Competitive intelligence and developing sustainable competitive advantage
Main Article Content
Keywords
Competitive intelligence, competitive advantage, insurance, Iran Insurance Co., structural equation model.
Abstract
Privatization, partial tariff liberalization and entrance of foreign insurance companies in Iranian market pose serious challenges to domestic insurance companies. This paper discusses competitive intelligence as a means of gaining competitive advantage for insurance companies and seeks to study its effects on creation of sustainable competitive advantage. A sample of 123 middle and senior managers working in Iran Insurance Company in Tehran were surveyed. Data were collected via questionnaire and analyzed using Structural Equation Model (SEM) in PLS software. Results showed that competitive intelligence had a positive effect on creation of competitive advantage based on two sets of process and contextual factors, with the former exerting greater effect in this regard. It was concluded that companies were required to gain competitive advantage by establishing a strategic unit to collect, analyze and share intelligent information derived from internal and external environment.
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References
Afuah, A. (2009). Strategic innovation: new game strategies for competitive advantage. Routledge.
Ahmad, A. (2015). Business intelligence for sustainable competitive advantage. In Sustaining Competitive Advantage Via Business Intelligence, Knowledge Management, and System Dynamics (Advances in Business Marketing and Purchasing, Volume 22A) Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 22, 3-220.
Alharthi, S. Z. (2012). “Towards A Sustainable Competitive Advantage”. International Journal of Business Research and Development (IJBRD), 1(1), 17-31.
Auxiliadora do Nascimento Mélo, M., & Dumke de Medeiros, D. (2007). “A model for analyzing the competitive strategy of health plan insurers using a system of competitive intelligence”. The TQM Magazine, 19(3), 206-216.
Awuah, G. B., & Gebrekidan, D. A. (2008). “Networked (interactive) Position: a New View of Developing and Sustaining Competitive Advantage”. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal, 18(4), 333-350.
Barney, J. (1991). “Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage”. Journal of management, 17(1), 99-120.
Bose, R. (2008). “Competitive Intelligence Process and Tools for Intelligence Analysis”. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 108(4), 510-528.
Bowonder, B., Dambal, A., Kumar, S., & Shirodkar, A. (2010). “Innovation strategies for creating competitive advantage”. Research-technology management, 53(3), 19-32.
Brody, R. (2008). “Issues in Defining Competitive Intelligence: An Exploration”. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 3(36), 3.
Bulley, C. A., Baku, K. F., Allan, M. M. (2014). “Competitive Intelligence Information: A Key Business Success Factor”. Journal of Management and Sustainability, 4(2), 82-91.
Calof, J. L., Wright, S. (2008). “Competitive Intelligence: A Practitioner, Academic and Inter-Disciplinary Perspective”. European Journal of Marketing, 42(7/8), 717-730.
Camisón, C., & Villar-López, A. (2011). “Non-technical innovation: organizational memory and learning capabilities as antecedent factors with effects on sustained competitive advantage”. Industrial Marketing Management, 40(8), 1294-1304.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillside, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Cory, H. D. (1996). “Can Competitive Intelligence Lead to a Sustainable Competitive Advantage?”. Competitive Intelligence Review, 7(3), 45-55.
Ćurak, M., Lončar, S., & Poposki, K. (2009). “Insurance sector development and economic growth in transition countries”. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics, 34(3), 29-41.
De Pelsmacker, P., Muller, M.-L., Viviers, W., Saayman, A., Cuyvers, L., & Jegers, M. (2005). “Competitive Intelligence Practices of South African and Belgian Exporters”. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 23(6), 606-620.
Dishman, P. L., & Calof, J. L. (2008). “Competitive Intelligence: A Multiphasic Precedent to Marketing Strategy”. European Journal of Marketing, 42(7/8), 766-785.
Dörner, N., Gassmann, O., & Gebauer, H. (2011). “Service innovation: why is it so difficult to accomplish?”. Journal of Business Strategy, 32(3), 37-46.
Fleisher, C. S., & Blenkhorn, D. L. (2001). Managing frontiers in competitive intelligence. London: QUORUM BOOKS.
Ghannay, J. C., Mamlouk, Z. B. A. (2012). “Synergy between Competitive Intelligence and Knowledge Management-a key for Competitive Advantage”, Journal of Intelligence Studies in Business, 2(2),23-34
Gilad, B., Gilad, T. (1985). “A Systems Approach to Business Intelligence”, Business Horizons, 28(5), 65-70.
