Perceived environmental uncertainty and competitive intelligence practices

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.