Competitive intelligence practices by FM radio stations operating in Kenya

Abstract

This study was aimed at surveying the use of competitive intelligence in gaining competitive advantage in the FM radio stations operating in Kenya. The specific objective was to establish the awareness level about competitive intelligence and the nature and extent of practices of competitive intelligence. Data was collected using personal interviews with the CEO's, Marketing Managers, and Administration Managers of the FM stations operating in Kenya. The data collected was analyzed and the following conclusions were made, that indeed the FM radio stations operating in Kenya; i) are aware (52.7%) of the strategy of competitive intelligence and they actually use it. That awareness represents the level of usage of the strategy. This means that 52.7% of the industry players are aware of and use competitive intelligence in trying to attain competitive advantage. ii) To a large extend, (59.4 %), the FM stations use the 12P's of competitive intelligence. The 12P's, was a framework that was used in the study. These P's include: Pedigree; name of Company, headquarters location, subsidiary or independent? Physical Scale, number of plants, plant locations, number of employees. What geographic areas can they serve?; Performance as an Investment, fiscal year ends on what date? Last year revenues, last year profits, performance trend of past two to three years. financial condition:- strong, satisfactory, shaky; Pricing, their pricing attitude:- high and mighty, down and dirty. How do they respond to pricing competition?; People, Who are the two to three most important players in the firm and what are their positions? What is their reputation as an employer?; Positioning, what is their target market? What unique products (features) do they offer? What is this firm's short-term strategy? What is this firm's long-term strategy?; Plans, do they want to hold position/grow aggressively? Are they targeting an acquisition or are they rumored as an acquisition/merger candidate? Are they rumored to be developing any products or services? ; Performance as a Supplier, average delivery time, quality of service, service strengths, service weaknesses, hard/easy to resolve customer problems. What accounts would it hurt them the most to lose? Their business practices reputation are they: - Fully above board, Less than perfect? ; Prestige in the Business Community, characterize their reputation overall. Has the firm had any legal or image problems? Does the firm (or its parent) have any strong charitable, social, or civic involvement? How about top management of the company? How is the company regarded within our industry? By our trade associations? ; Probing for Data, do we have any employees recently recruited from them who should be debriefed? What customers either used this competitor in the past or use them in conjunction with us who are reliable information sources about this firm? Prize Fights - Them and Us, which accounts do they have that we want? Who is their salesperson(s) for these accounts? What piece of the business (territory, market segment, etc.) do they operate in?; Post Mortem, we will beat this competitor if we do the following five things right (list them. These stations also have put in place adequate training on ethical and legal guidelines for this purpose.