The assessment of business intelligence practices in agrifood SMEs supported by the Collective Intelligence Network Project in Burkina Faso: Case of 4 SMEs

Abstract

The most competitive companies are those that adapt quickly to changes in their environment and take profit from information. The information thus becomes the raw material serving the decision. It is in such a context that the economic intelligence appears as an approach responding to this new informational challenge. Thus, the RIC project was initiated under the impetus of the CCI-BF to practically sensitize, train and support agribusiness companies to that concept. However, given the short deadline, the project has not moved to this phase of practical accompaniment. Nevertheless, it has been shown that SME managers are generally unaware of the importance of EI.

Indeed, after having dealt with the concept of Economic Intelligence (IE), in its theoretical dimension, our field study on the evaluation of IE practices showed a quasi-non-existence of IE practices and highlighted the difficulties of SMEs in setting up an EI system within their company. In response to those limitations, our recommendations to CCI-BF are based on a conceptual model to guide practitioners and provide appropriate methods and tools. The purpose of this model is practical because it is based on the company culture and the specific needs of each company.

JEL Classification: O32, O33

Paper type: Empirical research.