What is preventing you from developing the level of competitive intelligence capability you desire for your organization? This article explores types of barriers and discusses how change management theory can be used to overcome them.
CI Barriers
Few areas have gathered as much research attention as the barriers to competitive intelligence success. Take a look at those identified in Table 1 and assess the extent to which any of these apply to your organization. The barriers can be clustered into four areas:
- RESOURCES: Insufficient funds, personnel, or skills in the competitive intelligence area.
2. STRUCTURE AND PROCESS: Inappropriate structures, integrating mechanisms, rewards, and so forth. 3. CI UNDERSTANDING: Limited understanding in the
organization regarding the purpose and meaning of competitive intelligence. 4. ATTITUDES: People don't trust CI, and are unwilling to share information.
The first three groups of barriers can be dealt with in a straightforward manner. Resource issues can be solved by getting spending authorization. Structure and process barriers can be overcome if top management will agree to the necessary structural or process modifications. As for CI understanding within the company, 71