Staying Ahead Of The Competition: How Firms Really Manage Their Competitive Intelligence and Knowledge: Evidence from a Decade of Rapid Change

Table of Contents......Page 8
INTRODUCTION......Page 6
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY......Page 16
KEY IMPLICATIONS FOR SENIOR MANAGERS......Page 19
The forces of competition......Page 22
Corporate competitiveness and competitive advantage......Page 24
What is CI ?......Page 25
Stages of sophistication in CI systems......Page 28
The role of CI in improving corporate competitive performance......Page 29
Fifty years of survey evidence on CI activity in corporations......Page 31
The research framework - a decade of empirical work......Page 34
Intuitive CI management and professional CI management......Page 35
Improving the management of CI......Page 36
Summary of main points......Page 40
The present level of competition is extremely high......Page 41
Changes between 1996 and 2006 in the level of competition in the market......Page 43
The level of competition expected in the future is increasing......Page 44
The main driving needs for better CI......Page 46
The need to track existing competitors......Page 48
The need to track new and potential competitors......Page 50
The need to track regulatory change......Page 51
The need to track socio-demographic change......Page 53
The need to track threats and opportunities abroad......Page 54
The need to track new products and services......Page 55
The need to track specific new technology......Page 57
The need to track generic new technology......Page 58
The profile of CI needs by industry......Page 59
The effect of rate of growth on CI needs......Page 62
The effect of competitive velocity on CI needs......Page 63
The effect of the length of competitive cycle on CI needs......Page 64
The implications for senior managers......Page 65
CI capability and competitiveness......Page 68
Capability to compete......Page 70
Capability to track own competitive position......Page 71
Capability to track competitors......Page 73
CI preparedness - capability in meeting common CI challenges......Page 75
Industry profile of CI capability in dealing with common challenges......Page 77
CI needs relative to capability......Page 78
The implications for senior managers......Page 82
Summary of main points......Page 84
An overview of how firms manage their CI function......Page 85
Processes and techniques used for CI......Page 86
Sources of information for CI......Page 91
Resources for CI: Cost of CI systems......Page 96
Resources for CI: Staffing......Page 99
Who is responsible for CI?......Page 101
Who should be responsible?......Page 105
Plans for improvement......Page 107
Priority areas for improvement of CI capability......Page 108
Profile of plans for capability improvement by industry......Page 109
The implications for senior managers......Page 111
Why benchmark CI needs and capability?......Page 114
The Competitive Intelligence Diagnostic Database......Page 115
Benchmark comparison of level of competition now......Page 117
Benchmarking CI needs......Page 119
Benchmarking competitive position and competitor CI capability......Page 120
Benchmarking preparedness to address common CI challenges......Page 122
Benchmarking CI management system quality......Page 125
Benchmarking how frequently firms update their CI......Page 126
Benchmarking understanding of key issues......Page 127
Benchmarking the quality of your competitive decision knowledge......Page 128
The implications for senior managers......Page 130
The intelligent puzzle......Page 132
Why don’t managers make better use of CI?......Page 135
The role of ignorance in inhibiting CI effectiveness......Page 137
The role of trust in inhibiting CI effectiveness......Page 138
The role of competitive dissonance in inhibiting CI effectiveness......Page 139
The overall effect of the intelligent puzzle on CI capability......Page 140
What can be done to encourage more effective use of CI ?......Page 142
Addressing lack of trust......Page 145
Addressing competitive dissonance......Page 146
The implications for senior managers......Page 147
The sample sizes and response rates......Page 148
The profile by affiliation......Page 149
The profile by management type......Page 150
REFERENCES......Page 151
Appendix A Glossary of terms and conventions......Page 154
Appendix B The survey instruments......Page 155
About the authors......Page 162