© 2009 Factory Strategies Group LLC. All rights reserved. Competitive Intelligence Enterprise Excellence Series

2 © 2009 Factory Strategies Group LLC. All rights reserved. Outline What is Competitive Intelligence? Goals and Benefits The CI Process Characteristics of CI Prevention of Counter-CI 12 Applications of Competitive Intelligence Sources of CI ▫ Print ▫ Phone ▫ Internet ▫ Websites Ethical Considerations

3 © 2009 Factory Strategies Group LLC. All rights reserved. What is Competitive Intelligence? Competitive Intelligence is about Strategic Business Analysis. Strategic Business Analysis answers all types of questions confronted by business. In order to answer strategic business questions, we need “intelligence” and not information.

4 © 2009 Factory Strategies Group LLC. All rights reserved. Why Competitive Intelligence? The only company’s that don’t need competitive intelligence are those with no competition. In a world of hyper-competition (lower barriers to entry, global marketplace, customer focus, etc.), few companies can abstain from some form of competitive intelligence. Even if you don’t have competition, competitive intelligence will generate numerous benefits: early warning systems, more accurate forecasting, business development, market research, due diligence, etc.

5 © 2009 Factory Strategies Group LLC. All rights reserved. Major Goal of Competitive Intelligence The main objective behind competitive intelligence is to create and / or maintain a competitive advantage against the competition. By using “intelligence” we can anticipate what will happen in the future and this helps us create / maintain a competitive advantage and ultimately allows us to become a market leader in our industry.

6 © 2009 Factory Strategies Group LLC. All rights reserved. CI Project Management For the most part, competitive intelligence is executed as a project. And most projects are very fast and tight since management needs answers quickly. Example: On September 12, 2001, almost every American Corporation with operations in Pakistan went to their CI Departments and asked: Do we need to pull out of Pakistan and what financial impact will this have on our company? And I need an answer by the end of the week.

7 © 2009 Factory Strategies Group LLC. All rights reserved. The CI Analytical Process Competitive Intelligence Projects follow the scientific approach to problem solving: 1.Define the Question 2.Gather Data 3.Organize the Data 4.Synthesize and Filter the Data 5.Analyze appropriate data

8 © 2009 Factory Strategies Group LLC. All rights reserved. The CI Analytical Process (continued) 6.Prepare your findings 7.Draw meaningful insights 8.Prepare recommendations 9.Draft CI Report 10.Review and Approve Report 11.Issue Report 12.Follow-up and correct process.

9 © 2009 Factory Strategies Group LLC. All rights reserved. 12 Applications of Competitive Intelligence 1.Current Competitor Activities and Strategy Monitoring 2.Customers, Vendors and Other External Allies Monitoring 3.Operational Performance Benchmarking 4.Product/Service Sales and Marketing Support 5.Strategic Probabilities and Possible Futures 6.Internal Knowledge Management 7.Intellectual Property Exploitation and Protection 8.Mergers, Acquisitions, Alliance and Investment Support 9.Long-Term Market Prospects 10.Counter-Intelligence & Information Security 11.Legislative and Regulatory Activity and Impact on Business Issues 12.Executive Decision-Support and Competitive Strategy Planning

10 © 2009 Factory Strategies Group LLC. All rights reserved. Sources for CI Most sources (70%-80%) for CI are secondary (not first hand), such as newspapers, journals, press releases, ads, web sites, etc. Primary sources (first hand) include interviews, surveys, and other direct research techniques. CI should try to enlist in-house experts. Larger companies should create and maintain a Yellow Pages of in-house experts. CI Professionals live by their rolodexes – the contacts and sources for completing their CI Projects.

11 © 2009 Factory Strategies Group LLC. All rights reserved. Basic CI Tools Local newspapers & biz journals Trade press, especially newsletters NewsIsFree.com, other web-based news aggregators CorporateInformation.com ▫ Requires free registration

12 © 2009 Factory Strategies Group LLC. All rights reserved. Ethical considerations If you wouldn’t want your actions reported on the front page of the newspaper your mother or your child reads, don’t do it. SCIP says: ▫ Over 95% of information that is required is publicly available from open sources. If managers plan ahead and maintain best practice CI systems, it is not necessary to undertake illegal or unethical activity. Never lie Manage your clients’ expectations Outsource to third-party if appropriate