The intelligence worker as a knowledge activist – an alternative view on intelligence by the use of Burke’s pentad
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37380/jisib.v3i1.57Keywords:
Knowledge Activism, Knowledge Creation, Knowledge Management, Organizational learning, Organizational Change, Analytical Conversation, Complexity, Burke’s Pentad, Competitive Intelligence, Organized Intelligence WorkAbstract
As society and business is becoming more complex, the creation and management of knowledge attracts more attention. For intelligence research it offers an alternative perspective on the art and science of intelligence that challenges a previous dominance of strategy and decision-making theories. The article is based on semi-structured interviews with intelligence personnel in four different multinational companies. Through the use of Burke’s pentad this article gives an account of important challenges encountered by intelligence personnel in modern business organizations due to an increasing dependence on different knowledge processes. These challenges are summarized in four central tasks for knowledge activists; that is to initiate and focus knowledge creation, to reduce the time and cost needed for knowledge creation, to leverage knowledge creation initiatives throughout the corporation and to guide knowledge creation by the instigation of complementary reference points. By engaging in these types of activities intelligence workers are able to stage and influence different sorts of analytical conversations, where the insights from these conversations as reformed knowledge govern an evolving strategy in dispersed circumstances. Thus, intelligence workers fulfil their purpose, which in this perspective can be viewed as creating better business in whatever process they engage in.
References
Andersson, Philip. 1999. Complexity Theory and Organization Science. Organization Science, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 216-232.
Argyris, Chris, and Schön, Donald A. 1995. Organizational learning II: theory, method and practice. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.
Bettis, Richard A., and Hitt, Michael A. 1995. The new competitive landscape. Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 16, Iss. S1, pp. 7–19.
Brunsson, Nils. 2002. The organization of hypocrisy : talk, decisions and actions in organizations. Malmö: Liber ekonomi.
Brunsson, Nils. 2006. Mechanisms of hope: maintaining the dream of the rational organization. Malmö: Liber.
Bulger, Nan. 2013. The world has changed and so must we. Scip.Insight. Vol. 5, Iss. 3. http://scip.cms-plus.com/files/publications/scipinsight/SCIP13_V5February_FR2.htm (accessible February 26, 2013)
Burke, Kenneth, and Gusfield, Joseph R. 1989. On symbols and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Eisenhardt, Kathleen M. 1989. Making Fast Strategic Decisions in High-Velocity Environments. The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 543-576.
El Haddadi, Anass, Dousset, Bernard and Berrada, Ilham. 2011. Establishment and application of Competitive Intelligence System in Mobile Devices. Journal of Intelligence Studies in Business, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 87-96.
Fuld, Leonard M. 1995. The New Competitor Intelligence : The Complete Resource for Finding, Analyzing, and Using Information About Your Competitors. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Fuld, Leonard M. 2006. The secret language of Competitive Intelligence : How to see through and stay ahead of Business Disruptions, Distor-tions, Rumors, and Smoke Screens. New York: Crown Business.
Furusten, Staffan. 1999. Popular management books : how they are made and what they mean for organisations. London: Routledge.
Gay, Brigitte. 2012. Competitive Intelligence and Complex Systems. Journal of Intelligence Studies in Business, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 5-14.
Ghannay, Jihane Chebbi, and Mamlouk, Zeineb Ben Ammar. 2012. Synergy Between Competitive Intelligence and Knowledge Management - a key for Competitive Advantage. Journal of Intelligence Studies in Business, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 23-34.
Gilad, Benjamin. 1988. The business intelligence system : a new tool for competitive advantage. New York. N.Y.: American Management As-soc.
Gilad, Benjamin. 1996. Business Blindspots : replacing myths, beliefs and assumptions with market realities. Calne: Infonortics.
Gilad, Benjamin. 2003. Early Warning : Using Competitive Intelligence to Anticipate Market Shifts, Control Risk, and Create Powerful Strategies. Saranac Lake. N.Y.: AMACOM.
