Exploring the CI value equation

✍ Scribed by James R. Langabeer

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Weight: 107 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1058-0247
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1520-6386(199933)10:3<27::aid-cir5>3.0.co;2-4

✦ Synopsis

To quantify the added value that competitive intelligence provides, focus on four key "I" variables: information, interpretation, insight, and impression. Providing unbiased, filtered, and relevant information is the core of intelligence efforts, but without analytical interpretation, information is often useless. And unless the findings provide specific competitive insight, the intelligence is limited. Overall, the impression you make can be enhanced through professionalism in presentation, as well as by possessing and using advanced analytical and methodological toolkits. To best demonstrate value, CI practices should heavily engage internal customers. Moreover, they should integrate all available resources for collecting intelligence, including frontline employees such as customer service reps and maintenance technicians. Findings should be distributed to a wide range of users, rather than limited to a small group, as often there is a large, latent need for intelligence by peripheral departments within the enterprise.