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Perceived environmental uncertainty and competitive intelligence practices

Ching Seng Yap (Graduate School of Business, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
Md Zabid Abdul Rashid (Office of the President and Vice Chancellor, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
Dewi Amat Sapuan (Graduate School of Business, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

VINE

ISSN: 0305-5728

Article publication date: 11 November 2013

1658

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to examine the current state of competitive intelligence practices in Malaysian public listed companies, the perception of environmental uncertainty and the link between the two concepts.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from 123 public listed companies via mail questionnaire survey. Variables and measurement were adopted from prior empirical studies, specifically from Daft, Sormunen and Parks.

Findings

Generally, the current state of competitive intelligence practices undertaken in Malaysian companies is moderate. More than half of the surveyed companies had established a formal CI unit in their organisation, in which a majority of them practised competitive intelligence at an early (five to nine years) stage in a moderate scale (two to five employees). Using a paired sample t-test, the study found that the perception of environmental uncertainty is higher in the task environmental sector than in the general environmental sectors. A positive correlation exists between perceived environmental uncertainty and competitive intelligence practices, specifically in terms of intelligence acquisition and strategic use.

Originality/value

This study serves as one of the earliest pieces of empirical evidence in the emerging economies in relation to competitive intelligence practices.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The project is funded by Universiti Tun Abdul Razak's Research Grant.

Citation

Seng Yap, C., Zabid Abdul Rashid, M. and Amat Sapuan, D. (2013), "Perceived environmental uncertainty and competitive intelligence practices", VINE, Vol. 43 No. 4, pp. 462-481. https://doi.org/10.1108/VINE-11-2011-0058

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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