Towards Understanding the Perceptions of Information Professionals about Competitive Intelligence Work

Abstract

Little is known about how information professionals perceive themselves in the competitive intelligence (CI) work domain. There is a dearth of scholarly attention on their social identities in CI, their involvement with CI, and how their engagement impacts the usage of corporate information agency resources by CI practitioners. The goal of this study is to create a benchmark knowledge base addressing these issues. We developed five constructs — awareness of CI functioning in the organisation, perceived identity toward CI, perceived involvement in CI work, frequency of interactivities with CI practitioners, and perceived usage of corporate information agency resources — and attempted to propose and validate a causal model connecting these constructs. Data were collected through a survey of 86 information professionals, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and partial least squares (PLS). Our major findings include: few respondents identified themselves exclusively as CI professionals; the respondents collectively had a low CI-involvement level; perceived identity influenced perceived involvement; and both perceived involvement and frequency of interactivities influenced the usage of corporate information agency resources. These findings could influence the design of future CI programs and the education programs for new information professionals.