Gonzalez-Perez, M.A Velez-Ocampo, J.F. (2014),"Targeting one’s own region: internationalisation trends of Colombian multinational companies", European Business Review 26(6), 531 – 551.
Gonzalez-Perez, M. A., & Gutierrez-Viana, S. (2012). “Cooperation in coffee markets: the case of Vietnam and Colombia”. Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, 2(1), 57-73.
Hamidizadeh, M. R., Roosta, A., Lajevardi, J., & Mohamadian, M. (2014). “Providing a Model for Achieving Sustainable Competitive Advantage Based on Competitive Intelligence in Insurance Industry and Evaluating Affecting Indices and Dimensions”. Asian Journal of Research in Marketing, 3(2), 220-233.
Han, L., Li, D., Moshirian, F., & Tian, Y. (2010). “Insurance development and economic growth”. The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance Issues and Practice, 35(2), 183-199.
Hana, U. (2013). “Competitive advantage achievement through innovation and knowledge”. Journal of Competitiveness, 5(1), 82-96.
Herring, J. P. (1999). “Key intelligence topics: a process to identify and define intelligence needs”. Competitive Intelligence Review, 10(2), 4-14.
Hill, C. W., & Jones, G. R. (2009). Strategic Management Theory: an Integrated Approach, 9th Edition. Canada: Cengage Learning.
Johns, P., & Van Doren, D. C. (2010). “Competitive Intelligence in Service Marketing: A New Approach with Practical Application”, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 28(5), 551-570.
Khajeheian, D. & Tadayoni, R. (2016). User innovation in public service broadcasts: creating public value by media entrepreneurship, International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, 14(2), 117–131.
Khajeheian, D (2016a), “Telecommunication Policy: Communication Act Update”, Global Media Journal-Canadian Edition, 9(1) 135-141.
Khajeheian, D. (2016b). “Audience Commodification: A Source of Innovation in Business Models”. Technology Innovation Management Review, 6(8), 40-47.
Khajeheian, D. (2014), A Perspective on Media Entrepreneurship Policy: Globalization Of Knowledge And Opportunities For Developing Economies. Journal of Globalization Studies, 5(2), 174-187.
Khajeheian, D. (2013). “New Venture Creation in Social Media Platform; Towards a Framework for Media Entrepreneurship”. In Handbook of Social Media Management (pp. 125-142). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2009). Marketing management (Vol. 4). US: Pearson Education, Inc.
Lanzoni, G., & Marcus, N. (2004). “Seeking market research/competitive intelligence”. Limra’s MarketFacts Quarterly, 23(1), 20-23.
Mazloomi, N., & Dadvand, S. (2012), “Identification and Prioritization Of Effective Factors In Achieving Competitive Advantage in Insurance Companies”, Insurance Bulletin, 27(2), 81-109. (in Persian).
Miller, S. H. (2001). “Competitive Intelligence an overview”. Competitive Intelligence Magazine, 1(11).
Nasri, W. (2011). “Competitive intelligence in Tunisian companies”. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 24(1), 53-67.
Nemati zadeh, S., Adab, H., & Hezarkhani, H. (2013). The effect of competitive intelligence on insurance products sale, the case of Iran insurance company agents in Kermanshah. Master's thesis. Iran: Islamic Azad University. (in Persian).
Nenzhelele, T. E., & Pellissier, R. (2014). “Competitive intelligence Implementation challenges of small and medium-sized enterprises”. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(16), 92.
Pellissier, R., & Kruger, J. P. (2011). “A study of strategic intelligence as a strategic management tool in the long-term insurance industry in South Africa”. European Business Review, 23(6), 609-631.
Pellissier, R., & Nenzhelele, T. E. (2013). “Towards a universal competitive intelligence process model”. SA Journal of Information Management, 15(2), 7.
Reed, R., Lemak, D. J., & Mero, N. P. (2000). “Total quality management and sustainable competitive advantage”. Journal of quality management, 5(1), 5-26.
Rezaeian, A., & Lashkar Bolooki, M. (2010), “Competitive Intelligence and Strategic Decision-making”, Business Management Outlook, 9(2), 43-65. (in Persian).
Rezai dolatabadi, H., Zeinali, Z., & Shekarchi Zadeh, Z. (2011). “Studying the Effect of Competitive Intelligence on Developing Competitive Advantage”. Business management outlook, 10(5), 9-25. (in Persian).
