Perceived Role of Competitive Intelligence for the Organization: Empirical Evidence from Cameroonian Business Environment

Businessmen, for the success of their companies, multiply strategies, techniques and tools in order to control and tackle their competitors and build strategic value. The most suitable tool to realize these ambitions is Competitive intelligence. The main objective of this study is to collect opinions of managers of companies operating in Cameroon regarding the overall utility of Competitive Intelligence (CI). To accomplish this objective, we first explored whether and how CI is practiced into companies operating in Cameroon, compared this functioning and opinions between foreign and local companies as well as classified most impacting variables. This study is inherently qualitative. The study is done by conducting explorative research on CI; therefore, questionnaire has been submitted to CI companies ‘managers in Cameroon. R software was used as it seems more convenient for statistical computing, data analysis, and graphics. Surprisingly, companies functioning in Cameroon globally use Competitive Intelligence to ensure the success of their activities. While looking at the Cameroonian practitioners’ familiarity with CI term, the organizational setup (e.g., departments responsible for CI, number of CI employees, CI budget, etc.) and the CI process flow (e.g., CI process stages, dissemination of CI, etc.), it was discovered that CI in Cameroon is appeared in a relatively unsophisticated scheme partially due to its newness. Results outline the positive effect of CI for companies and the global satisfaction of company’s managers as it contributes to the best understanding of the market, identification of the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, facilitation of decision-making, reduction of risks, long-term strategic advantages, etc.