Competitive Intelligence and Corresponding Outcome in a Strategic Management Process: A Review of Literature

The strategic management literature has put a lot of emphasis on the role of intelligence in the strategic management process. However, the available literature has not been thorough in outlining the role and the potential outcome of the deployment of business intelligence. Majority of the researchers have looked at the direct relationship between business intelligence with specific reference to competitive intelligence with performance. The purpose of this paper is to review the extant literature on competitive intelligence so as to highlight its role in the different phases of strategic management process as well as the emerging phenomenon of the adoption of competitive intelligence in a firm. The authors have integrated the extant literature on competitive intelligence with that on strategic management process. The paper reviews extant conceptual, theoretical and empirical literature and raises diverse issues that present a case for a new theoretical model suitable to extend the current understanding of the phenomenon brought about by the deployment of competitive intelligence. The paper raises implications for theory and practice and suggests a theoretical model suitable to guide future research.