Pre-Adoption Diagnosis of the Intelligence Process in Organizations: A Delphi Study with Intelligence Practitioners.
| Autor | Cainelli, Amanda |
Introduction
Over the past 30 years, intelligence applied to business has become a fundamental component of the informational infrastructure of companies and a prerequisite for organizational success (Davenport, Harris, & Morison, 2010; Gilad & Fuld, 2016). Also known as environmental scanning (Aguilar, 1967), strategic foresight (Tsoukas & Shepherd, 2004) or strategic scanning (N. Lesca, Caron-Fasan, Aguirre, & Chalus-Sauvannet, 2015), intelligence is an essential process to identify signals in the environment (changes and events) that must be observed, captured and interpreted so that action can be taken in advance (Andriotti, Freitas, & Janissek-Muniz, 2008; Hakansson & Nelke, 2015). These signals must be detected early in the external environment, in time to mitigate their impacts (Russo, Sbragia, & Abraham, 2017). When done systematically, the intelligence process allows production of value-added information and support for strategic decisions, which is particularly relevant for organizations that wish to maintain a lifelong sustainable competitive advantage (Choo, 1999; Tarapanoff, 2006).
The intelligence process should be structured to transform scattered and dissociated information into actionable intelligence (Hakansson & Nelke, 2015). Systematization of the intelligence process provides increased quality of the information in order to identify targets based on the organizational priorities and strategy, reduce information duplicity, raise the probability of identifying opportunities and threats, and increase decision making in strategic planning (Gilad & Gilad, 1985; McGonagle & Vella, 2002; Sassi, Frini, Abdessalem, & Kraiem, 2015).
Although the importance of the structured process is recognized, there are still discontinuous, informal and non-institutionalized intelligence practices in organizations (Borges & Janissek-Muniz, 2017; Davis, 2008; Gilad & Fuld, 2016; Mayer, Steinecke, Quick, & Weitzel, 2013). Often, process structuring is considered a complex task by companies, and this difficulty may be linked to various aspects of the external environment that need to be constantly monitored, requiring a significant effort by managers and decision-makers (Janissek-Muniz, 2016; Vidigal, 2013).
The intelligence process adoption requires a raise in executives' sensibility and awareness of monitoring practices so that their companies can draw plans to achieve the desired formalization of the process (Brouard, 2007; H. Lesca, 2003). Although generally neglected (Gilad, 2016), this evaluation can indicate improvements and actions for intelligence activity success and continuity (Caron-Fasan & Janissek-Muniz, 2002).
There are few studies about the stage prior to the intelligence process adoption (N. Lesca et al., 2015) that support the fact that it is in this important stage that organizations are sensitized and awareness is created, as well as knowledge and interest about the need to observe the environment. This is the reason why it is important to recognize, a priori, activities and conditions that can influence the success of the process (Janissek-Muniz, 2016; Luzipo, Van Biljon, & Herselman, 2015). This understanding can potentially avoid future problems, reduce costs and time, reduce failure risks, and prepare an environment suitable to receive the intelligence process (Verville, Barnadas, & Halingten, 2005). Therefore, the motivation to adopt the intelligence process is one of the subjects that still need to be explored in the literature: the knowledge regarding the internal and external conditions that precede this adoption or what leads organizations to initiate this process have yet to be investigated (Iden, Methlie, & Christensen, 2017). Gilad (2016) points out that is important to understand information needs and business practices before adopting an effective intelligence process, because the motivation that drives the process implementation is a valid indicator of future, costs and effectiveness.
