Proven Strategies in Competitive Intelligence: Lessons from the Trenches - Hardcover

Proven Strategies in Competitive Intelligence

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."-Sun Tzu, The Art of War, 511 b.c.

Like armies in battle, business organizations must have a thorough understanding of what they are up against to succeed. Competitive intelligence (CI) is the legal and ethical process of collecting, analyzing, and applying information about the capabilities, vulnerabilities, and intentions of the competition. Proven Strategies in Competitive Intelligence assembles the best thinking and most successful techniques from market leaders on how firms can use CI to outwit, outmaneuver, and outperform current, emerging, and potential competitors.

This compilation of articles from the Competitive Intelligence Review showcases practicable, field-proven approaches to competitive intelligence that can be applied across a variety of business areas. Featuring contributions from leading executives such as Motorola's Robert Galvin, John Pepper of Procter & Gamble, and Gary Costly of Kellogg, the outstanding corporate case studies cover CI applications in sales and marketing, market research and forecasting, new product development, and teams.

Former NutraSweet CEO Robert E. Flynn explains why CI is worth up to $50 million a year to his company, and Kellogg's Costly reveals how CI helped the cereal giant discover and rectify internal weaknesses that were being exploited by competitors. Franz Tessun explains how Daimler-Benz uses scenario analysis and early warning systems to track the competition's technological advances. Also featured are detailed models of competitive technical intelligence (CTI) operations, frequently used by tech-driven enterprises.

In the increasingly competitive business environment of the twenty-first century, getting a "leg up" on the competition is no longer enough. Successful companies need comprehensive programs designed to anticipate and trump the competition's every move. They need Proven Strategies in Competitive Intelligence.

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."-Sun Tzu, The Art of War, 511 b.c.

How do companies like IBM, Xerox, Motorola, Procter & Gamble, and NutraSweet dominate the competitive situation in their markets year after year? Each of these market leaders relies on an effective, well-organized competitive intelligence (CI) strategy to help them outwit, outmaneuver, and outperform the competition at every turn.

Proven Strategies in Competitive Intelligence presents the best thinking and most successful techniques from these and other leading firms on how medium- to large-sized companies can strategize and implement a competitive intelligence program across a wide range of business functions. Readers will learn the secrets of the best business intelligence operations as corporate CI leaders explain:
* How to demonstrate the value of CI to management
* How to get your sales force and other "troops" to bolster CI efforts
* Why competitive technical intelligence (CTI) is vital to technology-driven firms
* How to set up a CI resource center on the corporate intranet
* Why identifying key intelligence topics (KITS) can lead to competitive advantage

Proven Strategies in Competitive Intelligence is an indispensable resource for any organization that wants to take the lead in its market, maximize performance, and keep the competition wondering, "How do they do that?"