The contributions of competitive intelligence for strategy in the context of a bank

Abstract

Introduction: The Brazilian banking have generally similar products and services, with little distinction between them. Therefore, the use of strategic and intelligent way information can determine the success and permanence in the market. Competitive intelligence (CI) have been concerned about the management of this information, structuring their process to improve the knowledge of its competitors, anticipating in order to conquer new markets and achieve better results.  Objective: To understand how the IC has contributed to the achievement of strategic objectives of a bank from the perception of managers, addressing the structure, personnel and technological resources of the IC.  Methodology: By systematically reviewing scientific literature concerning IC processes, the research procedures along with its specific analytical tools, have been defined. For the current study, the answers given by managers, working for the abovementioned sector, to a close-ending interview have been taken into account. Out of overall 50 employees from strategic, tactical and operational levels, 15 employees have been included in the final corpus, which consists in interviews and focus-groups. The results were split into four categories (vision, cycle, practices and challenges) where each includes its themes. Results: The CI was considered an essential tool to be implemented in the strategic process although presente in early stage. However, already needs to show if there were a possible correlation between the intelligence process and our results, which should allow to improve its strategic value. Conclusions: Theoretically, this study contributes to understanding of CI processes by considering a specific scientific approach, which defines the dynamic cycle of these processes. From a pragmatic point of view, otherwise, na in-depth implementation and redefinition of the CI processes has been promoted.