If organizations can identify beforehand the main issues related to organizational, informational, human and technological conditions that must be improved in order to adopt a structured intelligence process, they can lead to the success and continuity of the intelligence activity (N. Lesca et al., 2015). Through mapping and recognizing the points that need improvement, organizations can better prepare themselves to receive and structure the process, since the absence of this prior knowledge is one of the main reasons for the discontinuity and weakening of the activity (Herring, 1999). In this sense, the questions that guide this work are: how can anticipative evaluation be done, and which are the main conditions that must be evaluated in the pre-adoption stage of the intelligence process? In this way, this paper aims to present a diagnostic tool to evaluate conditions related to the structured intelligence process before it is adopted in companies. For all these reasons, this article explores the pre-adoption phase of the intelligence process considering the existing literature on Information Systems and Strategic Intelligence, aiming to identify prior conditions and build a framework of this stage. In order to identify such conditions, this study analyzes six diagnosis tools of the intelligence activity. As a result of the analysis, it will be possible to pose a set of questions through the Delphi method, in order to consolidate a diagnostic script to be applied in organizations before the intelligence process is installed. Finally, we present a tool to identify which improvements should be worked on to reach the structuring and success of the activity.
Pre-adoption of the Intelligence Process
The concept of intelligence refers to an organized process that helps organizations monitor and understand their business environment, compete successfully, and grow in a dynamic world in which executives need to be aware of external opportunities and threats in order to make decisions (Casagrande, Aguirre, & Vuillon, 2015). In this context, information is the central resource of organizations (Rios & Janissek-Muniz, 2014), and intelligence emerges as a formalized process that supports and works with strategy, contributing to business value and sustainable growth in companies (N. Lesca & Caron-Fasan, 2008). Above all, the intelligence process is a systematic way of looking at the world outside the company by observing, collecting and interpreting information to provide decision-makers with elements that allow to anticipate imminent opportunities and dangers in order to deal effectively with them (Brouard, 2007). Studies have pointed out that this process is not only responsible for specifying which sectors should be monitored, but also for scanning valuable information related to threats and opportunities, indicating the tools to be used, incorporating analytical findings into executive decision-making and, in many cases, monitoring the environment (Mayer, 2012). Therefore, when incorporated into organizational processes, the intelligence process is necessary for decision-maker success, as it produces relevant information that can be used to strategically position a company (Gilad & Gilad, 1985; Kahaner, 1996).
Daft and Weick (1984) corroborate this idea and argue that any organization that has a structured intelligence process will be able to develop sensitivity in the analysis and interpretation of data and information, being able to not only act passively or in response to future trends in its environment, but rather influence it into a desired situation. According to Choo (2001), in order to carry out the intelligence process, it is necessary that the organization has an internal an ability to learn and interpret data and is aware of some questions about the search for information: the need for search; the manner or form that it will be sought; the destination or use of information; and the analysis on how this information impacts and is impacted by the context or situational dimension, organizational strategies and managerial aspects. The investigation on information can be inferred as capabilities, which can be considered Dynamic Capabilities, since they represent a set of skills that the organization develops internally in order to integrate, construct and reconfigure resources (structure and processes), as well as to adapt quickly to environmental changes (Teece, Pissano, & Shuen, 1997).
As described earlier, because it is so inherent to the internal processes of each company, the stage that precedes the adoption of the intelligence process varies from one organization to another and depends on three underlying factors: objectives, corporate structure, and resources (Bartes, 2013; Gilad & Gilad, 1985). External conditions (environmental turbulence and resource dependence); organizational issues (nature of the business and strategy pursued); informational conditions (availability and quality of information); personal issues (knowledge of the intelligence professional); and cognitive style can also influence intelligence process adoption (Choo, 2003). This is why before any intelligence operation begins, it is essential to know users' informational needs so that the actions can be well-conducted, considering that the absence of this knowledge is the main reason for poor intelligence processes, with low performance and demotivation of intelligence teams (Herring, 1999).
Another important element that can contribute to the success and sustainability of the intelligence process in organizations is prior contact with critical factors. Certain conditions, such as organizational, individual, informational, technological and material, can indicate barriers or drivers that may or may not be present in organizations and therefore should be analyzed in the pre-adoption stage of the structured intelligence process, as shown in Figure 1.
Given this, human, organizational, material and cultural...
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