Effect of competitive intelligence on innovation capability: An exploratory study in Mexican companies

Abstract

Market globalization and fast technological change drive organizations to apply information management systems that allow them to analyze information and convert it into intelligence. Because of this, companies need to manage information for decision making. This process is complex, beginning at the level of the company's strategy, and reaching all the way to manufacturing strategy, with the creation, development and deployment of the technological capabilities needed for quick and flexible responses to customers and market situations and their changes. The information can be gathered and managed through several models, mainly, competitive intelligence, knowledge management and intellectual capital. This article presents an investigation using a methodology of structural equation modeling for the identification of the intelligence factors, to evaluate their relative importance and relationships with the innovation capability of Mexican companies. The empirical results show that the relationship between competitive intelligence and the innovation capability is indirect, with knowledge management as a mediating factor.