Competitive intelligence theoretical framework and practices: The case of Spanish universities

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to summarise previous studies to develop a theoretical framework useful to describe and classify competitive intelligence (CI) practices. It is applied to study CI practices developed by Spanish universities, comparing usual practices with those developed during the process of adaptation of degrees to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), with strong challenges.

Design/methodology/approach

The research employs a mixed-methods approach (semi-structured interviews and questionnaires) developed in two phases. It has focused on the academic offer, which represents 46.35 per cent of the degrees presented in 2009, belonging to 90.16 per cent of Spanish universities.

Findings

The results reveal predominance of incipient and reactive practices, oriented to the tactical level. During the adaptation process, these practices evolved due to the perception of the involvement of universities in the adaptation process. In addition, the proposed theoretical framework could be a tool to study CI both in other university management areas and other kind of organisations.

Research limitations/implications

This research has been applied only to a critic incident: the design of university academic offer to be adapted to the EHEA. More studies about CI practices in other areas of universities should be done, using the same framework proposed in this study.

Practical implications

This framework based on research done in business sector can be applied to any kind or organisations, including NGO and public sectors.

Originality/value

Management tools used in the business sector, such as CI, have been adopted by Higher Educations Institutions, but while CI has been studied in depth in the business sector, it has scarcely been studied in higher education. This framework can be applied to any kind or organisations.

Citation

Garcia-Alsina, M., Cobarsí-Morales, J. and Ortoll, E. (2015), "Competitive intelligence theoretical framework and practices: The case of Spanish universities", Aslib Journal of Information Management, Vol. 68 No. 1, pp. 57-75. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-04-2015-0061