La descrizione della Competitive Intelligence nel 1993

> Una descrizione tanto lontana, quanto attuale per il valore dell'Intelligence a supporto del marketing e per condurre analisi sulla concorrenza


Competitive intelligence: how and where to find it
by Jean Graef - May, 1993

Competitive intelligence is both a product and a process.

The product is actionable information -- can be used to take specific actions (e.g. prepare a winning sales proposal). The process is the systematic means of acquiring, analyzing, and evaluating it.

Many companies use competitive intelligence to take market share from known competitors. A more productive use is to use it to help formulate long term, noncompetitive strategies. In this role, intelligence can:
describe the current environment;
forecast the future environment;
challenge underlying assumptions about economic, political, technological, or market-related factors;
identify and compensate for exposed weaknesses;
adjust an existing strategy to the changing environment or determine when a strategy is no longer sustainable.

The intelligence process

The intelligence process consists of four major parts:
1) decide what questions need to be answered;
2) gather and process relevant information;
3) analyze the information relative to the questions to be answered;
4) disseminate the results to the people who need it.

The process can have a discrete beginning and end or it can be ongoing and iterative, designed to gather and disseminate information throughout an individual organization or, ultimately, throughout an entire business ecosystem.

Three key skills

The intelligence process requires three kinds of skills:
1) interviewing skills (primary research);
2) information retrieval skills (secondary research);
3) analytical skills (e.g. financial analysis, management profiling, synergy analysis).

Data Source
http://www.montague.com/le/le5934.html