Competitive intelligence: A practitioner, academic and inter-disciplinary perspective.

The article traces the origins of the Competitive Intelligence (CI) fields and identifies both the practitioner, academic and inter-disciplinary views on CI practice. An examination of the literature relating to the field is presented, including the identification of the linear relationship which CI has with marketing and strategic planning activities. Findings reveal the representation of cross disciplinary literature which emphasises the multi-faceted role which CI plays in a modern organization. Attention is drawn to the need for the integration of additional, complementary fields of study and CI practice. It is clear that today's CI practitioner cannot afford to rely on what they learned 20 years ago in order to ensure the continued competitive advantage of their firm. The originality and value of this article is important in that whilst bibliographies listings of competitive intelligence literature are available. There have been few attempts to relate this to the three distinct areas of practice. This article is of use to scholars in assisting them to disentangle the various aspect of competitive intelligence and also to managers who wish to gain an appreciation of the potential which CI can bring to marking and business success.