Sheila Wright

What's swot in strategic analysis?

Environmental analysis is a critical part of the strategic management planning process. The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) framework is proposed by many as an analytical tool which should be used to categorize significant environmental factors both internal and external to the organization. SWOT analysis has been praised for its simplicity and practicality. As a framework it has been widely adopted but, generally, its use has been accepted uncritically. It is timely to reappraise its value as a strategic management tool. If used simplistically, the SWOT framework is a ‘naive’ tool which may lead to strategic errors. More detailed analysis using complementary frameworks can overcome SWOTs inherent shortfalls. SWOT should not be viewed as a static analytical tool with emphasis solely on its output. It should be used as a dynamic part of the management and business development process. Despite impressions often created by many authors on the subject who portray strategic planning as systematic, sequential and rational, the realities of planning reveal that strategy formulation is more likely to be somewhat more incremental, non-rational and irregular; more ‘organic’ than ‘mechanic’. Use of the SWOT framework tends to be most closely associated with the ‘mechanistic’ approach and suffers as a consequence of this association. SWOT analysis does not have to be mechanistic; adoption of the approach proposed here with emphasis on its process values as well as its output is strongly recommended.

Competitive intelligence in UK firms: a typology

There is a danger of allowing competitive analysis to receive less than adequate attention in the marketing‐planning process as it is subordinated to a customer‐driven focus. Clearly important though customers are, they should not dominate marketing strategy and planning to the exclusion of other influential groups, one of these being competitors. With this in mind, a pilot research project was undertaken to gain a better understanding of how UK companies conduct competitive intelligence. From this pilot, a tentative typology of companies was developed to reflect four attributes of competitive intelligence activity: attitude, gathering, use, and location. Further research was subsequently undertaken to corroborate the findings of the pilot study, test the appropriateness of the typology and further develop the classification definitions. The research has resulted in a typology that illustrates a continuum of behaviour on the four strands of investigation. From this, an understanding of CI best practice can be deduced.

Competitive intelligence: A practitioner, academic and inter‐disciplinary perspective

Purpose – The article traces the origins of the competitive intelligence 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. Design/methodology/approach – Bibliometric assessment of the discipline. Findings reveal the representation of cross disciplinary literature which emphasises the multi‐faceted role which competitive intelligence plays in a modern organization. Findings – The analysis supports the view of competitive intelligence being an activity consisting dominantly of environmental scanning and strategic management literature. New fields of study and activity are rapidly becoming part of the competitive intelligence framework. Research limitations/implications – The analysis only uses ABI Inform as the primary sources for literature alongside Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) and Competitive Intelligence Foundation (CIF) publications, particularly the Journal of Competitive Intelligence and Management. A more comprehensive bibliometric analysis might reveal additional insights. Simple counts were used for analytical purposes rather than co‐citation analysis. Practical implications – Attention is drawn to the need for the integration of additional, complementary fields of study and competitive intelligence practice. It is clear that todays competitive intelligence practitioner cannot afford to rely on what they learned 20 years ago in order to ensure the continued competitive advantage of their firm. A keen understanding of all business functions, especially marketing and planning is advocated. Originality/value – While there have been bibliographies of competitive intelligence literature 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 competitive intelligence can bring to marking and business success.

The quest for competitive, business and marketing intelligence

Purpose – Seeks to examine three empirical studies carried out in Canada, the UK and Europe with comparisons drawn on their approach and findings.Design/methodology/approach – The studies were compared using a framework, developed by the authors, along four central elements and two influencing drivers.Findings – Little measurement consistency or output value was evident. The current focus on isolated studies, carried out at a macro level, is discouraged.Practical implications – Future studies need greater rigour, and consequently might be of more value to academics and practitioners.Originality/value – The lack of research consistency is highlighted. Recommendations are made for stronger adhesion with other disciplines to develop a robust research agenda.

Commentary: The publications of marketing faculty – who are we really talking to?

