Competitive Intelligence
Competitive intelligence (CI) involves the gathering of information about the competitive landscape within which a given organization operates. Because CI relies on research, analysis, and writing skills, it can offer interesting opportunities for LIS professionals.
According to Business: The Ultimate Resource (Perseus Publishing, 2002), competitive intelligence ... is a key aspect of analyzing the operating environment. Such information (which can range from new products or pricing to overall strategic direction) is used to make both short- and long-term plans in a number of areas, including strategy, mergers and acquisitions, pricing, marketing, advertising, and research and development.
What this definition makes clear is that competitive intelligence gathering can take place as an "embedded" function in many different areas within the organization. Alternatively, it may be one of many responsibilities handled by the Corporate Information Center. Or, CI may be an outsourced function handled by an independent information professional.
Competitive intelligence answers such questions as:
- Who are my main competitors, and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
- What market strategies are my competitors deploying?
- What direction might a recently hired CEO take a competing organization?
- What companies might make valuable merger or acquisitions targets?
- What share of the market do key competitors hold, and is this increasing or decreasing?
- Who are the key players in a new market I'm considering entering, and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
Although CI is generally associated with for-profit business organizations, the same research and analysis can be used to create a collaborative intelligence overview. This approach would identify organizations that have complementary missions (for potential partnering or collaborative opportunities), organizations already working with a given constituency or offering programs of potential interest to the non-profit in question (enabling it to avoid duplicating work already being done by others), and other organizations in the non-profit's "space" that are not effectively executing their missions (and therefore offer a possible market opportunity).
Essentially, with both types of intelligence gathering, the CI function is to try to identify who's doing what, how they're doing it, why they're doing it, and what this may indicate about their future moves.
Research will usually be a combination of primary - e.g.., phone interviews, personal contacts, perhaps conference attendance - and secondary, to include database research, possible government documents research, and magazine and newspaper-based research, among others. Additionally, competitive intelligence may be an ongoing, systematic part of your job, or project-based, driven by a specific threat or opportunity. CI results may be fed directly into a company intranet to support broader, enterprise-wide strategic intelligence goals, and be a key part of an organization's knowledge management program.
The skills necessary to competitive intelligence work are, first and foremost, strong business research skills and an ability to analyze, synthesize, and draw conclusions from your research findings. As noted, excellent writing skills are a must-have. Depending on the company or client, knowledge of a given industry may also be valuable, although this can often be picked up on the job. If you are an MLIS student considering a CI career path, you'll want to pay special attention in your business reference/research, database searching, Internet searching, and government documents courses. Also, several LIS graduate programs offer competitive intelligence courses and certificates, some online. Additionally, these programs may be offered through the business-school courses.
Information Resources
Associations
Society for Competitive Intelligence - www.scip.org
SCIP's describes itself as "a global nonprofit membership organization for everyone involved in creating and managing business knowledge." It espouses a code of ethics, supports an online peer network, hosts more than 50 regional chapters, and makes available an online membership directory. Publications include the bimonthly Competitive Intelligence magazine (print), reports, case studies, and other materials deemed of use to members' professional growth. Student membership is $25/yr.
Competitive Intelligence Division, Special Libraries Association - www.sla.org/content/community/units/divs/division.cfm
A fairly recent addition to the expanding group of SLA divisions, the CI group has as its mission to encompass "all aspects of competitive intelligence, including planning, identifying decision makers intelligence needs, collecting and analyzing information, disseminating intelligence products and services, evaluating intelligence activities, promoting intelligence services among a client base, and additional industry-specific issues. Competitive Intelligence Division members concentrate on developing their competitive intelligence skills to assist them in functioning more effectively as intelligence professionals within their respective organizations." A great vehicle for connecting with others who are practicing CI professionals and those wanting to learn more about this career path.
Books
Carr, Margaret Metcalf, Jan Herring, and Reva Basch. Super Searchers on Competitive Intelligence: The Online and Offline Secrets of Top CI Researchers. Information Today, Inc., 2003. 336p. ISBN 0910965641.
Following the familiar "Super Searchers on..." format, this title presents practical how-to information and insider tips from 15 competitive intelligence specialists. Not only useful from the standpoint of how to undertake CI research, but also provides a good sense of what a career as a competitive intelligence specialist would entail.
Gilad, Benjamin. Early Warning: Using Competitive Intelligence to Anticipate Market Shifts, Control Risk, and Create Powerful Strategies. AMACOM, 2003. 272p. ISBN 0814407862.
Early Warning is more of a why-to than how-to. Written for business leaders, its focus is on using the information gleaned through an ongoing, systematic competitive intelligence program to further key strategic goals. Provides an excellent complement from a strategy level for the Kahaner and Super Searchers books.
Kahaner, Larry. Competitive Intelligence: How to Gather, Analyze, and Use Information to Move Your Business to the Top. Touchstone, 1998. 304p. IBSN 0684844044.
Although it could benefit from an update, Kahaner's book is one of the best overviews of the process of competitive intelligence and how it's used to support business goals. A good primer for those unfamiliar with CI practices.
Online
Competitive Intelligence - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competitive_intelligence
Interesting overview of CI, the ethics involved in this type of research, and how CI fits within the broader scope of business intelligence.
Competitive Intelligence - A Selective Resource Guide - www.llrx.com/features/ciguide.htm
An outstanding - and current - directory of CI resources, including search engines, e-newsletters, business information websites and databases, benchmarking materials, and CI pathfinders and link collections, among others. Written by Donna Cavallini and Sabrina I. Pacifici, and part of the excellent LLRX.com knowledge collection.
Competitive Intelligence Programs: An Overview - www.brint.com/papers/ciover.htm
From the BRINT Institute and written by Dr. Yogesh Malhotra in 1996, this working paper provides an explanation of what competitive intelligence is (and is not), describes tools and techniques, and discusses benefits and potential hazards within CI work.
Using the Internet for Competitive Intelligence - www.cio.com/CIO/arch_0695_cicolumn.html
Based on a column written by The Montague Institute's Jean Graef for CIO Magazine, this article is a primer for chief information officers (CIOs) on how competitive intelligence is undertaken, and why it's useful for the organization.