Competitive Intelligence and Performance in the Automotive Industry: The Post-Pandemic Experience

The main objective of this study was to examine the correlation between competitive intelligence and performance in the post-pandemic era. Specifically, the study examined the extent of the relationship between innovative intelligence and cost leadership, the nature of correlation between market intelligence and growth; and the relationship between strategic intelligence and adaptability. The study used both primary and secondary data. The target population for the study was 122 members of staff from INNOSON Technical and Industrial Company Limited, based in Enugu State, Nigeria. Data was collected from 104 purposively selected staff of INNOSON and analyzed using regression analysis with the aid of SPSS 23.0. The results indicate that innovative intelligence, marketing intelligence, and strategic intelligence had a significant and positive correlation with organizational performance, through their connections with cost leadership, growth and adaptability, respectively. From the results, the study concludes that competitive intelligence is a key driver of performance in the automotive industry. Based on the findings and conclusion, it was recommended that organizations should develop a culture of innovation through adequate investment in research and development as well as rewarding creative and intelligent employees; this will consequently arm the organization with cost leadership. Forward-thinking organizations that seek growth must develop a robust system of collecting and analyzing data from their market, and the information gathered must be used in the decision-making processes of the organization especially as it affects strategy formulation and implementation.