Are You REALLY Ready For A Competitive Intelligence Unit?

Published
by
Ian Smith
on July 21, 2008
in Author-Ian Smith and Competitive & Internet Intelligence
. 0 Comments

Over the past 10+ years, I have attended a fair number of competitive intelligence events (i.e., conferences, seminars, breakfasts, etc). I am always amazed on how new individuals to the field are eager to build a unit in their respective firms at the sheer mention of certain search and analysis tools. I do recall an occasion when a president was sold an implementation of a competitive intelligence unit based on what Kartoo was able to uncover about the firm’s competitors. I wonder how the firm’s unit is doing today or if it still exist but I digress.

My point behind telling you the Kartoo story is that not enough firms put enough time to think through the possibility of having a competitive intelligence unit.

Of course, you can benefit from the aid of consultants to go through a shopping list of elements that should be considered however; you should have a couple things in mind to ponder on your own. Here a few things to factor in your decision.

1. Are you in it for the long haul? Building a CI unit should be a temporary fix for the lack of information flowing into the company. Like any other business function, the unit needs time to establish itself and evolve. If a firm cannot afford the time to do so, consider seeing a consultant.

2. Who is in charge? Yes, some of the information gathering process can be automated, a human being must be responsible for the flow of information in the firm. Do you consider going outside the firm to hired an individual or find someone from within?

3. What should be the ROI? Having an idea on what your firm’s “Return On Investment” or “Return On Information” is always critical when deciding whether implementing a complete competitive intelligence function. Consider reading the following to guide you through the process.

Trend Intelligence: Talk To A Futurist

Published
by
Ian Smith
on June 11, 2008
in Author-Ian Smith and Competitive & Internet Intelligence
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Trends should be on everyone’s mind (consumers and businesses). Consumers that miss key trends maybe faced with products or services that are inadequate for their needs. Businesses that select to ignore current trends and what lies ahead in the next 10 to 20 years may overlook opportunities that maybe the key to survive in their respective sectors. A prime example: Automobile industry.

This morning, I watched a report that dealt with the effect of gas prices on the sales of SUVs. No doubt that higher prices at the pumps are prompting individuals to dump their gas-guzzling beasts for smaller fuel-efficient cars. During the report, I wondered if any of large manufacturers and or consumers had any clue of what was coming around the corner as prices were skyrocketing. If you adhere to the simple equation, that is, higher gas prices equal less of a demand for SUVs, then it is right to assume that fuel-efficient vehicles will eventually flood the market.

Now, I am not a genius but I could have told you this years ago using simple intuition. Simple intuition matched with some rationale about the future is the best substitute for gaps in existing intelligence.

In order to be prepared to deal with what might arise in the future, consider seeking the insights from a futurist. A futurist is an individual that “engages in long-range planning, systematic trend watching, scenario development, and visioning”. Some of futurist association includes:

I have gone through a couple of sessions with futurists and the most valuable thing that you can gain is how to think forward without any restrictions. This allows you the flexibility to consider all possible scenarios to find a solution to existing problems or future challenges.

To read more about futurists and futurism, be sure to take a look at the following reference:

Tips To Avoid The Corporate Espionage “Paint Brush”

Published
by
Ian Smith
on May 26, 2008
in Author-Ian Smith and Competitive & Internet Intelligence
. 0 Comments

Why is it that everytime I search for news regarding “competitive intelligence”, I keep on getting articles such as, “Corporate Spies Killing The CIA”. As long as I can remember, competitive intelligence has been lumped together with “corporate espionage” on a routine basis. No matter how many articles, presentations and books that are available to distinguish the two fields, the sexy notion of “corporate spying” will always sell newspapers and magazines. As a result, the label of “a corporate spy” might stick to anyone who executes any competitive intelligence related activity in the eyes of individuals that continues to read the same type of articles on a regular basis.

To attempt to separate yourself from the ‘corporate espionage’ label, here are some tips to mull over the next time you have to prove that you are a competitive intelligence professional.

1. Be clear regarding your information collection policy. The majority of the controversies that involves corporate espionage is how information is gathered. Via your website, you may want to consider having a section dedicated to your information collection policy. The policy should describe how information is gathered and what sources are consulted. Of course, you can address it in a general fashion.

2. State your affiliations. If you are a member of a competitive intelligence related association, be sure to state it on your website or any documents going to any potential or existing clients. Associations such as Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP), The Special Libraries Association (SLA) and Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP) will allow individuals in the organization which adheres to their professional codes of conduct.

3. Let your work speak for itself. Do not hesitate to brag about what you have done in the past regarding your competitive intelligence mandates. Using a white paper, you can discuss a real life case in which you used credible competitive intelligence gathering techniques. The white paper can serve as a tool to prove that you are transparent in terms of how you operate and your outlook on the competitive intelligence profession.

4. Refute articles that still links competitive intelligence with corporate espionage. Thanks to Web 2.0 applications that are paired with publishing tools, readers can leave comments along with the origin article. With this being said, be sure to provide your insights if you completely disagree on what is being discussed in the article.

