The Intelligence Behind CI

1. The Intelligence Behind CI CALL 2007 May 8, 2007

2. Quote “We are drowning in information and starved for knowledge.” John Naisbitt, Chairman of The Naisbitt Group

3. Definitions Intelligence Gather information, analyse it and use the insights to make decisions

4. Definitions Society for Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) Competitive Intelligence A systematic and ethical program for gathering, analyzing, and managing information about your competitors’ activities and general business trends to further your own company’s goals Competitor intelligence concerns the current and proposed business activities of competitors

5. Definitions Business Intelligence Knowledge of the environment in which a company operates, used to obtain a competitive advantage Use of company data to gain knowledge Market Intelligence Competitive intelligence, product intelligence, market analysis and market research

6. Definitions • Project CI • Most common form – ad hoc • Find out who is the competition and what they are doing • Present and file • Program CI • Build a system to continually share insights about our competitive position • Develop sufficient understanding of our competitors that we can predict what they might or might not do, and what are their chances of success

7. Ethics • All definitions include “the ethical and legal collection of information” • To comply with all applicable laws, domestic and international • To accurately disclose all relevant information, including one's identity and organization, prior to all interviews • 80 to 90% of what you need is public information

8. Who are CI Practitioners • CI started in the 1970’s, and grew rapidly in the 1980’s • Many practitioners came from US military intelligence community • Applied investigative techniques to corporate problems • Researchers, consultants, industry or business experts • Varies from large, sophisticated CI departments to single practitioners doing it “on the side”

9. Levels of CI • Clipping service • Distribute articles or other items concerning the industry or company under study • Product/Feature/Function comparison • Product and pricing grids • Competitor Profiles • A full picture of the strengths and weaknesses, interests and propensities of a known competitor • Competitor Strategy • What have they done? What do they want to do? What can they do? What might they do? Is there an opportunity for us? A threat? • Scanning the horizon • What is going on that will affect the future of the industry? What substitutes may appear that will become the next competitor? Who might the new entrants be?

10. CI Process • Decide what you want to know • Gather the information • Analyse • Publish your insights • Solicit Feedback

11. Before you Start • Look around your own organization – what do you already have? • A colleague who may also be doing this • News clipping services • Subscription research • Subscriptions to media or trade journals • Industry specialists or product specialists • Access to analyst reports • Annual reports • Intranet site • Share Point or shared servers

12. 1. What do you want to know? • Planning process • Interview your customers • Executives – strategic • Field – tactical • Use the key research questions • What do you want to know? • Who do you want to include? • What will you do with the information? • Build a chart or report headings and fill in the blanks

13. 2. Gather the Information • Wherever possible, use multiple sources to verify what you learn • Authoritative sources • Two or more references • Free and fee based search engines • Company records • Annual reports, web site, investor relations • People • Information known by your own employees or already in your files

14. 3. Analyse • Stop searching when you start to find repetition in new documents • Use various tools to draw meaning from the information – the “so what” • SWOT analysis • Porter’s Four Corner analysis • Financial statement analysis • Business and Competitive Analysis or Strategic and Competitive Analysis: Methods and Techniques for Analyzing Business Competition by Craig Fleisher & Babette Bensoussan

15. 4. Publish • Use your analysis to answer the questions you developed during planning • Take a stand – express an opinion • Post or disseminate your report/findings • Spend some time developing the format – then use it consistently • Brand your work • Communicate with your clients to make them aware of your reports

16. 5. Feedback • Update your reports with new or amended information • Solicit agreement/contradiction of your conclusions • Additional information to support or challenge • Open a feedback loop for continuous two-way dialogue • Identify human sources for future research

17. Human Intelligence • Never forget or underestimate the importance of talking to people • Context, background and history to give meaning to the information you have uncovered in research • Culture is important to understanding strategy and is not conveyed as well in print • Pick up clues that tell you to look for something, or to watch for something

18. Community of Interest • A group of individuals who share one common goal or interest • Recruit all the people in your firm who have an interest in CI • Monthly meetings • Create a pool of information • Support group • Share techniques, tools, resources • Especially effective in large corporations

19. Executive Buy-In • Most difficult aspect is convincing executives – and your boss - that CI is important • Ensure continued resources available • Understand the strategic questions on which they will focus • Direct your research in that direction • Use key influencers to help you deliver your message

20. Appendix Additional Resources

21. Free Resources • AskX.com • Suggested terms to expand or narrow search www.askx.com • SearchMash • Results sorted by medium – web pages, blogs, videos, images www.searchmash.com Sedar • Securities related information www.sedar.com

22. Pay as you Go • SkyMinder • In-depth credit, financial and business information on public and private companies internationally • Fund a spending account • Purchase individual reports from account

23. Fee Based Resources News Trackers • Factiva • Monitors news agencies for specific competitors and applies strong filters • Bloomberg • Multi-media company and market news, quotes, opinion

24. Fee Based Resources Company Information • Thomson Dialog, DataStar • 900 databases including news reports, research, scientific/technical data, patents & trademarks, intellectual property • Hoovers • Public information on companies; size, history, executives, financials, industry and competitors • LexisNexis • Comprehensive information in a variety of areas—legal, risk management, corporate, government, law enforcement, accounting and academic

25. Fee Based Resources Company Information • fpinfomart – Financial Post • Media, financial and corporate data, company profiles • Bureau van Dijk • Database of European companies • Harris InfoSource • A Dun & Bradstreet company • Reports include location, contact information, industry descriptions, DUNS numbers, web addresses, SIC and NAICS codes, executive biographies and more

26. Fee Based Resources Specialized • STN – Science and Technology • Published research and patents in all scientific fields • Questel – Intellectual Property • Patents, trademarks and design – a comprehensive collection of databases and tools for searching, analyzing, evaluating and sharing results • Micromedia ProQuest – Libraries • Canadian companies, media sources, regulatory bodies and government agencies

27. Associations • SCIP – Society for Competitive Intelligence Professionals • www.scip.org • CI Division, Special Libraries Association • http://units.sla.org/division/dci/CIHome.htm