Track N° 3: Risk and Uncertainly in Strategic Competitive Intelligence

At the heart of the Competitive Intelligence (CI) approach to strategy lies the assumption that by applying a set of powerful analytical tools or information gathering techniques, executives can predict the future of any business accurately enough to allow them to choose a clear strategic direction. However, when the environment is highly uncertain, no amount of analysis will allow the prediction of future. Likewise, if the information is dynamic and highly volatile, yesterday’s information will become obsolete and irrelevant to current situation. A further concern is the highly overwhelming volume of data and information to the degree that it becomes unmanageable. This would lead to analysis paralysis and yield diminishing returns, which will most likely distort the whole picture. One would also question the ability of organizational policy makers to formulate the right questions before requesting data gathering and analysis from CI professionals; what if they misinterpret the analysed information? Recent research purported that one must constantly remember that technology is merely there to help with the process; it never explains why things happen and rarely assists us in understanding the facts. In the same fashion, the statistical analysis does not explain why or how things happen; it only describes what has happened. Thus, in this track we are interested to original and high-quality philosophical, theoretical and practical research papers that advance research and practice on handling risk and uncertainly to support Strategic Competitive Intelligence.

We particularly welcome submissions on the following topics (but not limited to):