TY - JOUR AU - Oraee, Narges AU - Sanatjoo, Azam AU - Ahanchian, Mohammad Reza PY - 2021/08/30 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - An exploratory study on competitive intelligence: Managers' information needs in higher education sector JF - Malaysian Journal of Library and Information Science JA - MJLIS VL - 26 IS - 2 SE - Articles DO - 10.22452/mjlis.vol26no2.7 UR - http://mjlis.um.edu.my/index.php/MJLIS/article/view/25149 SP - 125-142 AB - <p><em>Competitive intelligence </em><em>is the collection and analysis of information to support strategic decision making for an </em><em>organis</em><em>ation</em><em>, as </em><em>a means to achieve competitive advantages.</em> <em>Identification of information needs is a prerequisite for the subsequent actions and activities in the competitive intelligence process, and, if not done well, optimal intelligence will not be provided. Intending to identify the information needs of university managers in higher education sector, </em><em>this study </em><em>addressed the different dimensions of </em><em>information </em><em>needs, information sources, and channels used by them. Due to the nature of the subject and research objectives, </em><em>the</em><em> research </em><em>approach</em><em> was qualitative based on Grounded Theory</em><em>, </em><em>an inductive, theory discovery </em><em>methodology</em><em>. </em><em>Twenty-three university managers in Iran were purposive</em><em>ly</em><em> sampl</em><em>ed for interviews</em><em>. </em><em>It was found that their information needs </em><em>were </em><em>mostly </em><em>about </em><em>university </em><em>competitors</em><em>, university </em><em>customers </em><em>and their </em><em>higher education </em><em>providers.</em> <em>Their </em><em>information needs for strategic decisions and actions </em><em>were about their collaborators </em><em>in education and information field</em><em>, </em><em>effective marketing about product and services</em><em>,  as well as </em><em>economic</em><em>,</em><em> soci</em><em>o-</em><em>cultural</em><em> and legal aspects.  They </em><em>need to pay attention to </em><em>p</em><em>olitical and economic information </em><em>in dealing with </em><em>unexpected topics</em><em>. </em><em>Managers </em><em>obtained</em><em> information </em><em>they needed </em><em>from </em><em>four types of</em><em> information</em><em> sources and channels -</em> <em>human, </em><em>organis</em><em>ations, open source documents and captured media, and mixed channels.</em> <em>Electronic information sources were considered </em><em>to be </em><em>more </em><em>abundant</em> <em>for them </em><em>than printed sources. The paper suggests </em><em>that the findings</em><em> can contribute to the design, implementation, and development of competitive intelligence information systems</em> <em>that managers and decision-makers are among its major users.</em></p> ER -