Between National Institutionalization and Local Appropriation: Territory in the Diffusion of Competitive Intelligence among Algerian SMEs

Abstract

This article examines the role of territory in the diffusion of competitive intelligence (CI) among SMEs, drawing on a field survey conducted in the wilaya of Tizi-Ouzou (Algeria). Building on proximity economics and the concept of territorial intelligence, it analyses how SMEs' territorial embeddedness both formal and informal shapes their access to strategic information. Findings from a sample of 104 SMEs show that SME participation in the territory's institutional structures (chambers of commerce, professional associations) remains largely administrative and weakly appropriated strategically, whereas informal networks supplier-customer relationships and interpersonal trust ties constitute the main channel through which territorial information circulates. These findings call for a reconsideration of SME-oriented CI support policies, one that better accounts for the informal dynamics that, in practice, structure Algerian SMEs' access to strategic information.