Justine Fasquelle

Composition of the Jury

Abstract

This research focuses on the role of a strategic intelligence information system in innovation projects. More specifically, it examines the impact of information from strategic intelligence activities on decision-making throughout an innovation process. The research question is: What is the influence of intelligence activities on decision-making during the innovation process? The objective is to contribute to the body of knowledge on a topic that has received little attention in the literature and that raises significant managerial challenges. The article's originality lies in its application of decision-making theory in context (Klein's naturalistic approach) to study decision-making in innovation processes as a complex process, and thus the influence that the results of intelligence activities can have on complex decisions. This research was conducted using a qualitative exploratory approach involving 23 interviews. Our results reveal that intelligence plays three roles during the innovation process. The role of environmental exploration means that competitive intelligence feeds into the innovation process at almost every stage. The influence of competitive intelligence tends to wane before experiencing a resurgence once the innovation is launched on the market. The second role is to confirm the intuition of decision-makers. These decision-makers have to make complex decisions such as go/kill/hold/recycle and rely on their intuition, which they then confirm through competitive intelligence. The third role of competitive intelligence is to reduce the uncertainty inherent in innovation processes by providing strategic information about the company's external environment. Finally, this research shows that competitive intelligence is useful for decision-making when it is focused on strategic research areas and when its results are shared through rich media, such as face-to-face meetings with visual aids like infographics.

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