Compiling a Company Profile: An Intro to CI in the Law Firm Environment -Part 2
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Transcript of Compiling a Company Profile: An Intro to CI in the Law Firm Environment -Part 2
COMPILING A COMPANY PROFILE
AN INTRODUCTION TO COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE
IN THE LAW FIRM ENVIRONMENT – PART 2
Presented by Jennifer Alexander & Margaret Hennessey
A PLI-LLAGNY Research Briefing
GOAL OF CI IN LAW FIRMS
Assisting Attorneys in identifying new business
opportunities
Explaining the importance of knowing not only the
legal needs but the business and industry needs of
clients
Not providing a data dump
2
ACCURACY AND RELEVANCY IS CRUCIAL
3
CI needs are often immediate
Important decision or key client meeting
Results of the research and analysis must be “actionable”
Delivered in timely manner
Important to customize and target deliverables
Format and “correctness” is key in law firms
Attorneys are sticklers for correct grammar, clear writing, succinct analysis and conclusions
Security issues
CREATING A COMPANY PROFILE
4
It’s 4 PM on Wednesday afternoon a practice group leader calls you with the following request…
THE REQUEST
I’m going to lunch
tomorrow with
Joe Carpenter, the
General Counsel
at MCQ Corp. and
I need to get as
much information
as you can gather
on this company.
Prepare a
company profile
for me. I also need
info on their
industry since I’m
not familiar with
it.
5
THOUGHT PROCESS
What are the company’s legal
issues?
Realistically
what can I put
together in the
time given.
What industry is this company in?
What cross selling opportunities are
there?
Can the attorney provide any
background info on the company?
What is the focus of this profile?
Breath
Is the company
private or public?
6
COMPONENTS OF COMPANY PROFILE
7
Sections
Executive Summary
Company Overview
Strategic Focus/Key Initiatives
Financial Snapshot
Market / Industry Landscape
Legal Overview
Transactions
News and Developments
Biographical Profiles
Internal Intelligence
Conclusions / Recommendations
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Place key takeaways from the report in a
broader context
Contain enough information for a reader to get
familiar with what is discussed in the full report
without having to read it
Highlight the requestor’s focus
Provide a conclusion and/or point of view
8
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Consider a summary email
Identify opportunities for the firm, highlight
practice area strengths
Answer all questions posed front and center
9
COMPANY OVERVIEW
Provides an overview of the company’s value proposition
Includes key data on the company
• Brief description of what the company actually does
• Concise history
• Public or private; Ownership items (family-owned; majority owner)
• Where is it located (headquarters; number / location of other offices)
• Number of employees
• Any significant news item or interesting fact that should be brought to the front
Key products and services and organizational makeup
Sources:
SEC Filings (AR, 10K, S-1); Various online databases; Company
website, especially press releases and Investor Relations pages 10
STRATEGIC FOCUS/KEY INITIATIVES
Spotlights the company’s strategic initiatives and direction
What to look out for?
If company is expanding its footprint globally
Discussion on product line/service changes
If revenue is on the upswing, what is the company planning to do down the line
Layoffs or budget cuts looming
Sources:
SEC Filings (AR, 10K, S-1); Analysts’ reports; Blogs; Company website, especially Investor Relations pages that will likely contain informative presentations to shareholders/analysts – particularly the transcripts from earnings call
11
FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT
Shows where the company stands from financial view
Highlight top and bottom line results for public companies
Guidance and outlook from management
Market’s response and analysis
Industry specific financial data and key statistics
Breakdown by product line/geography, client type, assets
Private company data is harder to come by – use all resources along with internal intelligence
Sources:
Latest SEC quarterly and annual filings; Analysts’ reports; Industry research; Blogs; Company website, especially Investor Relations pages that will likely contain informative presentations to shareholders/analysts
12
INDUSTRY TRENDS
Summarizes key industry trends and future outlook that are relevant for the company that is being profiled
Sources:
S&P Industry Reports; Mergent Online Industry Surveys; First Research; SEC Filings (AR, 10K, etc.) will discuss industry trends, competitors, risks to business, which is usually related to overall industry trends; News; Research firms and consultants; Analysts’ reports; First Research provides a general overview
13
LEGAL LANDSCAPE
Aim is to highlight trends and possible future
actions in this area
Discusses company’s legal matters (litigation
history)
• Areas, legal counsel, courts, significant proceedings and
settlements
Sources:
Monitor Suite, Lexis atVantage, Law360, court
documents, news
