xxii Competitive Intelligence [this book]... thus embraces:
- the theory of business competition - understanding the ways in which companies
try to get ahead of rivals in the competitive struggle;
- methods of research and sources of information that generate the raw material
for creating intelligence, and
- analytical techniques which transform a mass of inchoate facts and opinions
- 'data' - into a guide to making better business decisions - 'intelligence'.
xxii Competitive intelligence makes considerable demands upon its practitioners.
Obtaining it is intellectually challenging and tests their knowledge, ingenuity and resilience.
p.6 competitive intelligence... embraces all factors that
could endanger or enhance a company's revenues and profits
p.7 the task of competitive intelligence (CI) is to help identify
and properly assess both business risks and opportunities so that they can either be avoided or taken advantage of.
p.10 To become 'intelligence', information must be analyzed
so that its competitive significance can be understood... the CI function must also influence decision making and
should be initiated and directed solely by virtue of its contribution to better business judgements. The end product
of any worthwhile CI activity is what practitioners term 'actionable intelligence'.
p.16 Any business lacking a strategy, a plan, a programme - whatever
we call it - is undertaking a journey without a map. Its actions will be an incoherent series of ad hoc and perhaps
mutually conflicting responses to new events.
p.16 Sensible strategy is not a form of straitjacket imprisoning
management and preventing them from adapting to new circumstances. It is a guide and a means of coordinating the various
activities of the firm towards the achievement of it goals which can - and should - be modified to take account of changing
conditions.
p.25-26 A firm's competitive capability depends upon the resources at its
disposal and how efficiently they are used... winners in business need to combine a sound strategy with a
fitting level of resources. They must also correctly identify the critical success factors (CSFs)
for the market sector they choose to compete in.
p.26 Ronald Daniel, who later became managing director of the McKinsey management
consultancy... reasoned that there must be a limited number of features that were crucial for success in a sector. A serious
weakness in just one of these threatened potential failure, whereas many defects in other spheres would not prevent a firm
still being a winner.
p.55 The process of creating actionable intelligence follows a
number of stages and borrows the intelligence cycle used by those operating in the military and political spheres.
p.56 According to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) model there
are five steps in the [intelligence] cycle: 1) Planning and direction... 2) Collection... 3) Processing... 4) Analysis...
5) Dissemination.
p.125 Actionable intelligence does not have to be solid enough to
meet the high standards of persuading a court. If seemingly insubstantial and vague indicators point consistently
in the same direction when grouped together, this will often provide adequate grounds for a management decision.
p.225 Anticipating the future actions of business rivals is vital in a competitive
environment.