Gilad, Benjamin. 2006. Neither a War nor a Game. Competitive Intelligence Magazine, Vol. 9, No. 6, pp. 6-11.
Hamrefors, Sven. 1999. Spontaneous environmental scanning : putting "putting into perspective" into perspective. Stockholm: Economic Research Institute.
Jackson, Brad. 2001. Management Gurus and Management Fashions. London: Routledge.
López, Gabriela, Eldridge, Steve, Montejano, Sa-lomón, and Silva, Patricia. 2012. Competiveness from Contextualisation of Supply Chain Knowledge. Journal of Intelligence Studies in Business, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 42-50.
McGonagle, John J. and Vella, Carolyn M. 2012. Proactive Intelligence : The Successful Execu-tive's Guide to Intelligence [Electronic resource]. London: Springer London
Meyer, Herbert E. 1987. Real World Intelligence : Organized Information for Executives. New York: Grove Weidenfeld.
Miller, Katherine. 1999. Organizational Communication : Approaches and Processes, 2nd Edition. Belmont, CA.: Wadsworth.
Mintzberg, Henry, Ahlstrand, Bruce, and Lampel, Joseph. 1998. Strategy safari. London: Financial Times / Prentice Hall.
Nonaka, Ikujiro, von Krogh, Georg, and Völpel, Sven. 2006. Organizational Knowledge Creation Theory : Evolutionary Paths and Future Advances. Organization Studies, Vol. 27, No. 8, pp. 1179-1208.
Nonaka, Ikujiro, and Takeuchi, Hirotaka. 1995. The knowledge-creating company : how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press.
Nonaka, Ikujiro, Toyama, Ryoko, and Konno, Noboru. 2000. SECI, Ba and Leadership : A Unified Model of Dynamic Knowledge Creation. Long Range Planning, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 5-34. [edited version in: Little, Stephen, and Ray, Tim. (Eds.). 2005. Managing Knowledge : An Essential Reader, 2nd Edition (pp. 23-50). The Open University: Sage.]
Oubrich, Mourad. 2011. Competitive Intelligence and Knowledge Creation - Outward insights from an empirical survey. Journal of Intelligence Studies in Business, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 97-106.
Pirttimäki, Virpi. 2007. Comparative Study and Analysis of the Intelligence Activities of Large Finnish Companies. Journal of Competitive Intelligence and Management, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 147-170.
Porter, Michael E. 1980. Competitive strategy : techniques for analyzing industries and competitors. New York: The Free Press.
Porter, Michael E. 1985. Competitive Advantage : Creating and sustaining superior performance. New York: The Free Press.
Rothberg G. Scott, and Erickson, Helen N. 2012. Benchmarking Competitive Intelligence Activity. Journal of Intelligence Studies in Business, Vol 2, No 3, pp 5-11.
Røvik, Kjell Arne. 2000. Moderna organisationer : Trender inom organisationstänkandet vid mil-lennieskiftet. Malmö: Liber.
Solberg Søilen, Klaus. 2005. Introduction to Private and Public Intelligence: The Swedish School of Competitive Intelligence. Lund: Stu-dentlitteratur.
Steiner Michael, and Ploder Michael. 2011. Knowledge and social networks : New dimensions of economic interaction between firms. Journal of Intelligence Studies in Business, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 49-60.
Treverton, Gregory F. 2004. Reshaping National Intelligence for an Age of Information. Cam-bridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tzu, Zi. 1995. Om krigets konst. 383 maximer om att segra och besegra. Stockholm: Nerenius and Santérus Förlag.
Wilensky, Harold L. 1967. Organizational Intelligence. Knowledge and Policy in Government and Industry. New York/London: Basic Books.
von Krogh, Georg, Nonaka, Ikujiro, and Ichijo, Kazuo. 1997. Develop Knowledge Activists! European Management Journal, Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 475-483.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2013 Journal of Intelligence Studies in Business
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
