Employee opinions of the competitive intelligence process in Latvia

The assertion that environmental variability affects any organisation now appears to be fairly self-evident. Today, the environment – economics, social conditions, technologies – is rapidly changing, and an organisation must be capable of surviving or developing; therefore, the organisation should follow the changes in the competitive environment and be capable of introducing alterations. The discussion participants emphasised the point that changes denote a constant adjustment of one's activities and search for new opportunities. An organisation will never be successful if its management fails to notice changes or is unable to foresee them in future.

To identify the need for changes, a manager should follow events in the environment and analyse the extent to which they affect the performance of the organisation. The discussion participants agreed that a manager should have sufficient and justified information in order to make a decision. The introduction of change is not effective just for the sake of change. Implementation of unnecessary changes, that is, if such changes do not support attainment of the goal, can hinder the development of an organisation. The main types of changes nominated by the discussion participants were as follows: change in strategy, change in organisational culture, structural change and technological change.

The results of the discussions showed that it is important for a manager to be aware of the factors affecting the performance of the organisation. The discussion participants believed that a manager must obtain information concerning changes in the surrounding environment, analyse this information and revise goals or tasks in case the changes affect functioning of the organisation. This does not mean abandonment of the intended direction, but rather, early detection of problems or opportunities and a search for new solutions or adjustment of those already in place.

Although the participants willingly described their general attitude and experience with regard to CI issues, only a few mentioned definite measures and plans that they carry out or attempt to achieve in

referred to the process of CI as ‘white espionage.’ An explanation of this term states that the information is obtained in only a partly ethical manner, for exemple:

Interviewee A.(17): ’...could pretend to be a customer of the competitive company and find out the information.’

Interviewee K.(20): ‘...look up the available information on the Internet or on paid-for databases...’

Similarly, the participants stated that no CI policy and ethics had been developed at any company. There is a set of separate strategic decisions that are taken in appropriate situations.

Almost all participants of the groups initially described CI more as a marketing function, reducing it to a SWOT analysis, for example:

Interviewee A.(19): ‘...by CI I understand, first, what are my competitors – their strengths, weaknesses, similarities, differences, how they position themselves, how we position ourselves.’

The answers showed that employees primarily perform CI in order to identify competition.

Examples from the discussion that reflect the aspect:

Interviewee G.(11): ‘Evaluate our advantages over our competitors.’

Interviewee L.(21): ‘ ...assess competitors' operating principles.’

The participants frequently called the CI process ‘spontaneous’:

Interviewee A.(3): ‘...it does not occur on a regular basis.’

Interviewee G.(11): ‘...everything takes place spontaneously...’

The analytical instruments of CI, such as SWOT, are primarily used to make comparisons in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the company, as well as environmental opportunities and threats, leading to an analysis of the factors that could affect the quality of products and the results.

During the discussion, the employee participants expressed the opinion that CI is more like identifying similar organisational processes in other industries and comparing these with those of their own organisation. Participants in the group of specialists and staff disclosed the fact that companies have no specific database or access to summarised information relating to the business environment, for example:

Interviewee G.(11): ‘The process of CI in companies basically takes place in a narrow circle – It is dealt

Interviewee P.(9): ‘The process of CI in companies is rather limited for the staff, because an employee has no real ability to alter or to decide anything...’

The majority of the employees also stated that turnover of information is not interactive, and does not provide exchange of information and knowledge between staff and management and interaction between the two groups.

Examples from the discussion that reflect the aforementioned aspect:

Interviewee P.(9): ‘Employees are not really involved in CI.’

Interviewee A.(3).: ‘An employee and administration have various aims for acquisition of information, as well as different sources for obtaining information and different further application of it.’

Interviewee K.(7): ‘Employees are guided only by the information obtained on a daily basis – from adverts, media, and feedbacks on competitors.’

However, in a more detailed discussion of their experience in CI, the majority of participants disclosed the fact that the result of their activity is not only marketing indicators, but also strategic goals, for example:

Interviewee R.(1): ‘...it is important to be aware of the company’s competitiveness, because it influences the type of the company’s strategy.’

Therefore, it can be concluded that the information obtained in the CI process is used by companies for taking strategic decisions, but that employees of the company often identify it in a different way. The discussion revealed that the information is often used for developing functional strategies.

An example from the discussion that reflect the aforementioned aspect:

Interviewee K.(20): ‘...should know how available are, for example, technical resources, specialists;

what provision of specialists is there in companies...’.

Some of the group members stated that in their company, competitors' organisational culture and values are analysed as one of the factors of competitiveness, for example:

Interviewee P.(9): ‘Employees often do not feel the organisational values in practice, these are merely theoretical words.’

Interviewee A.(4): ‘...impact of organisational culture can seldom be given a precise definition.’

Interviewee L.(16): ‘...it cannot be "stolen" from the competitive company in order to increase the own company's competitiveness, its aim should be improvement of the quality of work and mutual interactivity.’

Interviewee G.(11):‘Nowadays, the ability to manage employees' behaviour is not sufficient; it is necessary to manage what people think, feel and express, i.e. the general mood of the organisation.’

For successful information exchange, strict distribution of functional roles is required, as well as a widely branched system of laws, regulations and instructions.

Examples from the discussion that reflect the aforementioned aspect:

Interviewee D.(18): ‘Unless the company values are clearly defined to the employee, he/she can fail to understand and fulfil them. It depends on firmness of control.’

Interviewee G.(11): ‘For managers, values are items established by statutes etc., but an employee can leave these values unnoticed. Employees' values can manifest in the process of self-activity.’

During the discussion, the opinion that the CI process of depends upon employees' loyalty to the company was expressed, for example:

Interviewee A.(19): ‘The employee is interested in processes of competitive intelligence if he/she intends to develop his/her career at this company, if he/she cares for what goes on at his/her company, or if the employee's remuneration or other benefits depend on the company's performance.’

Opinions expressed in the discussion showed that the mutual cooperation of managers and employees is of great importance, because it is the staff that gather and process the information that is passed over to managers for decision-making. All participants of the group acknowledged the role of the CI process as an entirety and the added value of the organisation.

During the discussions of the group of employees and specialists, the opinion that in order to stimulate the CI process, a range of various hierarchical activities should be carried out, for example, control of processes, systematic addressing of issues, creation of schemes for decision-making etc., was expressed.

The basis for creation of a supporting culture is ensured by standardisation of CI processes. The aim of company culture is to make CI an integrated and inseparable aspect, with an important contribution to decision-making. CI is a social process.

The results of the discussion of the CI process encouraged the separation of several issues: (1) an understanding of the nature of CI; (2) an understanding of the sequence of steps of the CI process; (3) the role of organisational culture values; (4) the role of organisational identification in ensuring managerial processes; (5) the role of motivation.