14
TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
Provides analysis of company’s deal making and aptitude for more
Highlight M&A, public offerings, private placements and rumored deals
• Type of deal, players, region, financial data, other players (if applicable) and name(s) of legal counsel(s)
Sources:
Capital IQ; Mergermarket; The Deal Pipeline; Dealogic; Pitchbook; Knowledge Mosaic; SDC, Bloomberg; Recent news for deals and/or rumors
15
NEWS AND DEVELOPMENTS
Opportunity to show company’s moves with
implications
Also acts as a timeline to show growth/retrenchment
Summary of recent key company news and
developments
Sources:
Lexis; Google Finance/News; Yahoo! Finance;
Bloomberg; News transcripts; Company press releases 16
Topics
Product development efforts and new product launches
Expansion efforts / retrenchment
Key management changes
New partnerships, affiliations, ventures
Losses
BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILES
Provide overview of key decision-makers in an
organization
Additional “personal” information that is usually not
included in official bios, such as hobbies, family
information, sports/recreation, and other interests
Sources:
Company website; SEC filings; Internet search
including LinkedIn, Pipl, Zoominfo, and
Facebook; Leadership Directories; Conference
web sites; Alumni sites; Martindale.com;
Westlaw Directories; Directory of Corporate
Counsel; Internal sources 17
INTERNAL INTELLIGENCE
Relevant law firm’s matters
Current Contacts at Target Firm
Sources:
Internal databases (InterAction/Elite) and staff
18
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Highlight the implications for the law firm
Highlight cross selling opportunities
Highlight problems for industry on the horizon
19
SAMPLE OF RESOURCES ON CI
Associations
SCIP, SLA CI, Association for Strategic Planning
Online Resources
Financial Management Training Center (free courses on CI,
Balanced Scorecard and Strategic Planning)
Law Firm CI
Blogs (3 Geeks and a Law Blog; LawFirmCI.Blogspot; Law
Shucks)
Research Firms (ALM Legal Intelligence)
LLRX.com (provides selective CI resource guide)
CI Certification
SLA’s Click University; Fuld-Gilad-Herring Academy of
Competitive Intelligence
SCIP provides listing of education programs20
KEY PRIMARY RESOURCES
Law firm’s personnel/internal databases
Legal market research and consulting firms
Citibank benchmarking survey
Internal data collected during client surveys
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KEY SECONDARY RESOURCES
Legal Marketplace
MonitorSuite, atVantage, Law360, Chambers,
Martindale, Capital IQ, Mergermarket, PACER,
Westlaw databases, Blogs, Law.com
News
Lexis, Google News, Bloomberg, Westlaw
Financial Data/Transactions
Capital IQ, Thomson ONE, Mergermarket, Pitchbook,
Dialog, SDC
Industry-specific
Research firms
Analysts’ reports22
PUBLICLY AVAILABLE RESOURCES
Remote access to public library databases
Free research from consulting and market research firms
However, there are challenges using free research Uncertain and/or curtailed access
Embargoed distribution
Limited options
Technical difficulties
Lack of support and training23
DELIVERABLES
24
Besides putting
together company
profiles, how would you
suggest that I deliver
other CI ?
DELIVERABLES
25
BASIC DELIVERABLES
26
Deliverables Timing Strengths Weaknesses
Company/
Industry
Reports
As requested/
Periodic
Extensive, in-depth
coverage
Time-consuming to
create and digest
Biographical
Profiles
As requested Shows connections in
management structure;
Supports confidence
Essential to write
on correct person;
Up-to-date
Newsletters Periodic Regular contact with
users; Provides scan of
competitive landscape
Difficult to refresh
Alerts Newsworthy Quick response Potential for
simplistic analysis
Oral
Presentations
As requested Can quickly address
questions/issues
Older intelligence
Screens Periodic Business development
tool
Time lag
Raw Data As requested Verification Needs analysis
BASIC DELIVERABLES
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Request Deliverable Timing
Company reports A write up in
Microsoft Word.
Approximately 4 hours to
conduct research and write
up.
Newsletters Summary of articles
in a Microsoft Word
Document with links
or a .pdf file with
bookmarks.
Approximately 2 hours. Scan
news articles daily.
Alerts Email from
Westlaw/Lexis
Daily. You will select
delivery options.
Presentations Slides with text and
graphics in .ppt.
Depends on the size of the
presentation.
Industry analysis A write up in
Microsoft Word.
Depends on what is being
presented. Approximately 3
hours to conduct research
and write up.
Statistics/List Compiled data in
excel.
Depends on what is being
compiled. Anywhere between
2 - 10 hours.
CONCLUSION
Deliverables must be customized and targeted to
specific needs and preferences of requestor
Wrong format undermines intelligence
Lots of resources to choose from
Resources should reflect firms’ requirements and
projected outlook
Need to have staff with requisite skills
Research, knowledge of online databases, analysis,
writing
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