competitive intelligence for companies of all sizes
TRANSCRIPT
Competitive IntelligenceFor
Companies of all sizes
Questions
1. Do you believe that key information is being “filtered” within your company?
2. Would you like to have more information about competitors and markets?
3. Where does ~90% of the key information about competitors and markets reside? oA. Internally or B. Externally
4. What is the largest threat to your company?5. What is the largest opportunity for your
company?
What is Competitive Intelligence?
o Competitive Intelligence ( C.I.) is the process of monitoring the competitive environment.
o Effective C.I. is a continuous process involving:o The legal and ethical collection of informationoAnalysis that doesn’t avoid unwelcomed conclusionsoControlled dissemination of actionable intelligence to
decision makers
Creating a Culture for Competitive Intelligence is a KEY step
o Culture consists of the beliefs, behaviors, objects, and other characteristics common to the members of a particular group or society.
Investment Balance People & Process = Systems
Many companies do not focus enough time and effort on:•People •Processes•Internal Communications
Lessons learned from DAS “skunk works” project
o Company protected sales without any additional investment.
o Slight organizational focus and additional process steps provided needed intelligence
o Most all of the data needed was contained within different departments of the company.
o Cross functional focus resulted in better overall outcome
Focusing FIRST on the 90%
o Traditional organization design and reporting structure can undermine sharing of Intelligence
o Processes & slight organizational redesign can address these organizational barriers
o Focusing internally is the first step to building a culture which supports and feeds intelligence gathering and sharing.
o Software decisions should support internal processes
Example of Three Software Providers
o Cipher – high degree of customizationo http://www.cipher-sys.com/
o Comintelli– ability to capture internal ohttp://www.comintelli.com/
o Digimind – web crawling and dashboardohttp://www.digimind.com/
o Costs range from $80/user/month up to $35,000 set-up plus $3,500/month for unlimited number of users
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started” –Mark TwainBegin with “pilot” effort which includes:
1. Identify someone in your organization as the leader for Intelligence.
2. Determine a central location to store data and analysis results ..e.g. file share
3. Begin focused effort to collect and analyze existing data which addresses a business threat or opportunity
4. Identify data gaps and initiate plans to widen scope of data collection
5. Capture outcomes of effort and communicate results within your company
Step-by-Step following the “pilot”
Mission and Vision Statement
Internal Marketing Plan
Inventory of Information
Integration into Strategic Plans
Senior Management Support
Benefits Derived from CI
• Summarizing the bottom line benefits of Competitive Intelligence programs:• Improved market knowledge that allows analysis and
prediction of the future• Better business decisions in advance of competitive
events (i.e. proactive vs. reactive)• More effective strategic plans and competitive
strategies• More successful products and services• Increased sales and marketplace success• Improved cross-functional relationships in the
organization• Surprise and crises avoidance• Knowledge transfer
• Markets • Competitors• Industry-benchmarking
Potential “Pit-Falls”
• Lack of focus on People
• Lack of specific business focus can delay success and dilute efforts and increase costs
• Not welcoming challenges to status quo thinking
• Rewarding form vs. content
• Do not “Kill the messenger” –learn from mistakes
Organizational Design Alternativesas defined by Clifford Kalb & Jan Herring
o Ad-hoc Teamso Single Person Operationo Basic Teamo The Centero The Departmento Hub & Spokeo The Matrixo The Community
Source: SCIP Volume 15- Number 1-January/March 2012
People = Culture
Culture = Sustainability
People = Sustainability
R.L. (Bob) Fowler
RL FOWLER Consulting, LLC317-408-2643
www.RLFowlerConsulting.com