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Competitive Intelligence

Gathering, Analysing and Putting it to Work

Publication Date   October 2005
Publisher   Gower Publishing
Product Type   Book
Pages   304
ISBN Number   0 566 08537 2
Product Code   GOW002
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Price £55.00

approximately: $97 | €70

Summary


Every business manager needs intelligence to find suppliers, mobilize capital, win customers and fend off rivals. Obtaining this is often an unplanned, instinctive process. The manager who has a conscious, systematic approach to acquiring intelligence will be better placed to recognize and seize opportunities whilst safeguarding the organization against the competitive risks that endanger its prosperity – and sometimes even its survival.

Christopher Murphy's Competitive Intelligence explains:
  • the theory of business competition
  • how companies try to get ahead of their rivals
  • methods of research and sources of information that generate the raw material for creating intelligence
  • analytical techniques which transform the mass of facts and opinions thus retrieved into a platform of sound, useable knowledge to support informed business decision making.

The text includes plenty of examples and experiences from the author's own consulting experience. He draws on a wide variety of disciplines, including literary criticism (or how to read between the lines of company reports, announcements and media stories) and anthropology (understanding corporate culture), as well as the more obvious ones such as financial analysis, management theory and business forecasting techniques. This fusion of insights from many fields of expertise provides a very readable, practical and imaginative framework for anyone seeking to gather and make effective use of market and company data. While focused on the British business environment, the lessons drawn are of universal application, and examples are taken from across the globe. In addition a chapter is devoted to researching industries and companies in other countries. Although primarily concerned with commercial enterprises, many of the principles and techniques will also be of considerable practical relevance to managers in the public sector or not-for-profit organizations.

Competitive Intelligence also provides a legal and ethical framework to guide the unwary and to curb the over-enthusiastic. The final chapter, Intelligence Countersteps, will open your eyes to the need to protect your own organization from some of the practices of less scrupulous researchers and investigators.

Content


PART I: Steps Towards More Effective Competitive Intelligence

Understanding the competitive landscape and the contributing to better decision-making

Competitor Intelligence is Not Enough!
Competitor intelligence
Competitive intelligence
CI is not limited to competitive issues - the role of cooperative intelligence
What should this discipline be called?
Conclusions
How is CI being Conducted and How Should it be Performed?
How is it being done?
How it should be done
Conclusions
How do Companies Compete?
Competition in economic theory
Porter's three axes of competition
'Five forces' model
Conclusions
Key Internal Business Drivers
Critical success factors
Resources
Business processes
Alliances
Conclusions
Key External Business Drivers
Social and cultural drivers
Technological drivers
Economic drivers
Environmental drivers
Political, regulatory and legal drivers
Conclusions
For Goodness' Sake! - Legal and Ethical Aspects of CI
Illicit means of gathering intelligence
The United States Industrial Espionage Act 1996
The SCIP Code of Ethics
Does the SCIP code work?
Conclusions

PART II: Collecting Data

Commencing the CI Quest - Planning and Initial Data Gathering
Planning
Data collection
Where to find the data sought - the golden rule of research
The research framework
Tabling a hypothesis
Striving for excellence in research
Qualities of excellent researchers
Researcher self-development
Management support for researchers is essential
Conclusions
Understanding Sectors
Demand features
Organization of supply
Sources for studying sectors
Conclusions
Refining the Search
Handling initial research results
Competing hypothesis analysis
Linchpin analysis
Knowing when to stop
Conclusions
Systematic Sources - Regular Corporate Document Filings
Unlimited and limited liability
Legal forms for carrying on business
Companies
Standards of filing enforcement
Conclusions
Systematic Sources - 'One-off' Corporate Filings
Time limits for filing and company's own public domain registers
Contents vii
Prospectuses for public offers of securities
Listed companies
Circulars
Shareholder data
Patents
Trade marks
Land
Ships and aircraft
Other regulatory filings
Conclusions
Foreign Sources
Overseas sectoral research
Researching foreign companies
US company research
Conclusions
Human Source Intelligence
Planning interviews
Who is to be approached?
Approach by email
Persuading people to be interviewed
Handling rejection
Conducting the interview
Recording the interview
Keeping in contact with interviewees
A warning regarding being accused of anti-competitive conduct
Conclusions
Observing a Company
Corporate external communication
Trade show CI
Company visits
Conclusions
Creative Sources and Methods and the Craft of Analysis
Creative data gathering
Creative ways of solving problems
Analysis
Conclusions

PART III: Turning Raw Data Into Finished Intelligence

Analysis and presentation

Figuring Out the Numbers - Structure and Content of Company Accounts
Balance sheet
Profit and loss account
Cash flow statement
Notes to the accounts
Running the Numbers - Understanding Financial Statements
The twin objectives of companies
Accounting policies
Ratio analysis
Financial and performance ratios
Interest cover and dividend cover
Profit margins
Returns on investment
Conclusions
Interpreting the Non-financial Sections of Company Accounts
Auditors' report
Directors' report
Chairman's statement
Other reports
Assessing Information Quality
Data quality hierarchy
Source criticism
Misinformation and disinformation
Conclusions
Describing Companies
Corporate description checklist
Corporate culture
Role and status of individuals within a company and their interrelationships
Conclusions
Comparing and Positioning Companies
Identifying competitors
Benchmarking
Gap analysis
Conjoint analysis
Win-loss analysis
Conclusions
What does the Future Hold?
Forecasting techniques
Alternative futures
Technology forecasting
Gauging future competitor moves
Conclusions
The End Crowns All - Disseminating Competitive Intelligence
Content accuracy and credibility
Means and styles of communication
Conclusions
Intelligence Countersteps
Strong security does not entail unreasonable secrecy and refusal to communicate
Operational Security model
Physical security
Paper and electronic documents
Employees
External partners
External activities and dissemination of information
Conclusions

Part IV: Appendices

I CI Resources
II CI Terminology
III Accounting Terminology
IV US/UK Accounting Terms

Index