Evolution of the competitive intelligence based on metric study of its literature

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes the discussions held on the theme Competitive Intelligence (CI) from 1984 to 2013. Organized in the form of a metric research, the bibliographic data of 3453 articles indexed in the Scopus database were analyzed and then it was identified which subjects received greater attention by their authors, as well as the geographical and temporal distribution of articles. The discussions started pointing to the pursuit of conceptual understanding and justification of the existence of competitive intelligence and afterward a greater focus to technological artifacts that provide improvements in the implementation of the subject as given. The Management area has received the prime attention from all the regions and the Strategic Planning is the most recurring issue in all regions but Asia, where Mathematical Models has been the main topic. The discussion on ethics pervades the literature throughout the period studied.

Key-words:
Competitive intelligence; Metric research; Scientometric research; Bibliometric research