Title: Economic intelligence and knowledge management: two complementary facets of the same issue

Authors: Antoine Said, Daniel Bretones

Addresses: Universite Paris-Dauphine, Place du Marechal de Lattre de Tassigny, 75775 Paris Cedex 16 – France. ' Ecole Superieure de Commerce Et Management (ESCEM), 11, rue de l'Ancienne Comedie, BP 5 – 86001 Poitiers – France

Abstract: This paper aims at analysing the differences between two major research fields: Economic intelligence and knowledge management. A framework showing the complementarities between those two fields is set up. After a literature review on those two fields we explain that economic intelligence and knowledge management are two complementary aspects of a single issue, namely supporting companies| global performance. Economic intelligence shows a major focus on explicit knowledge whereas knowledge management encompasses both tacit and explicit knowledge. Both concepts emphasise the following criteria (learning practices, innovation systems, decision making and understanding) relying on similar processes. Those processes encompass various fields ranging from information search to knowledge analysis and interpretation. They also cover information sharing, collaborative work and learning practices. The goals of both concepts are to increase the organisation|s absorptive capacity. This requires a necessary integration between those two concepts (economic intelligence and knowledge management). The issue could be thus: Which of the two concepts might absorb the other? The answer to this question is critical in so far as it may affect the deployment of those strategic functions within organisations.

Keywords: economic intelligence; knowledge management; KM; absorptive capacity; innovation processes; organisational strategies; explicit knowledge; tacit knowledge; learning practices; decision making; information sharing; collaboration.

DOI: 10.1504/IJADS.2009.025373

International Journal of Applied Decision Sciences, 2009 Vol.2 No.1, pp.1 - 26

Published online: 20 May 2009 *

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