Competitive intelligence - A practitioner, academic and inter-disciplinary perspective

Purpose - The article aims to trace the origins of the competitive intelligence fields and to identify both the practitioner, academic and inter-disciplinary views on Cl practice. Findings - The paper presents a bibliometric assessment of the discipline. The findings reveal the representation of cross-disciplinary literature, which emphasises the multi-faceted role which competitive intelligence plays in a modern organisation. 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 Practical implications - It is clear that today's 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. 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.