Current state of competitive intelligence in South Africa

The economic success of a country depends on its capacity to apply activities which create a competitive advantage. The business environment is highly complex in South Africa and the purpose of this article is to examine the current situation with regard to competitive intelligence (CI) activities in South Africa. Since CI is a relatively new activity in South Africa, this study is mainly exploratory in nature. A questionnaire survey methodology was used where questionnaires were administered to CI experts in organisations in South Africa. The majority of respondents has postgraduate degrees and was in either top management or senior/middle management level of their organisations. Only 55% of the respondents are of the opinion that they cope above average with changes in the business environment and 60% of the respondents strongly agreed that the most important CI activity in their organisation is to use CI to remain cognisant with government legislative trends. It is recommended that organisations should enhance a CI culture by creating CI awareness among employees and provide CI training sessions for new employees.