Abstract
Managing the Competition: Turning Competitive Intelligence into Strategy
profiles a class of companies that demonstrate successful practices in their
competitive intelligence functions. By studying these companies, your
organization can gain a deeper understanding of how leading companies collect,
analyze and integrate competitor information into strategy. After reading this
report, you will understand how world-class companies structure CI groups, the
key performance drivers used to optimize CI operations, the best methods to
communicate competitive information and how companies turn competitive data
into strategic decisions. This report identifies proven methodologies for
improving corporate CI functions and transforming them from merely data
gatherers to integral components of their strategic decision-making process.
Performance metrics enable executives to perform gap analyses and identify
areas needing improvement. Metrics are an important complement to the
qualitative best practices included in this study report. Best Practices, LLC
analysts collected and analyzed the following key findings and metrics:
- Competitive intelligence groups structures
- Staffing metrics
- Reporting relationships
- CI strategic impact
- CI' s impact on functional areas
- Tools and techniques to convert competitive intelligence into strategies
- Effective CI communication methods
- CI training hours per year
- CI skills and capabilities
Learn how top corporate competitive intelligence organizations use competitor
data to drive strategy and market success. The secret to competitive
intelligence (CI) success is rooted in the function' s structure, effective
communication and organizational empowerment. Specifically, it is a
combination of formal CI operations and intelligent tools - with support from
internal stakeholders - that serves as the key to developing a powerful CI
team. To determine exactly how world-class companies proactively manage
competitors, Best Practices, LLC researched how top-flight competitive
intelligence groups: collect competitive information, synthesize findings into
critical action steps, disseminate data to key stakeholders and integrate
recommendations into strategy to effectively manage competition.
Comprising of interviews of 30 competitive intelligence executives at 19
companies, "Managing the Competition: Turning Competitive Intelligence into
Strategy" takes an in-depth look at: structure, information gathering,
communication and information use. This study will provide you with the tools
to develop a leading-edge CI function and manage the competitive landscape to
consistently succeed.
The success of any competitive management group is a function of its
operational processes and capabilities. Certain CI groups are better
positioned to manage the competitive environment because of their structure,
reporting relationships, collection tools, analytical techniques and skills
and capabilities embedded within their core competency. Best-in-class
competitive intelligence companies manage the environment by establishing
ideal CI structures, hire the best people and use even the most common tools
innovatively to provide the most impact on brand strategy.
- The greatest strategic impact of competitive intelligence on managing the
competition results from an empowered centralized structure, with
decentralized function-specific groups - The competitive intelligence group' s
structure can be directly tied to the impact it will have on brand team
strategies. The differences between a centralized CI group and a decentralized
one vary in the effectiveness each has on managing the competitive
environment. Benchmark research shows that centralized CI groups are better
positioned to impact overall brand strategy, whereas decentralized groups are
highly successful at affecting tactical initiatives. The ideal structure is a
strong empowered centralized structure with function or brand-specific groups
more closely aligned to those functional or brand teams.
- Company-wide support for competitive intelligence is vital to the success
of the group - The appropriate level of support is vital to the success of CI
groups since multiple stakeholders must buy into the groups' recommendations
to make the process valuable. Senior support is important to establishing
legitimacy and importance, while sales rep support and trust is linked to
gathering critical field-level data. One CI group established a competitive
network to circulate competitive intelligence through the organization,
collect competitive information from internal sources, and raise credibility
and awareness of their goals and role.
- Empower competitive intelligence groups to take a greater leadership role
in developing and implementing competitive strategies - Embedding a culture of
competitive intelligence throughout the company encourages company-wide
support of CI initiatives. Benchmark companies embed CI capabilities
throughout the organization by proactively pushing information out to users,
establishing regular communication with groups, conducting informative
seminars and by establishing reciprocal relationships with key stakeholders.
With multiple departments supporting CI activities, competitive intelligence
teams can leverage their influence to develop and implement recommendations to
brand strategy.
Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Project Overview
- Figure S.1-Key Drivers of Excellence
- Report Structure and Organization
- Key Project Findings
PARTNER CASE STUDIES
- Pharmaceutical Companies
- Non-Pharmaceutical Companies
- Survey Responses
CHAPTER 1: STRUCTURING FOR MAXIMUM COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE IMPACT
- Figure 1.1-Centralized vs. Decentralized
- Structure, Roles, and Responsibilities
- Figure 1.2-Three Faces of Competitive Intelligence
- Figure 1.3-Benchmark Class Structure
- Figure 1.4-Centralized Structure (Company A)
- Figure 1.5-Company R' s Competitive Intelligence Structure
- Figure 1.6-Competitive Intelligence Structure at Company I
- Figure 1.7-Company C' s Structure Diagram
- Figure 1.8-Functional Responsibilities
- Skills and Capabilities
- Figure 1.9-Skills and Capabilities
- Figure 1.10-Competitive Intelligence Leadership
CHAPTER 2: OPTIMIZING COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS
- Figure 2.1-Tools and Techniques
- Information Collection Tactics
- Figure 2.2-Plumtree Technology
- Figure 2.3-Northern Light Technology
- Analytical Tools
- Figure 2.4-Effectiveness of Analysis Tools
- Figure 2.5-Science Mapping
- Figure 2.6-Comparative Matrix Plotting
- Figure 2.7-Critical Steps for Scenario Planning
- Figure 2.8-Competitive Landscapes
- Archiving Competitive Intelligence Data
- Performance Metrics
CHAPTER 3: COMMUNICATING COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE
- Figure 3.1-Communication
- Expectation Management
- Figure 3.2-Expectation Management
- Figure 3.3-Give-and-Take Relationship between Sales and
- Competitive Intelligence
- Communicating Competitive Intelligence Findings
- Figure 3.4-Filter Information through Competitive Intelligence Group
CHAPTER 4: TURNING DATA INTO STRATEGY
- Figure 4.1-Using Competitive Intelligence
- Figure 4.2-Company M Product Development
- Figure 4.3-Translating Information into Strategy
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