The impact of competitive intelligence on products and services innovation in organizations

Abstract

This paper discusses the findings of the study that was aimed at establishing the effect of Competitive Intelligence, hereafter referred to as CI, on product and service innovations. A literature study revealed that CI and innovation are widely studied subjects, but the impact of CI on innovation was not well documented. CI has been widely acclaimed as a panacea to a lot of organizational problems. The study aimed at establishing the impact of Competitive Intelligence (CI) on products and services Innovation in organisation. A case study was conducted, using an Information and communication technology (ICT) organisation. Innovation-decision process was applied in the data analysis. At the end of the study on the impact of competitive intelligence on products and services innovation in organisations the following was achieved. It was better understood that while CI is overemphasized as revolutionary, customer focused information systems products and services still remain challenging. It was also understood that not all organisations that deploy CI produce more innovative methods. A lack of knowledge- sharing and limitations within the organisational culture were found to be important factors for the deployment of competitive intelligence products and services in the organisations. Conclusions of the study basing on the findings are presented.