Saayman, A., Pienaar, J., De Pelsmacker, P., Viviers, W., Cuyvers, L., Muller, M. L., & Jegers, M. (2008). “Competitive intelligence: construct exploration, validation and equivalence”. Aslib Journal of Information Management, 60(2), 383-411.
Santos, M., & Correia, A. (2010). “Competitive Intelligence as a source of Competitive Advantage: An Exploratory Study of the Portuguese Biotechnology Industry”. Proceedings of the European Conference on Knowledge Management, Famalicäo, Portugal. September 2–3, 867.
Sharp, S. (2009). Competitive intelligence advantage: how to minimize risk, avoid surprises, and grow your business in a changing world. John Wiley & Sons.
Tenenhaus, M., Vinzi, V. E., Chatelin, Y. M., & Lauro, C. (2005). PLS path modeling. Computational statistics & data analysis, 48(1), 159-205.
West, D., Ford, J., & Ibrahim, E. (2015). Strategic marketing: creating competitive advantage. Oxford University Press.
Wright, S. (2013), “Converting input to insight: Organising for Intelligence-Based Competitive Advantage”, pp 1-35 in Wright, S. (Ed), Competitive Intelligence, Analysis and Strategy: Creating Organisational Agility, Abingdon, UK, Routledge.
Wright, S. (2014). Competitive intelligence, analysis and strategy: Creating organisational agility. Routledge.
Wright, S., Eid, E. R., & Fleisher, C. S. (2009). “Competitive intelligence in practice: empirical evidence from the UK retail banking sector”. Journal of Marketing Management, 25(9-10), 941-964.
Žižlavský, O. (2011). “Zapojení zákazníků do inovačního procesu jako prostředek vedoucí ke zvyšování výkonnosti podniku”. Journal of Competitiveness, 3(1), 15-24.
Ahmad, A. (2015). Business intelligence for sustainable competitive advantage. In Sustaining Competitive Advantage Via Business Intelligence, Knowledge Management, and System Dynamics (Advances in Business Marketing and Purchasing, Volume 22A) Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 22, 3-220.
Alharthi, S. Z. (2012). “Towards A Sustainable Competitive Advantage”. International Journal of Business Research and Development (IJBRD), 1(1), 17-31.
Auxiliadora do Nascimento Mélo, M., & Dumke de Medeiros, D. (2007). “A model for analyzing the competitive strategy of health plan insurers using a system of competitive intelligence”. The TQM Magazine, 19(3), 206-216.
Awuah, G. B., & Gebrekidan, D. A. (2008). “Networked (interactive) Position: a New View of Developing and Sustaining Competitive Advantage”. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal, 18(4), 333-350.
Barney, J. (1991). “Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage”. Journal of management, 17(1), 99-120.
Bose, R. (2008). “Competitive Intelligence Process and Tools for Intelligence Analysis”. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 108(4), 510-528.
Bowonder, B., Dambal, A., Kumar, S., & Shirodkar, A. (2010). “Innovation strategies for creating competitive advantage”. Research-technology management, 53(3), 19-32.
Brody, R. (2008). “Issues in Defining Competitive Intelligence: An Exploration”. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 3(36), 3.
Bulley, C. A., Baku, K. F., Allan, M. M. (2014). “Competitive Intelligence Information: A Key Business Success Factor”. Journal of Management and Sustainability, 4(2), 82-91.
Calof, J. L., Wright, S. (2008). “Competitive Intelligence: A Practitioner, Academic and Inter-Disciplinary Perspective”. European Journal of Marketing, 42(7/8), 717-730.
Camisón, C., & Villar-López, A. (2011). “Non-technical innovation: organizational memory and learning capabilities as antecedent factors with effects on sustained competitive advantage”. Industrial Marketing Management, 40(8), 1294-1304.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillside, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Cory, H. D. (1996). “Can Competitive Intelligence Lead to a Sustainable Competitive Advantage?”. Competitive Intelligence Review, 7(3), 45-55.
Ćurak, M., Lončar, S., & Poposki, K. (2009). “Insurance sector development and economic growth in transition countries”. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics, 34(3), 29-41.
De Pelsmacker, P., Muller, M.-L., Viviers, W., Saayman, A., Cuyvers, L., & Jegers, M. (2005). “Competitive Intelligence Practices of South African and Belgian Exporters”. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 23(6), 606-620.
