Форум Сообщества Практиков Конкурентной разведки (СПКР)

Five Common Competitive Intelligence Myths Busted

Автоматический перевод

www.clearci.com/blog/bid/174798/Five-Common-Competitive-Intelligence-Myths-Busted

When some people hear “competitive intelligence,” they often imagine a personal investigator or spy performing clandestine sneaky activities. When people become educated on what competitive intelligence really is, they still may think it’s a shady activity than can only be done by CI experts.

These are just a few myths that DON’T reflect what competitive intelligence is or how it’s performed.

Competitive intelligence, just like other functions, has myths that are perpetuated over time, but we think it’s important to set them straight. Here’s five myths that we think you should know about as competitive intelligence professionals or professionals practicing CI in your role:

1. Competitive Intelligence Involves Corporate Espionage or Spying

This one has been dispelled quite a bit over the years, but for outsiders, clandestine activities is usually what they initially think. While corporate espionage and spying are illegal practices, they are not the methods competitive intelligence professionals use to collect information. In fact, the definition of competitive intelligence makes it very clear that all information is gathered legally and ethically. Leonard M. Fuld’s definition sums it up nicely: “Competitive Intelligence is the process of ethically gathering and refining information enough so that it can be used to make a strategic business decision.”

2. Only Large Corporations Need Competitive Intelligence

Competitive intelligence is valuable whether you’re a leader in the market or just a startup. Sure, most of the Fortune 500 businesses have formal CI departments or teams, but that doesn’t mean SMEs don’t need CI. Remember that the purpose of competitive intelligence is to improve decision-making and strategic planning, and that’s something all companies could use to their advantage.

3. Competitive Intelligence is Only Required in Times of Planning or Crisis

We disagree. Why? Practicing competitive intelligence does more than just help a company make strategic decisions. It helps when companies need to know what’s going on in the market now, what their competitors are doing, avoiding surprises, and staying updated with industry trends, among others. Competitive intelligence should be part of a company’s daily routine. Even when the threat or opportunity is apparent, it’s sometimes too late for companies to be proactive.

4. Competitive Intelligence isn’t a Long-term Investment

When we said above that competitive intelligence should be a daily routine, it should be in place for the long-haul. A 2013 survey of over 400 global companies by Fuld & Company reports that in the last five years, North American companies spending more than $1 million annually on CI budgets increased from five percent to 10 percent. We’re seeing that companies are placing competitive intelligence as a valuable business function that requires capital to finance the staff and research activities. After all, what’s the cost of a missed opportunity or bad investment that CI could have prevented?

5. Competitive Intelligence is Only Practiced by CI Experts or in Certain Industries

For some competitive intelligence practices, being an experienced CI analyst helps. But when it comes to gathering secondary intelligence, for example, professionals in marketing, business development, and others can gather information through material or online sources. Additionally, competitive intelligence can benefit companies found in many industries, not just pharmaceuticals or technology.

There are many ways to implement data management and competitive intelligence software to a company's department functions. To learn how to gain a competitive advantage using business intelligence and competitor monitoring software in your department, download one of our helpful competitive guides.