By Scott Leeb / Alexander Maune

THIS article, the third in a series, follows previously published articles by the same authors in the NewsDay. The articles were titled: “Competitive Intelligence (CI) as a Game Changer for Competitiveness” and “The Global Case for Competitive Intelligence”. Intelligence has been used since biblical times when during the Exodus from Egypt, Moses sent the 12 spies to the land of Canaan, the promised land (Torah, Numbers Chapter 13). More recently, many countries have used intelligence during and after WWII to industrialize through economic espionage which has been found to be illegal. Since then, CI has been developed to collect critical information in a legal and more acceptable manner.

The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP), an official US-based intelligence organization, defines CI as: “Timely, factual data that management can rely on to make decisions and develop strategy.”

“It is done through sector analysis, which means understanding the players in a sector, competitive analysis, which means understanding the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, and benchmarking, that is, ie the analysis of the individual business processes of competitors. “

The business environment in Africa is very complex, thus affecting the competitiveness of the continent.

Trade liberalization and globalization have exposed Africa to foreign competition.

Trade liberalization and globalization as well as the challenges posed by fluctuating financial markets and unstable political conditions require effective CI practices.

No nation can develop and compete without properly organizing its IC.

CI as a business discipline has been an integral part of efforts to improve the competitive behavior of African businesses and society as a whole.

Entry into the global economy requires a high level CI. CI has long been recognized as a strategic management tool to improve competitiveness.

CI has become essential in decision-making processes and policy formulation. CI has a positive impact on economies and the quality of life of citizens.

The current generation of information and knowledge has placed CI at the center of competitiveness and economic growth.

Previously, factors such as capital, labor and natural resources were traditionally seen as the only important factors for economic growth.

The emergence of the Internet and online databases has offered an almost inexhaustible supply of information which has resulted in information overload in many cases.

Calof and Skinner (1999) in their article: “The role of government in competitive intelligence: what is happening in Canada?”Argue that a country is likely to underperform without an appropriate CI infrastructure. Countries such as France, Sweden, Japan and Canada have recognized the value of the joint work of government and industry in developing an intelligence culture (Sewdass & Toit, 2014). The new paradigm of development economics is based on self-analysis, self-reliance and self-renewal, which would seem to require a development-oriented intelligence policy in a country.

The use of CI allows companies in developing countries to gain greater market share and successfully compete with their international competitors.

The implementation of CI contributes to the generation of FDI in developing countries by adding value and valuing in view of the natural resources which are in abundance.

Reliable global information has become essential to national success, whether it is knowing an industry, market, product or competitor.

CI is now at the forefront of competition, survival and growth of economies.

CI’s goal is to understand how the surrounding competitive environment will impact an organization – by monitoring events, players, trends, research advancements, etc. – in order to be able to take relevant strategic decisions.

A major trend in today’s world is increasing competition in global and digitized markets where the speed of change and innovation is increasingly rapid due to developments in information technology.

CI provides a better understanding of the dynamic global world.

However, new technologies have become a threat to businesses because today every individual is a potential spy. Corporate espionage has also become a big problem with its consequences still underestimated.

Competitive intelligence and competitiveness

Current literature shows that little research has been done on CI and competitiveness in Africa.

The state of CI remains fragmented in Africa. With the exception of South Africa and Nigeria, both of which have successfully established SCIP chapters, not much is happening in other areas on the African continent as far as CI is concerned.

A SCIP chapter was started in South Africa in the mid-1990s and, although slowly, companies are becoming more and more competitive.

Until then, research on CI in South Africa was also limited. The first global research projects (in Africa) were launched at the turn of the century in South Africa. Before that, only a few articles were written on CI. Due to factors such as history, culture, diversity, geography, political and institutional landscape, the business environment in Africa is very complex. This has affected the continent’s competitiveness in the global economy.

For CI to flourish in Africa and for the discipline to be implemented and used optimally, there must be an appropriate awareness of CI and a culture of competitiveness. African societies tend to be collectivist. Collectivism, unlike individualism, refers to a society, in which people from birth are integrated into strong and cohesive groups, which throughout people’s lives continue to protect them in return for loyalty. unconditional. Without appropriate empirical evidence of CI as a source of competitiveness, awareness and attitudes that promote both CI and information sharing, it is difficult to develop CI programs in Africa. . Research shows that South Africa and Morocco have made greater strides in designing national competitive intelligence systems.

There have been a number of studies that have been carried out in South Africa particularly on IC practices showing how the concept has been developed in this country compared to other African countries.

The document provides interesting information about CI.

CI provides businesses with a competitive strategy that helps decision makers in businesses of all sizes and these strategies are linked to the philosophical views and methodologies found documented by early scholars in war and economics. Due to the timing, CI has seen a wave of interest due to the increased availability of information and the increased proliferation of commercial databases around the world.

While related to these philosophical views and methodologies, research has shown that limited research has been conducted or published on CE practices in African countries with the exception of South Africa and Nigeria. where significant progress has been made so far.

• Alexander Maune is a Talmudic scholar, researcher and consultant as well as a member of the IoDZ
• Scott M Leeb is a staff member of the Department of Information and Knowledge Management at the University of Johannesburg