Dishman, P. L., & Calof, J. L. (2008). “Competitive Intelligence: A Multiphasic Precedent to Marketing Strategy”. European Journal of Marketing, 42(7/8), 766-785.
Dörner, N., Gassmann, O., & Gebauer, H. (2011). “Service innovation: why is it so difficult to accomplish?”. Journal of Business Strategy, 32(3), 37-46.
Fleisher, C. S., & Blenkhorn, D. L. (2001). Managing frontiers in competitive intelligence. London: QUORUM BOOKS.
Ghannay, J. C., Mamlouk, Z. B. A. (2012). “Synergy between Competitive Intelligence and Knowledge Management-a key for Competitive Advantage”, Journal of Intelligence Studies in Business, 2(2),23-34
Gilad, B., Gilad, T. (1985). “A Systems Approach to Business Intelligence”, Business Horizons, 28(5), 65-70.
Gonzalez-Perez, M.A Velez-Ocampo, J.F. (2014),"Targeting one’s own region: internationalisation trends of Colombian multinational companies", European Business Review 26(6), 531 – 551.
Gonzalez-Perez, M. A., & Gutierrez-Viana, S. (2012). “Cooperation in coffee markets: the case of Vietnam and Colombia”. Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, 2(1), 57-73.
Hamidizadeh, M. R., Roosta, A., Lajevardi, J., & Mohamadian, M. (2014). “Providing a Model for Achieving Sustainable Competitive Advantage Based on Competitive Intelligence in Insurance Industry and Evaluating Affecting Indices and Dimensions”. Asian Journal of Research in Marketing, 3(2), 220-233.
Han, L., Li, D., Moshirian, F., & Tian, Y. (2010). “Insurance development and economic growth”. The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance Issues and Practice, 35(2), 183-199.
Hana, U. (2013). “Competitive advantage achievement through innovation and knowledge”. Journal of Competitiveness, 5(1), 82-96.
Herring, J. P. (1999). “Key intelligence topics: a process to identify and define intelligence needs”. Competitive Intelligence Review, 10(2), 4-14.
Hill, C. W., & Jones, G. R. (2009). Strategic Management Theory: an Integrated Approach, 9th Edition. Canada: Cengage Learning.
Johns, P., & Van Doren, D. C. (2010). “Competitive Intelligence in Service Marketing: A New Approach with Practical Application”, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 28(5), 551-570.
Khajeheian, D. & Tadayoni, R. (2016). User innovation in public service broadcasts: creating public value by media entrepreneurship, International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, 14(2), 117–131.
Khajeheian, D (2016a), “Telecommunication Policy: Communication Act Update”, Global Media Journal-Canadian Edition, 9(1) 135-141.
Khajeheian, D. (2016b). “Audience Commodification: A Source of Innovation in Business Models”. Technology Innovation Management Review, 6(8), 40-47.
Khajeheian, D. (2014), A Perspective on Media Entrepreneurship Policy: Globalization Of Knowledge And Opportunities For Developing Economies. Journal of Globalization Studies, 5(2), 174-187.
Khajeheian, D. (2013). “New Venture Creation in Social Media Platform; Towards a Framework for Media Entrepreneurship”. In Handbook of Social Media Management (pp. 125-142). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2009). Marketing management (Vol. 4). US: Pearson Education, Inc.
Lanzoni, G., & Marcus, N. (2004). “Seeking market research/competitive intelligence”. Limra’s MarketFacts Quarterly, 23(1), 20-23.
Mazloomi, N., & Dadvand, S. (2012), “Identification and Prioritization Of Effective Factors In Achieving Competitive Advantage in Insurance Companies”, Insurance Bulletin, 27(2), 81-109. (in Persian).
Miller, S. H. (2001). “Competitive Intelligence an overview”. Competitive Intelligence Magazine, 1(11).
Nasri, W. (2011). “Competitive intelligence in Tunisian companies”. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 24(1), 53-67.
Nemati zadeh, S., Adab, H., & Hezarkhani, H. (2013). The effect of competitive intelligence on insurance products sale, the case of Iran insurance company agents in Kermanshah. Master's thesis. Iran: Islamic Azad University. (in Persian).
Nenzhelele, T. E., & Pellissier, R. (2014). “Competitive intelligence Implementation challenges of small and medium-sized enterprises”. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(16), 92.
