BUS631: Brand Management

From the responses obtained majority of respondents were men (9) while the remaining were women (3). The age range indicates that 25% (3) were between 20 and 30years, another 66.67% (8) fell within the 31–40 years and 8.33% (1) indicated a range above 51years. The educational level of the respondents reveals that 66.67% (8) were first degree holders, 16.67% (2) have second degrees, 8.33% (1) were diploma holders and 8.33% (1) have professional qualifications.

All the respondents have worked in the company for more than 3years (58.33% (7), 4 to 7 years–8.33% (1), 8 to 10 years–25% (3) and more than 10 years–8.34% (1). All the respondents (100%) confirmed that Research and Development of XYZ Company (XYZ) has been in operation as a department for gathering and analyzing information from their external environment and competitors. This is in order since the company must know and understand its business and its competitors' business to succeed. The study further revealed that XYZ has personnel appointed for competitive intelligence duties as majority (83.34%) of the respondents answered 'Yes' to the question "are personnel appointed for competitive intelligence duties at XYZ?" Only 16.66% answered 'NO' to the same question. The study therefore shows that XYZ does not only attach great importance to competitive intelligence but also appoints responsible and skilled personnel to handle data generation. On the question of competitive intelligence data collection, all the respondents (100%) affirmed that they are assigned and given areas to cover in such activities.

Analysis of Responses Concerning Competitive Intelligence Process

The respondents (100%) revealed that XYZ Company extensively uses both formal and informal methods to generate intelligence data. The study also revealed that CI has its own budget and the company has a competitive intelligence strategy which is used in conducting competitive intelligence activities as indicated in table 1.

Table 1. Competitive intelligence budget and competitive intelligence strategy

The study also inquired from the respondents the sources XYZ uses to gather competitive data. The respondents had the opportunity of choosing more than one answer for this question. The results show that 50% of the respondents said data was collected from sampling customers, 33.33% also indicated research companies, 8.33% said government sources are used and another 8.33% said from other web based sources. The analysis implies that XYZ gathers competitive data from different sources which confirms Gilad and Gilad (1985) and Fleisher (2008) assertion in the literature review that a large variety of sources are used in generating and mining for data. The frequency of CI data generation from the respondent indicates varying results with 50% (6) indicating weekly, 41.67% (5) monthly and 8.33% (1) quarterly.

The Use of Formal Procedures for Generating CI

To determine if CI process operates smoothly and effectively in the firm, 75% (9) agreed that there is a formal process employed and 25% (3) said there was no strict format. To determine if the formal processes used are in line with Kahaner (1997) and Prescott & Smith (1989) CI process, 91.67% (11) respondents stated a variation of the process is used with just 8.33% (1), the manager saying that the company adheres to the CI format. On the question of sophistication of methods used in data collection, no respondent mentioned any CI tool. All respondents (100%) mentioned industry reports and formal company research, 75% (9) said research companies are contacted to provide 'sensitive intelligence data and 83.33% (10) confirmed that informal methods like 'spying' on competitors are employed.

The question on whether analytical tools are employed in analysing data collected generated mixed results, with 41.67% (5) saying 'Yes' and . 58.33% (7) saying 'No'. All the 5 respondents mentioned the computer as their analytical tool. No specific analytical programme was indicated. The 7 'No' response further indicated that analytical tools will enhance their reports. On the question of the frequency of CI reports to management, no specific time line was agreed on by all 12 respondents. The majority 33.33% (4) said there are no specific timeline but the urgency of the information generated determine the frequency of the reports. Further, 25% (3) said weekly, another 25% (3) said monthly and 16.67% (2) said quarterly reports are generated to management. There was no consensus here meaning that there are no laid down processes being followed by the company regarding information flow to management and CI reporting.

The Sophistication and Intensity of CI Data Collection

To find out the extent to which XYZ undertake competitive intelligence, 66.67% (8) of the respondents said the company undertake competitive intelligence 'to a greater extent' and 33.33% (4) ticked 'to some extent' with 0 for 'not to any extent'. The mean variance for the three items is 11 with a standard deviation of 3.32. The analysis revealed that 58.33% (7) of the respondents said the company attaches 'high intensity' to the generation of CI data, 33.33% (4) of the respondents said 'very high intensity' and 8.33% (1) indicated 'medium intensity'. The analyses also show a mean value of 2.4 and a standard deviation value of 2.73.

The focus of CI activities indicate that the most significant intelligence information was on 'customers' followed by competitors, brewery industry, distributors, marketing associations, internal sales and marketing employees and other respectively as in figure 2. The standard deviation of the mean values is 0.806978.

Figure 2. The focus of CI activities

The figures displayed at the end of the bars represent the mean/ average values from the responses (1 = not important/less focus to 5 = extreme focus and importance – appendix 1).

The Role of CI Data Collection in the Company

All respondents (100%) responded that CI data collection plays a significant role. But this question needs to be answered by top management therefore the manager in consultation with two others asserted that the firm's decisions 60% of time rely on CI information. From the analysis, 66.67% of the respondents agree that the company has a 'high' usage of competitive intelligence report as in figure 3.

Figure 3. Level of competitive intelligent report usage

The analysis for the main users of CI revealed that 75% (9) of the respondents stated management of the company, 16.67% (2) stated middle management and 8.33% (1) mentioned the sales department specifically. This confirms the literature that essentially management is the main users of CI.

The Importance Attached to CI

The importance of CI was sought from the respondents and 58.33% (7) agree that it is of 'very high importance' in the company, 16.67% (2) said it is of 'high importance' and 25% (3) said it of 'medium importance'. On the question of how CI information needs are identified in the company, 41.67% (5) said management defines the CI needs and 58.33% (7) said the manager of the unit plans such activities. On the issues they envisage in sourcing or CI data, 50% (6) said the future needs of the company in these competitive times are their major huddle, 33.33% (4) said identifying and locating relevant data and 16.67% (2) said lack of tools and laid down methods.