking in a unique common definition and in a framework integrating its role within the strategy definition. In an attempt to solve these two issues, this research paper delves into the topics of CI, Strategy, and the Strategy Formulation Process through an exhaustive literature review and an exploratory empirical study. The research paper analyzes the CI practices of four companies operating in Brazil in the private banking, digital banking, commerce marketing and healthcare industries and discerns each contribution of CI to company strategy. The case studies evidence the recognized value of CI and provide several insights about CI practices, yet the companies were observed to use it solely for tactical issues and short-term impacts, forgoing all the potential benefits of CI at the various strategic levels and at every step of the Strategic Formulation Process. Therefore, a comprehensive overview of CI is presented: together with a complete CI definition, a unified theroetical framework is proposed for fully integrating CI into all the phases of the Strategic Formulation Process and a set of propositions to formalize the findings are developed, providing managers with guidelines to start and improve CI practices.
Gli ambienti competitivi sempre più globali, dinamici e volatili definiscono nuove regole per la concorrenza, costringendo le imprese a dotarsi di flessibilità, prontezza e capacità di apprendere rapidamente. L’Intelligenza Competitiva (IC) entra in questo nuovo panorama svolgendo un ruolo fondamentale: fornire alle aziende informazioni sull'ambiente in cui operano e rafforzare la loro competitività. Tuttavia, sia sul piano teorico che su quello pratico, l'IC manca di una definizione comune e di un quadro che integri il suo ruolo all'interno della pianificazione strategica. Nel tentativo di rispondere alle sopracitate questioni aperte, questa ricerca approfondisce gli argomenti di IC e di processo di formulazione strategica, attraverso un' estesa revisione della letteratura e uno studio empirico esplorativo. Il paper analizza le pratiche di IC di quattro società operanti in Brasile nei settori del private banking, digital banking, commerce marketing e healthcare, descrivendo per ognuna il contributo dell'IC alla strategia aziendale. Lo studio dei casi riconosce il valore dell'IC e fornisce approfondimenti sulle pratiche della stessa, tuttavia spesso le società la usano esclusivamente per questioni tattiche con impatto a breve termine, rinunciando ai potenziali benefici ai vari livelli strategici e ad ogni passo del processo di formulazione della strategia. Di conseguenza, viene presentata una panoramica generale dell'IC: insieme a una completa definizione, viene proposto un quadro teorico unificato per l'integrazione dell'IC in tutte le fasi del processo di formulazione strategica e un set di propositions per formalizzare i risultati, fornendo ai manager delle linee guida per avviare e migliorare le pratiche di IC.
The strategic role of competitive intelligence : a study in the Brazilian market
LABONIA, FRANCESCA
2017/2018
Abstract
The ever more global, rapid paced and volatile business environments define new rules of competition, compelling firms to possess flexibility, promptness and the ability to learn quickly. Competitive Intelligence (CI) enters this new panorama playing a critical role: to provide companies with insights about the competitive environment and bolster their competitiveness. However, on both the theoretical and empirical grounds, CI is lacking in a unique common definition and in a framework integrating its role within the strategy definition. In an attempt to solve these two issues, this research paper delves into the topics of CI, Strategy, and the Strategy Formulation Process through an exhaustive literature review and an exploratory empirical study. The research paper analyzes the CI practices of four companies operating in Brazil in the private banking, digital banking, commerce marketing and healthcare industries and discerns each contribution of CI to company strategy. The case studies evidence the recognized value of CI and provide several insights about CI practices, yet the companies were observed to use it solely for tactical issues and short-term impacts, forgoing all the potential benefits of CI at the various strategic levels and at every step of the Strategic Formulation Process. Therefore, a comprehensive overview of CI is presented: together with a complete CI definition, a unified theroetical framework is proposed for fully integrating CI into all the phases of the Strategic Formulation Process and a set of propositions to formalize the findings are developed, providing managers with guidelines to start and improve CI practices.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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2019_04_Labonia.pdf
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/146654