A survey of the use of competitive intelligence systems in the Kenyan pharmaceutical industry
Abstract
The objectives of this study were to establish the level of awareness of competitive
intelligence systems among Kenyan pharmaceutical suppliers, and to establish whether
competitive intelligence or competitive information (CI) is used in formulating
competitive strategy. Searches through literature revealed that in western countries, the
use of CI in competitive strategy formulation is a common practice. This study attempted
to determine the practice among Kenyan firms in the pharmaceutical industry.
A questionnaire was used to collect information from pharmaceutical supplier firms who
gave information on their understanding and use of competitive strategy formulation and
competitive analysis.
The results showed that nearly all companies have a competitive strategy and undertake
some form of competitive analysis, which is done mostly by the marketing function.
Most companies do not have an effective management information system for the
collection, analysis and dissemination of competitive information, and where such a
system was available, it was limited in capacity.
These results should however be interpreted in light of the limitations of the study,
chiefly the low response rate of 37%.
Sponsorhip
University of NairobiPublisher
School of Business, University of Nairobi