Pellissier, R., & Kruger, J. P. (2011). “A study of strategic intelligence as a strategic management tool in the long-term insurance industry in South Africa”. European Business Review, 23(6), 609-631.
Pellissier, R., & Nenzhelele, T. E. (2013). “Towards a universal competitive intelligence process model”. SA Journal of Information Management, 15(2), 7.
Reed, R., Lemak, D. J., & Mero, N. P. (2000). “Total quality management and sustainable competitive advantage”. Journal of quality management, 5(1), 5-26.
Rezaeian, A., & Lashkar Bolooki, M. (2010), “Competitive Intelligence and Strategic Decision-making”, Business Management Outlook, 9(2), 43-65. (in Persian).
Rezai dolatabadi, H., Zeinali, Z., & Shekarchi Zadeh, Z. (2011). “Studying the Effect of Competitive Intelligence on Developing Competitive Advantage”. Business management outlook, 10(5), 9-25. (in Persian).
Saayman, A., Pienaar, J., De Pelsmacker, P., Viviers, W., Cuyvers, L., Muller, M. L., & Jegers, M. (2008). “Competitive intelligence: construct exploration, validation and equivalence”. Aslib Journal of Information Management, 60(2), 383-411.
Santos, M., & Correia, A. (2010). “Competitive Intelligence as a source of Competitive Advantage: An Exploratory Study of the Portuguese Biotechnology Industry”. Proceedings of the European Conference on Knowledge Management, Famalicäo, Portugal. September 2–3, 867.
Sharp, S. (2009). Competitive intelligence advantage: how to minimize risk, avoid surprises, and grow your business in a changing world. John Wiley & Sons.
Tenenhaus, M., Vinzi, V. E., Chatelin, Y. M., & Lauro, C. (2005). PLS path modeling. Computational statistics & data analysis, 48(1), 159-205.
West, D., Ford, J., & Ibrahim, E. (2015). Strategic marketing: creating competitive advantage. Oxford University Press.
Wright, S. (2013), “Converting input to insight: Organising for Intelligence-Based Competitive Advantage”, pp 1-35 in Wright, S. (Ed), Competitive Intelligence, Analysis and Strategy: Creating Organisational Agility, Abingdon, UK, Routledge.
Wright, S. (2014). Competitive intelligence, analysis and strategy: Creating organisational agility. Routledge.
Wright, S., Eid, E. R., & Fleisher, C. S. (2009). “Competitive intelligence in practice: empirical evidence from the UK retail banking sector”. Journal of Marketing Management, 25(9-10), 941-964.
Žižlavský, O. (2011). “Zapojení zákazníků do inovačního procesu jako prostředek vedoucí ke zvyšování výkonnosti podniku”. Journal of Competitiveness, 3(1), 15-24.
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Published
Feb 28, 2017
Article Details
How to Cite
Seyyed Amiri, N., Shirkavand, S., Chalak, M., & Rezaeei, N. (2017). Competitive intelligence and developing sustainable competitive advantage. AD-Minister, (30), 173–194. https://doi.org/10.17230/ad-minister.30.9
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Research Articles
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Author Biographies
Nader Seyyed Amiri, University of Tehran
PhD in marketing, Nader Seyyed Amiri is assistant professor in faculty of entrepreneurship of University of Tehran. he is also a guest researcher in Aalborg University of Denmark. Nader`s research area is Entrepreneurial Marketing and Digital Marketing in Small and Medium E-Businesses and Tourism SME. Nader is author of many academic articles and book in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. He is also a member of the ITS (International Telecommunication Society) and the Asian Marketing Asso- ciation. Nader is consultant of Marketing Systems on small and medium businesses. He serves in the board of directors in several companies and startups.Said Shirkavand, University of Tehran
Assistant Professor in the department of financial management at faculty of management in University of Tehran. He focuses on financial competiveness factors as a research area. He has published many papers in Insurance Industries and teaches finance and economy course in University of Tehran.
Mahjabin Chalak, University of Tehran
MA degree in insurance business management from faculty of managemant, University of Tehran. She is an expert supplemental health insurance in Mellat Insurance Company. Her research area is competitive advantages in Insurance Industries.Niloufar Rezaeei, University of Tehran
Master Degree of tourism marketing management in University of Tehran, Faculty of Management. She has B.A in English translation. is an English translator. beside her activities in marketing and par- ticularly tourism marketing, she teaches airline ticketing in an aviation academy.Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
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