Fortune 500 and Corporate Blogs – Blogs Per Industry

Published
by
Anne Sobecki
on May 21, 2008
in Author-Anne Sobecki, Corporate Blogging and Social Media Marketing
. 0 Comments

While browsing through “Fortune 500 Business Blogging Wiki” a listing of companies with a corporate blog, I asked myself, “Which industries are “blog happy”? In order to answer the question, I classified each company based on their general activity or by identifying the segment in which the company had chosen to blog about.

The findings below offer some insights into the sectors and companies that are most willing to blog.

corporate-blog21052008.GIF

I also asked my colleague, Ian, for his thoughts and we had some comments after examining the table.

  • It was not shocking to discover that the IT industry represents nearly half of the blogs on this list however; it is surprising to note that several industries are at the bottom of the list or do not appear taking into account the benefits from blogs.
  • The cosmetics industry has much to gain from using blogs. For many firms, product development is largely based on innovation and the ability to offer products tailored to the consumer. Drawing intelligence from the pool of readers via a blog, companies could benefit from this raw source of information for their R&D projects.
  • The same is true for the automotive industry that is late coming to the blogosphere. Of the few manufacturers, GM does not hesitate to use the blog as an accompanying tool used in the market introduction stage of a new product with a personal touch that reinforces the campaign. As a result, the blog is read and grabs the attention of consumers as seen in the post “Invicta: A Product Progress Report” published on May 1, that received 67 comments! A mosaic of expertise, a pool of readers, ready to deliver their views.
  • The Coca Cola company for its part, decided to uphold the historical image of their brand by choosing Phil Mooney as its blogger. Mooney has been in charge of The Coca-Cola Company’s Archives since 1977.

During a brief discussion during the last Yulbiz networking cocktail, I asked Fred Cavazza about the companies in France that have a corporate blog. The answer was clear and boils down roughly to the following categories: i) Companies that have promotional blogs, ii) No blogs. But what about Michel-Edouard Leclerc’s blog that has been online since 2004?

Why is there a delay and a wide array of differences in the blogging practices?


Blog Directory - Blogged

Sustainability and blogs : Is it a natural?

Published
by
Isabelle Poirier
on May 7, 2008
in Author-Isabelle Poirier, Corporate Best Practices and Corporate Blogging
. 3 Comments

Ten years from now, the Web 2.0 era will be seen as the turning point of our communication culture and collective intelligence paradigms. Business development and growth built upon collaboration, partnership, transparency and interaction will be seen as the buzzwords that best describes the decade.

This blog questions the willingness of actual industry leaders to embrace the 2.0 culture to look at corporate social responsibility and sustainable development in a different way.

Dow Jones Sustainable Index 2007 and web 2.0

Intel is the only company of these top leaders that has a CSR blog and demonstrates that CSR or SD engagements can be discussed and can evolve within a Web 2.0 culture.

Some might think that discussing about environmental externalities and community wealth is easier for an IT player than it is for a natural resource or heavy industrial player. Other might think that it is just a question of time.

Countries that can guarantee energy availability, political stability and access to natural resources are magnets for capital investments and growth. However, communities won’t keep quiet if they believe it’s not worth it. Blogs and social networks tools are the new natural channels to discuss openly about externalities linked to industrial and economic development. Ten years ago, discussion groups were often the blind spots for large corporations. Blogs have replaced them. An example of this new reality is how LNG (Liquefied natural gas) terminal projects can be challenged by stakeholders and how blogs are platforms to voice their preoccupation. The Tara Foundation uses its blog to bring local concerns to the public domain.

“Residents fear Kerry LNG gas terminal will threaten their homes”
 Up to 50 people living directly adjacent to the landbank between Tarbert and Ballylongford came together at a public meeting in Tarbert on Thursday night, where they presented their issues to two representatives of the Shannon LNG company, which is behind the proposed gas terminal.

It is expected that a residents group in Tarbert, Count Kerry, will lodge a detailed objection to An Bord Pleanála outlining their fears over the proposed LNG terminal. If their objections are upheld and plannning permisison is refused, it could sound the death knell for the multi-million euro project that is expected to create 650 jobs during construction and 50 jobs when the plant is up and running”

Could industry leaders, assessing risk and forgetting to take into consideration community’s and stakeholders’ capabilities to team up virtually to discuss and evaluate their value proposition be at risk?

Avoiding Traps In The Blogsphere: A CI Researcher Challenge

Published
by
Ian Smith
on April 29, 2008
in Author-Ian Smith, Competitive & Internet Intelligence and Ian's Rant
. 0 Comments

Late last week, I was asked to search the blogsophere to see what I could find out on the prevailing views within a controversial industry. With the correct keywords and tools, I was able to cull some recent and relevant postings together however; I noticed something rather bothersome during the searching phase. There were “posts” which were simply press releases that were copied from its original source. As a matter of fact, there were a lot of posts of ripped releases or articles that I had to discard in my search.

Based on the Wikipedia definition of a “blog”:

“A blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order.”

The keyword to focus in the definition is “commentary“. Since when has copying and pasting press releases passes as commentary?

