Murembiwa Justice Mashau, Tshilidzi Eric Nenzhelele, Ntsieni Fitzgerald Ramasimu

Abstract

The field of competitive intelligence (CI) is expanding as businesses seek to strengthen their competitive advantage in a global society. As this field expands, so will the research and academic literature on this field. While CI-specific techniques may be limited, methods from other popular and related fields, such as urban regions, have been utilized to explain or guide some of the most popular CI activities using the CI cycle. Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) face increasing challenges in efficiently managing resource restrictions, technology impediments, organizational culture, and external support mechanisms that influence the adoption of CI initiatives. This study aimed to identify critical factors that could assist SMEs in adopting CI for business sustainability. The systematic literature review process was used to give an in-depth summary of corroborated research related to the research objective, and to synthesize factors that are critical to examining SMEs’ adoption of CI for business sustainability. A theme strategy was employed to do this research, which included the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) model and thematic analysis. This study contributed by identifying and synthesizing critical factors to consider when SMEs adopt CI to become sustainable and competitive businesses.