Competitive Intelligence and Open Source Intelligence – Useful Tools for Competitive Business

Abstract

According to principles of economic security, in this era of globalization and interdependencies, we understand that economic agents work competitively in uncertain markets. In the current international economic field, we cannot find either a perfect balance or long-term security conditions. Yet, this insecurity has the ability to stimulate the competitive field, to encourage innovation and adaptive competences. The anticipation of rapid evolutions and transformations which occur within markets or different industries represents a challenge which company managers handle with increasing difficulty. Even though much scholarly attention is paid to conceptual elements of competitive intelligence and its benefits, little is known about the way open-source intelligence can act like an instrument. This paper addresses this gap in the literature and analyze the way open-source intelligence can provide support for competitive intelligence actions.