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Competitive Intelligence - Definition, Objectives, Operations
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| What
is Competitive Intelligence? |
| There
is a lot of confusion about the definition of competitive intelligence
and this confusion can prevent a CI operation from being successful.
Some people think that competitive intelligence is just competitor
intelligence but this definition of competitive intelligence is not
always correct. Although competitor intelligence will form an important
part of a CI operation's focus, it should not be considered the only
one.
The essence of CI is that information should be collected and
forecasts made or scenarios developed about all key drivers of the
competitiveness and profitability of the business. Such as:
- Intentions, actions and
performance of:
- Key Competitors
- Key Suppliers
- Key Customers
- Past customers & lost
business
- STEP Factors
- Sociological
- Technological
- Economic
- Political
Overall competitive
intelligence should be thought of as having the following definition: a
process which includes three basic sub-processes:
- Collecting information
- Analysis to turn information into
intelligence
- Dissemination of intelligence to
identified intelligence customers inside the business
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| Intelligence
not Information should be produced |
| Only
sometimes is this true.
Apart from collecting information to turn it into
intelligence there can be a legitimate need for just
information. Competitors' prices for instance. Some
intelligence customers may not want much competitive
analysis - just the raw information.
It can
be a mistake to look at information as the poor cousin
of intelligence. What really matters is a contented and
happy intelligence customer.
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