Any posts that are just mere press releases or republished articles should be considered a trap in the blogosphere. A trap that will get you to visit a blog without an value added content on it. There are millions of blogs online that do republish snippets of articles HOWEVER these blogs provide their own insights into the discussed topics.

There is no doubt that as a competitive intelligence researcher, I have fell into the trap many, many times. Besides a very good search tool that has a filter to weed out blogposts that are copied releases and articles, these traps will continue to appear.

One possible way of curtailing the growth of these traps is making present and future bloggers aware of possible guidelines of writing a proper blog.

GooFresh

Published
by
Ian Smith
on April 22, 2008
in Author-Ian Smith and Internet tools
. 0 Comments

I often wondered if there was a way of conducting a query with Google in which you could only have the results selected from the most recent indexed page on the web.

Fortunately, Tara Calishan over at ResearchBuzz had the same thought as me and created GooFresh.

GooFresh is an application which permit you to perform searches on Google but only on the pages indexed today, yesterday, in the last 7 days, or the last 30 days.

The tool is located on the ResearchBuzz website where you can simply plugging your keyword(s) and select the period of time to establish the parameters of your query.

Business Development Tools - SWOT Analysis

Published
by
Ian Smith
on April 21, 2008
in Author-Ian Smith and Competitive & Internet Intelligence
. 0 Comments

Whenever the term, “competitive intelligence” is tossed around many people tend to mention research strategies to find relevant information. Unfortunately, the other side of the equation, “the analysis” is often ignored. The analysis is an essential part due to the fact that it aims to put into context the gathered information strategically to reach objectives.

Knowing that analysis is a valued added tool to competitive intelligence, it is necessary to become familiar with the vast amount analysis tools. Many may think that the application of the tools should be done by someone with a MBA degree however; they are a few that are relatively easy to master.

Let’s start with the SWOT analysis tool.

The SWOT analysis allows individuals to evaluate their current situation internally and externally.

The tool assess internally:

  • Strengths - What strengths can the firm build upon?
    This can include: market share, profitability, personnel, branding, etc…
  • Weaknesses - What weaknesses can the firm improve upon?
    This can include: corporate image, operations, patents, trademarks, etc…

The tool assess externally:

  • Opportunities - What opportunities can the firm take advantage of?
    This can include: market trends, new technology, new suppliers, etc…
  • Threats - What threats should the firm avoid?
    This can include: social changes, economic environment, political environment, etc…

With these four elements in mind, searching for relevant information is made easier for a researcher. Findings for a SWOT analysis should be placed in a framework as seen below.

swot.gif

Although this exercise is a straightforward process in terms of evaluating a firm in relation to its internal and external environments, it serves a foundation for another analysis tool called, “The TOWS Matrix”. (The TOWS Matrix will be covered in a future blog posting.)

Newsletters - A Devalued Strategic Asset?

Published
by
Ian Smith
on April 11, 2008
in Author-Ian Smith and Competitive & Internet Intelligence
. 2 Comments

News is one of basic elements that fuels a competitive intelligence unit. News that is gathered from various sources and analysed can flows into an unit via difference vehicles. Portals, alerts, RSS feeds, newsletters, etc. Say what?? Newsletters???

Do people still read newsletters?

Are newsletters still a valuable competitive intelligence asset?

Some may think that the creation of newsletters have become irrelevant thanks to RSS feeds and matching newsletter applications. I do not believe it is not entirely true.

THE important element that is always lost in a debate such as this one is the human element behind the creation of the newsletter. The filtering process is very important when it comes to selecting the right content to be in the newsletter. On the surface, many think that the filtering process only deals with keyword identification and spotting doubles however; it goes deeper.

At the heart of the filter process is keeping in mind the client’s key intelligence topics (KITs). In short, KITs are the questions that you are attempting to answer within the information product. For example, a client who would be interested in the future of consumer products industry should be kept informed on the latest buying trends. Yes, you could set your RSS reader to push to you content with the keywords, “consumer products” and “trends” etc, however; how many articles will be relevant to Person A in marketing, Person B in R&D and Person C in product design?

The underlying point of my example is the only the competitive intelligence professional (a human being) can ensure that relevant strategic and tactical information gets to the right person in a timely fashion taking into account the constant battle of information overload.

Putting A Competitive Intelligence Twist On Things

Published
by
Ian Smith
on April 3, 2008
in Author-Ian Smith and Competitive & Internet Intelligence
. 0 Comments

Hello, my name is Ian Smith. You may know me from such blog posts as, “FI: Facebook Intelligence - Part Deux or “The Critical Eye Of Internet Intelligence Searching“. I have been “asked”, to join this new media center platform to blog on the subject of competitive intelligence when it comes business development strategies and web 2.0. From searching methodologies to internet tools, I will be here to bring you my insights based on 10+ years of experience in the field of competitive intelligence.

I should warn new readers of this blog that I tend to be a tad cynical at times and it can be seen in some of my posts where I can go off on a rant.

If you would like me to cover a specific topic on this blog, please let me know.