Assessment of Competitive Intelligence in Research Institutes in Kenya

Abstract

This paper gives understanding of competitive intelligence in relation to research and innovation for sustainable development in Africa. The process of competitive intelligence analyzes the external business environment to ensure that managers get the right information about the competitors in the business industry. The statement of the problem was to find out the awareness, attitudes among the competitors and monitoring of information in external environment by research institutes in Kenya. The objectives of the study was to establish extend of competition in the business environment, the challenges facing competitors in research and innovation and to establish if firms adopted information technology in decision making. The methodology used was simple random sampling to collect the data from the participants. Target group of the study were mainly scientists who had a population of 180. The sample population of the study were 60 participants. The data collected was analyzed using the SPSS programme. In the study, the researcher found out that most of the research institutes were not aware that competitive intelligence is important technique in the business environment. In conclusion, competitive intelligence is a unique programme that requires operators of the business environment to understand and keep a close watch with external environment and new innovations for business sustainable development. In recommendation, the study found out that the stakeholders in the business environment to undergo capacity building to acquire skills for effective competitive intelligence access of information in external environment.