Information and Communication Technology Tools for Competitive Intelligence

Abstract

Competitive intelligence (CI) can be described as collecting and processing information about the environment for strategic purposes (cf. Kahaner, 1997). To formulate a strategy, an organization needs to collect and process information about its environment—about, for instance, competitors, customers, suppliers, governments, technological trends, or ecological developments. Collecting and processing environmental information has, of course, always been important. However, because of the increasing complexity and dynamics of the environment, the pressure to produce relevant, timely, “actionable” intelligence increases as well. At the same time, the amount of available data about the environment also increases.