A New look at the concept of economic intelligence in a VUCA world: people at the heart of the process

Abstract

Currently, economic intelligence is a complex concept and an approach historically and culturally rooted in the thinking and politics of several countries around the world as a means of developing competitiveness and performance. However, if the world is in perpetual motion, it is clear that companies undergo very frequent changes plunging managers into a situation of increased uncertainty. In this context, the I.E is proposed as the essential tool which makes it possible to research, process, protect and disseminate information, with the aim of reducing and controlling this uncertainty. Thus, specialists in the field agree that the engine and the raw material of the I.E is undoubtedly "information". In practice, this is not always the case, especially when faced with a complex, ambiguous and uncertain environment. The objective of this communication is to offer a new look at the concept of economic intelligence and to put "man" at the heart of the process. Admittedly, in a business, it is obvious that knowledge and know-how are essential, but this is no longer enough, today it is essential to develop one's know-how. For this, we appeal to another form of intelligence: "emotional intelligence". The combination of these two concepts ensures better control of information processing and thus offers a guarantee of effective and relevant decision-making. By drawing a portrait of the range of meanings found in the literature via a semantic analysis, we will try to bring a new look at these concepts. We will then discuss the alchemy between economic intelligence and emotional intelligence.

JEL Classification :  J24, D24, D8, D91, O15.

Paper type: Theoretical Research.