Yes!

I think that there should be a very strong link between the two disciplines. Knowledge management is the process through which corporate knowledge is used to improve organizational performance. Essentially it looks at managing internal knowledge processes, developing the efficient usage of all information required for corporate decisions.

Competitive intelligence (CI) is a process for gathering usable knowledge about the external business environment. CI focuses on turning external information into the intelligence required for tactical or strategic decisions relating to the business environment. Without an effective knowledge management process, gathered CI is likely to collect dust -- there is no proper process to turn the information into something usable. Even if immediate actions are taken based on collected CI, it must be integrated into the internal knowledge systems to develop any long-term learning. This learning is a crucial element to enable companies to become skilled at spotting trends and adapting to business change.

In this context, I think that it does no harm to think about Charles Darwin. Darwin's focus was on the survival of the fittest and not the survival of the biggest or the cleverest or the fastest.

Survival of the fittest refers to a species’ ability to adapt to its external environment, and change as the environment changes.

Exactly the same principles apply in business. Businesses with effective processes for collecting intelligence on their external environment, integrating it with internal information, and then using both external and internal knowledge to take advantage of opportunities while guarding against threats will be those that survive in the long-term. The dinosaurs could not adapt to sudden climatic change – and the same will apply to corporate dinosaurs that think that being biggest or richest is all that is needed.

Note: This FAQ was originally published in the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professional's membership magazine (Competitive Intelligence Magazine - Mar-Apr 2003)