The Intelligence Behind CIThe Intelligence Behind CI

CALL 2007May 8, 2007

CALL 2007 May 2007

QuoteQuote

“We are drowning in information and starved for knowledge.”

John Naisbitt, Chairman of The Naisbitt Group

CALL 2007 May 2007

Definitions Definitions

Intelligence

Gather information, analyse it and use the insights to make decisions

CALL 2007 May 2007

DefinitionsDefinitions

Society for Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP)

Competitive IntelligenceA systematic and ethical program for gathering,analyzing, and managing information about your

competitors’ activities and general business trendsto further your own company’s goals

Competitor intelligence concerns the current and proposed business activities of competitors

CALL 2007 May 2007

DefinitionsDefinitions

Business IntelligenceKnowledge of the environment in which a

company operates, used to obtain a competitive advantage

Use of company data to gain knowledge

Market IntelligenceCompetitive intelligence, product intelligence,

market analysis and market research

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Definitions Definitions

• Project CI Most common form – ad hoc Find out who is the competition and what they

are doing Present and file

• Program CI Build a system to continually share insights

about our competitive position Develop sufficient understanding of our

competitors that we can predict what they might or might not do, and what are their chances of success

CALL 2007 May 2007

EthicsEthics

• All definitions include “the ethical and legal collection of information”

To comply with all applicable laws, domestic and international

To accurately disclose all relevant information, including one's identity and organization, prior to all interviews

• 80 to 90% of what you need is public information

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Who are CI PractitionersWho are CI Practitioners

• CI started in the 1970’s, and grew rapidly in the 1980’s

• Many practitioners came from US military intelligence community

• Applied investigative techniques to corporate problems

• Researchers, consultants, industry or business experts

• Varies from large, sophisticated CI departments to single practitioners doing it “on the side”

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Levels of CILevels of CI

• Clipping service• Distribute articles or other items concerning the industry or

company under study • Product/Feature/Function comparison

• Product and pricing grids • Competitor Profiles

• A full picture of the strengths and weaknesses, interests and propensities of a known competitor

• Competitor Strategy • What have they done? What do they want to do? What

can they do? What might they do? Is there an opportunity for us? A threat?

• Scanning the horizon • What is going on that will affect the future of the industry?

What substitutes may appear that will become the next competitor? Who might the new entrants be?

CALL 2007 May 2007

CI ProcessCI Process

1. Decide what you want to know

2. Gather the information

3. Analyse

4. Publish your insights

5. Solicit Feedback

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Before you StartBefore you Start

• Look around your own organization – what do you already have?

A colleague who may also be doing this News clipping services Subscription research Subscriptions to media or trade journals Industry specialists or product specialists Access to analyst reports Annual reports Intranet site Share Point or shared servers

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1. What do you want to know?1. What do you want to know?

• Planning process• Interview your customers

Executives – strategic Field – tactical

• Use the key research questions1. What do you want to know?

2. Who do you want to include?

3. What will you do with the information?

• Build a chart or report headings and fill in the blanks

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2. Gather the Information2. Gather the Information

• Wherever possible, use multiple sources to verify what you learn

Authoritative sources Two or more references

• Free and fee based search engines• Company records

Annual reports, web site, investor relations

• People Information known by your own employees or

already in your files

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3. Analyse3. Analyse

• Stop searching when you start to find repetition in new documents

• Use various tools to draw meaning from the information – the “so what”

SWOT analysis Porter’s Four Corner analysis Financial statement analysis

• Business and Competitive Analysis or Strategic and Competitive Analysis: Methods and Techniques for Analyzing Business Competition by Craig Fleisher & Babette Bensoussan

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4. Publish4. Publish

• Use your analysis to answer the questions you developed during planning

• Take a stand – express an opinion • Post or disseminate your report/findings • Spend some time developing the format –

then use it consistently Brand your work

• Communicate with your clients to make them aware of your reports

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5. Feedback5. Feedback

• Update your reports with new or amended information

• Solicit agreement/contradiction of your conclusions

Additional information to support or challenge

• Open a feedback loop for continuous two-way dialogue

• Identify human sources for future research

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Human IntelligenceHuman Intelligence

• Never forget or underestimate the importance of talking to people

• Context, background and history to give meaning to the information you have uncovered in research

• Culture is important to understanding strategy and is not conveyed as well in print

• Pick up clues that tell you to look for something, or to watch for something

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Community of InterestCommunity of Interest

• A group of individuals who share one common goal or interest

• Recruit all the people in your firm who have an interest in CI

Monthly meetings Create a pool of information

• Support group Share techniques, tools, resources Especially effective in large corporations

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Executive Buy-InExecutive Buy-In

• Most difficult aspect is convincing executives – and your boss - that CI is important

Ensure continued resources available

• Understand the strategic questions on which they will focus

Direct your research in that direction

• Use key influencers to help you deliver your message

Appendix Appendix

Additional Resources

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Free ResourcesFree Resources

• AskX.com Suggested terms to expand or narrow search

www.askx.com

• SearchMash Results sorted by medium – web pages, blogs,

videos, images www.searchmash.com

Sedar Securities related information www.sedar.com

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Pay as you Go Pay as you Go

• SkyMinder In-depth credit, financial and business

information on public and private companies internationally

Fund a spending account Purchase individual reports from account

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Fee Based Resources News Trackers

Fee Based Resources News Trackers

• Factiva Monitors news agencies for specific

competitors and applies strong filters

• Bloomberg Multi-media company and market news,

quotes, opinion

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Fee Based Resources Company Information Fee Based Resources Company Information

• Thomson Dialog, DataStar 900 databases including news reports, research,

scientific/technical data, patents & trademarks, intellectual property

• Hoovers Public information on companies; size, history,

executives, financials, industry and competitors • LexisNexis

Comprehensive information in a variety of areas—legal, risk management, corporate, government, law enforcement, accounting and academic

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Fee Based Resources Company Information Fee Based Resources Company Information

• fpinfomart – Financial Post Media, financial and corporate data, company

profiles • Bureau van Dijk

Database of European companies • Harris InfoSource

A Dun & Bradstreet company Reports include location, contact information,

industry descriptions, DUNS numbers, web addresses, SIC and NAICS codes, executive biographies and more

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Fee Based Resources Specialized

Fee Based Resources Specialized

• STN – Science and Technology Published research and patents in all scientific

fields

• Questel – Intellectual Property Patents, trademarks and design – a

comprehensive collection of databases and tools for searching, analyzing, evaluating and sharing results

• Micromedia ProQuest – Libraries Canadian companies, media sources, regulatory

bodies and government agencies

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Associations Associations

• SCIP – Society for Competitive Intelligence Professionals

www.scip.org• CI Division, Special Libraries Association

http://units.sla.org/division/dci/CIHome.htm