No abstract

No abstract

Many information and knowledge management programmes do not achieve all the anticipated benefits, one reason being that they do not have increasing competitive advantage as an objective.' AbstractThe rationale behind this article is that frequently the link is not made between organizations gaining competitive advantage and the use of good quality information and maintaining the infrastructure to store, organize and retrieve that knowledge and information. It will examine what constitutes competitive advantage and the use of knowledge to create it. Specific types of knowledge that generate competitiveness will be reviewed along with some examples of proactive usage. Business advantageWhat is meant by competitive advantage? Competitive advantage is mainly used to differentiate company performance in the profit-making sector. In fact virtually all organizations have competitors. A good example is the charity sector in which firms are actively competing for donations. The same can be said for theatres, which are competing for audiences and schools, which compete for the most talented pupils and the best exam results -hence the growth in league tables.Competitive advantage is a great deal more than financial performance and shareholder value; these are both a measurement at a moment in time, usually short-term. Competitive advantage is built slowly over time from a number of different aspects: one of the most important is organizational image and integrity.Professor Michael E. Porter from Harvard Business School has been the guru of competitive strategy since 1980, when he published his classic book on the subject [1]. Five years later, he took this a stage further and wrote a book called Competitive Advantage, which explains 'how a firm can actually create and sustain a competitive advantage in its industry ' [2]. Sustain is a key word. He goes Competitor intelligence38

The Author’s theme of company competitiveness and the role played by information and communications technologies (ICT) in its maximization is continued with a review of corporate uses of Internet and intranet technology. Internet technology is used for accessing all the information on the Web, the invisible Web, electronic mail (email), instant messaging, newsgroups, chat rooms, online message boards, communities of practice, virtual communities, intranets, extranets, portals, vortals, industrynets and auctions. The Internet has had a profound effect on organizations and business activity by overcoming geographic boundaries and making information more easily available and in larger quantities to a wider potential customer base. The importance of acknowledging the inability of the Internet alone to create a competitive advantage is stressed, along with need to seek to create such advantages by using the Internet to do things differently, through innovation or by inventive pricing. The things that Internet technology enables organizations to do which they could not do easily before include: broadcasting information internally and externally; making information much more easily available; messaging; increasing speed of delivery; direct customer contact; selling; buying; ordering; educating; exchanging information and views; monitoring competitors and the marketplace; graphics/pictures; improving customer service and value; analyzing customer needs; reaching new markets; and improving choice.

Defines the different types of intelligence, information and knowledge; acknowledging the blurred nature of the boundaries. Presents practical examples of business intelligence within financial services and explains why business intelligence skills are becoming essential to business survival. Focuses on what makes a good intelligence analyst and the issues of whether computer software can really produce intelligence by computerizing information. Illustrates the discussion with a case study based on the change from information to intelligence gathering at Midland Bank, UK. Stresses the vital role of acquisitions in company growth, the five principal categories of acquisitions and the important role played by business intelligence.