The current environment in higher education drives faculty members towards research and publication. What the system values most is publication in refereed journals, preferably those which have achieved high reputation. Examines the extent to which academic research informs practitioners engaged in marketing. Clear evidence was obtained that academic marketing journals are neither read nor recognised by the great bulk of the sample. The consequence for academics and other writers in the subject area is significant. They can either strive to meet the demands of academically rated journals and publications which will undoubtedly further their career or they can publish their work in outlets more likely to be read by the practitioner. In the latter case, they then risk their colleagues and superiors taking them less seriously. Finally, they can attempt to achieve both, although this is a somewhat difficult task. The evidence from this study confirms, however, that whatever efforts are made by marketing faculty to publish their work, their readership, most likely, will be disappointingly exclusive.

The role of insight teams in integrating diverse marketing information management techniques

Purpose – The paper seeks to address the viability of planning and executing the integration of four often independent marketing information management techniques, i.e. competitive intelligence (CI), customer relationship management (CRM), data mining (DM) and market research (MR).Design/methodology/approach – The research presented is a longitudinal, exploratory and descriptive case study, covering a three‐year period during a critical development phase of a medium‐size, national employer association which sought to improve the quality of marketing‐based insights to its strategic planning capability as well as improve economic outcomes.Findings – It is possible to achieve profitable and capability enhancing integration of diverse marketing information management techniques. Successful integration and the use of a highly focused cross‐functional team generated better market strategies and bottom line benefits.Practical implications – The need to generate greater insight from popular marketing information ...

Competitive Intelligence programmes for SMEs in France: evidence of changing attitudes

This paper reports on an empirical study of the French Chambers of Commerce and Industry Competitive Intelligence (CI) programmes. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with the directors of 15 CI programmes from four regions of France. The research questions focused on definitional issues, CI programme content, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) CI practices and innovative methods used to change attitudes towards CI. The interview transcriptions were sorted, analysed and classified in NVivo software. The findings show that tangible results have been achieved despite resistance from small businesses in regard to their Competitive Intelligence practices. The paper also identifies the public and private sector entities which were named as sources of advice for small businesses for their Competitive Intelligence needs. The SMEs were also classified by the application of a CI attitude typology. The insights elicited can help future initiatives by public/private partnerships in both CI programme design and implementation.

Applying a behavioural and operational diagnostic typology of competitive intelligence practice: empirical evidence from the SME sector in Turkey

This paper reports on an empirical study conducted within the SME sector in the city of Istanbul, Turkey. The findings from this study enabled the creation of a behavioural and operational typology of competitive intelligence practice, one developed from the work of S. Wright, D.W. Pickton and J. Callow (2002. Competitive intelligence in UK firms: A typology. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 20, 349–360). Using responses to questions which indicated a type of behaviour or operational stance towards the various strands of CI practice under review it has been possible to identify areas where improvements could be made to reach an ideal situation which could garner significant competitive advantage for the SMEs surveyed.

Competitive Intelligence analysis failure: Diagnosing individual level causes and implementing organisational level remedies.

It is anticipated that any Competitive Intelligence (CI) professional would want to perform the analysis task and execute their responsibilities successfully over time. Such competencies would normally come with added experience on the job, as should the ability to reduce the risk of failure by diagnosing potential pitfalls. This paper presents: (a) a unique four-level hierarchical model of analysis failure; (b) identification of common causes of failure at the individual level; (c) 10 key continua of CI analysis skills which we believe an analyst has to master to become competent in their work; and (d) guiding principles for an enlightened firm to follow if they wish to discharge their organisational level responsibility of reducing the potential for analysis failure. We believe that the issues raised in this paper are of significance and should ultimately contribute towards creating a more successful analysis function. This can only be of benefit to educators, practitioners and others who rely on skilful CI output to inform their decision making.

Addressing the intelligence, analysis, strategy connection: symbiosis, osmosis or segregation?

The collection of papers presented in this Special Edition of Journal of Strategic Marketing has been selected from successful submissions to the 2011 Academy of Marketing (AM) Conference hosted by the University of Liverpool at Aintree Racecourse. The primary source for selected papers was those submitted to the Competitive Intelligence, Analysis and Strategy track although some especially deserving submissions to other tracks were also taken into consideration. From this, the authors of six submissions were invited to present their work in the recognised full format and it is with pleasure that these are presented here. All the papers have been subjected to a double blind review process, been refined as a consequence and are themed below under the three categories of academic endeavour covered by this special edition.