Competitive Intelligence
Introduction
What Are Your Competitors
Up To?
If you don't know, chances
are they'll win whatever race you're in.
Competitive or business
intelligence is the combined process of monitoring and analyzing
the external business environment to find accurate, usable information
relevant for the decision-making process of your company. The goal
of competitive intelligence is not theft but usable knowledge. People
interested in their competition acquire a wide range of information
in a legal and systematic way. Then they analyze and evaluate the
information to gain a clearer understanding of a competing firm's
capabilities, structure, culture, behavior, and weaknesses.
Effective implementation
of a competitive intelligence plan requires that you know who your
competitors are. But it also includes knowing about trends--trends
in your industry and trends in the economic, legal, regulatory,
technological, international, and political arenas.
To effectively gather information,
you need to find sources. Look to business directories, government
filings, industry experts and analysts, customers, market reports,
local newspapers and libraries, suppliers and vendors, help wanted
ads, and the internet. Corroborate information from at least two
different sources.
Once you've gathered the
information, you need to analyze it before it does you any good.
Consider benchmarking, statistical analysis, pricing models, and
trend analysis.
Now comes the real work.
After you've transformed the data into information, go the last
step. Change it into knowledge--something you can use. Ask yourself
what opportunities are available based on the information? What
holes remain unfilled? What do you need to be wary of? Are your
competitors all going in one direction while you're travelling the
opposite way? Is there conflicting data and what does that mean
to you? Think of how to use the information to adjust your planning
and modify how you advertise, market, and price your recruiting
services.
Finding Company Information
on the Internet
Links to More about Competitive
Intelligence
- Tikkanen-Bradley Consulting
offers a clear, easy to follow explanation of how to determine
your competitor's profile. They define four main characteristics
and methods of dealing with each. For instance, in the pugilistic
or aggressive-fighting category, they suggest you find niches
where the fighter won't be bothered to go
- PI
Mall is a rather interesting if graphically heavy, self-important
site of links to investigative resources
- Fuld
& Company provides more than 300 links to sources for gathering
competitive information, including industry-specific links. The
site is easy to use, but a few of the links provide very little
information
- IEDN
offers a searchable site that deals with competitive intelligence,
trade and economic development, and business climates in selected
areas
- The Journal
of Commerce is a news magazine of national and international
items affecting how business is done. You can see the front page
only--unless you subscribe. They offer a free two week trial subscription
- ISI
Emerging Markets provided difficult to find emerging market
financial, economic and political news and information. It's available
by subscription
- Trade
Port offers a plethora of information about emerging markets
and world trade
- And, of course, if price
is no object, get a subscription to the DIALOG databases which
contains millions of full text articles from hundreds of journals
and newspapers, including PIERS, a Journal of Commerce
database with import/export data, which allows you to track the
movement of export/import materials from one company location
to another company location abroad
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