Abhatoo - Centre Nationale de Documentation

This article investigates how competitive intelligence (CI) in Korea has evolved over the years and will evolve in the future. In doing so, this article demonstrates that environmental forces and public intelligence have been the main drivers of CI needs, practices, and developmental stages in Korea. Leading Chaebol groups in Korea started building formal CI programs in the early 1980s, and have continuously improved their CI practices since. Relative to corporate CI practices, the infrastructure of CI in Korea is generally considered to be weak, and this is probably because of the secretive nature of CI practices in Korean companies. There are many challenges to the future development of CI in Korea, such as bringing underground CI to the public domain, improving the image of CI, and expanding the CI infrastructure. This article also discusses an important implication of national environmental context, such as national culture, for CI theories and practices.