Performance is critical for every listed firm, as it enhances shareholder’s value and capability to generate earnings from invested capital. Some of the firms listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) have been performing poorly as indicated by the rising number of firms issuing profit warnings. The competitive business environment is continuously working to drive down the rate of return on invested capital. To counter these competitive forces, firms have resorted to gathering information at their disposal and converting it into competitive intelligence through analysis and human judgment. This study sought to determine the effect of competitive intelligence practices on performance of firms listed on the NSE. Firm performance was evaluated using both financial and non-financial measures. The non-financial measures used in the study were goal achievement and customer satisfaction, while Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) were the financial measures used. The target population was the sixty firms listed on the Nairobi securities exchange. Primary data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire; while secondary data was obtained from the firm’s published annual reports available at the NSE using a document review guide. Quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings indicate that competitive intelligence practices have a positive and a statistically significant effect on the non-financial performance of firms listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The intelligence practices were found to have a positive but statistically insignificant effect on the financial performance of listed firms. Managers of listed firms should raise the utilization level of competitive intelligence practices to enable the firms to make accurate predictions on changes in the business environment, compete better in the marketplace against rivals, improve on innovation and automation, track competitors’ activities and improve the competitiveness of their firms by identifying threats and opportunities before they become obvious. The study suggests that future researches should focus on extending knowledge on competitive intelligence practices to non-listed corporate sector firms to support the generalization of the findings to all sectors in the economy.

Performance is critical for every listed firm, as it enhances shareholder's value and capability to generate earnings from invested capital. Some of the firms listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) have been performing poorly as indicated by the rising number of firms issuing profit warnings. The competitive business environment is continuously working to drive down the rate of return on invested capital. To counter these competitive forces, firms have resorted to gathering information at their disposal and converting it into competitive intelligence through analysis and human judgment. Competitive intelligence can be viewed both as a process and a product. As a process, it is the set of legal and ethical methods for collecting, developing, analyzing and disseminating actionable information pertaining to competitors, suppliers, customers, the organization itself and business environment that can affect a company's plans, decisions and operations. Competitive intelligence as a product is information about the present and future behavior of competitors, suppliers, customers, technologies, government, market and the general business environment. This study sought to determine the moderating effect of organizational factors between competitive intelligence practices and performance of firms listed on the NSE. Firm performance was evaluated using both financial and non-financial measures. The findings indicate that organizational factors specifically organizational culture, organizational structure and managerial attitudes toward competitive intelligence were found to moderate in the relationship between the competitive intelligence practices and performance of firms listed on the NSE, Kenya.

Globalization and technological advancement have in a big way altered the business landscape, making it difficult for banks to sustain competitive advantage. The need to enhance competitiveness has forced firms to consider competitive intelligence not only as a tool to guard against competitor threats but also as a mechanism for discovering new opportunities and trends. Competitive intelligence contributes to continuous improvement of the quality of products, services and solutions offered by companies to their clients as well as increasing a firm's innovative capability. Competitor threats have been identified as one of the competitive intelligence domains that a firm needs to focus on in order to gain and sustain competitive advantage. This paper sought to examine the effect of competitor threats on the competitive advantage among commercial banks in Kenya. The target population for the study were directors or managers in-charge of planning or strategy in each of the forty banks in the country. Primary data was collected using a semi structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was tested for both validity and reliability and was found to have met the required threshold. A response rate of 77.5% was achieved in the study and this was adequate for analysis. The study found that competitor threats had significant effect on the ability of banks to sustain competitive advantage. The study therefore concluded that competitors' threats are real and could inhibit a company's strategy from succeeding in the marketplace and therefore should be detected early. The study therefore recommends that banks should increase the resources devoted to monitoring the competitive landscape to enable early identification of competitors' threats. The study further recommends that banks should develop strategies to neutralize, eliminate or ameliorate those threats.

Globalization and technological advancement have in a big way altered the business landscape, making it difficult for banks to sustain competitive advantage. The need to enhance competitiveness has forced banks to consider competitive intelligence not only as a tool to guard against threats but also as a mechanism for discovering new opportunities and trends. Competitive intelligence contributes to continuous improvement of the quality of products, services and solutions offered by banks to their clients as well as increasing a firm’s innovative capability. Key vulnerabilities have been identified as one of the strategic inputs of competitive intelligence that a firm needs to focus on in order to gain and sustain competitive advantage. This paper sought to examine the effect of identification and assessment of key organizational vulnerabilities on the competitive advantage among commercial banks in Kenya. The target population for the study were directors or managers in-charge of planning or strategy in each of the forty banks in the country. Primary data was collected using a semi structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was tested for both validity and reliability and was found to meet the required threshold. A response rate of 77.5% was achieved in the study and this was adequate for analysis. The study found that identification, assessment and hedging against key vulnerabilities had significant effect on the ability of banks to sustain competitive advantage. The study therefore concluded that key vulnerabilities should be identified, assessed and hedged against since they could inhibit a company’s strategy from succeeding in the marketplace. The study recommends that banks should raise the level of use of competitive intelligence in monitoring the competitive landscape to enable early identification and assessment of key vulnerabilities, then take steps to hedge the vulnerable areas from being exploited by rivals to the detriment of the bank. The study further recommends that managers should be continuously assessing the vulnerability of their banks with aim of hedging against attack by rivals.

Purpose: This paper sought to examine the effect of verification of core assumptions on the competitive advantage among commercial banks in Kenya. Methodology: The target population for the study were directors or managers in-charge of planning or strategy in each of the forty banks in the country. Primary data was collected using a semi structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was tested for both validity and reliability and was found to meet the required threshold. . Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Analysis was done with the assistance of SPSS computer packages. Findings: A response rate of 77.5% was achieved in the study and this was adequate for analysis. The study found that verification of core assumptions has a β =0.472 and a p-value of 0.000 which indicates that it has a significant effect on the ability of banks to sustain competitive advantage. The study therefore concluded that verification of core assumptions must be carried out continuously to track their validity on which the company’s strategies are grounded upon. Unique Contributions to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study therefore recommends that banks should raise the level of use of competitive intelligence in monitoring the competitive landscape to enable early verification of core assumptions. The study further recommends that banks should continuously monitor the various core assumptions that were considered during strategy formulation to verify their validity to enable the bank rapidly change the strategy, should the core assumption on which it was grounded on be found to be no longer valid.