Millennium Intelligence: Understanding and Conducting Competitive Intelligence in the Digital Age - Softcover

Miller, Jerry P.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0910965285 ISBN 13: 9780910965286

Verlag: CyberAge Books, 2000

Inhaltsangabe

Competitive intelligence doesn’t just mean a trip to the local store to see the competition’s finished products—it means gathering business information to gain an advantage in a legal and ethical manner. This book teaches what competitive intelligence is, what a company needs to have a successful intelligence program, where to place an intelligence program, and what sources to use and not use for intelligence. Technology, analysis, and security issues of intelligence are also identified and explored.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Jerry P. Miller has lectured extensively on the topic of competitive intelligence all over the world. He has been a consultant to corporations in the United States and abroad and has published articles in professional journals and magazines worldwide. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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Millennium Intelligence

Understanding and Conducting Competitive Intelligence in the Digital Age

By Jerry P. Miller

Information Today, Inc.

Copyright © 2000 Information Today, Inc.
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-910965-28-6

Contents

Copyright, 
Foreword Leonard M. Fuld, 
Introduction: Competitive Intelligence — No Witchcraft Here, Just Business Savvy Jerry P. Miller, 
Chapter 1: The Intelligence Process — What It Is, Its Benefits, and Current Status Jerry P. Miller, 
Chapter 2: The Birth and Growth of Your Intelligence Process — Behavioral, Cultural, and Structural Factors Jerry P. Miller, 
Chapter 3: Deciding Where to Locate the Intelligence Unit Kenneth A. Sawka, 
Chapter 4: Skills and Training for Intelligence Jerry P. Miller, 
Chapter 5: Analytical Models and Techniques Michael A. Sandman, 
Chapter 6: Information Resources for Intelligence Helene Kassler, with Michael A. Sandman on "Primary Research", 
Chapter 7: The Information Technology Marketplace Bonnie Hohhof, 
Chapter 8: Knowledge Management and Intelligence Functions — A Symbiotic Relationship Rebecca O. Barclay and Steven E. Kaye, 
Chapter 9: Intelligence and the Law James Pooley and R. Mark Halligan, 
Chapter 10: Conducting Intelligence Ethically Clifford C. Kalb, 
Chapter 11: Intelligence and Security John A. Nolan and John F. Quinn, 
Chapter 12: Small Business Intelligence — People Make It Happen Jerry P. Miller, 
Chapter 13: Millennium Intelligence — The Future Guy Kolb, Jerry P. Miller, and the Business Intelligence Braintrust, 
Biographies: The Business Intelligence Braintrust, 
Bibliography, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

The Intelligence Process — What It Is, Its Benefits, and Current Status

Jerry P. Miller

In this chapter ...

• Why Conduct Intelligence?

• The Intelligence Process Defined

• The Four-Phased Intelligence Cycle

• The Various Roles Involved in Conducting Intelligence

• The Benefits of the Intelligence Process

• The Current Status of the Intelligence Profession

Why Conduct Intelligence?

Conscientious managers can't keep up with changes in the marketplace. Making sound decisions that give their firm a competitive advantage requires careful study of the relevant issues. However, most managers can't devote the time to review and analyze information systematically. Conscientious managers recognize that organizations compete effectively when its managers make sound decisions based upon an accurate understanding of the potential opportunities and threats in the business environment. Organizations cannot operate effectively without intelligence; just as airplanes can't fly without radar. As we know, U.S. government agencies that conduct intelligence focus primarily on threats to national security and spend less time on opportunities. In corporations, the situation is reversed; although managers must be concerned with threats, such as competitor moves and the misappropriation of trade secrets and corporate intellectual assets, they spend considerably more time looking for opportunities to gain and/or maintain their market share.

To compound the issue, businesses are moving at warp speeds, with staffs typically wired across the globe via personal digital assistants (PDAs), and laptop and/or desktop computers. Telecommunication technologies are changing the way firms conduct business functions, including intelligence. Business-to-business applications enable closer relationships between suppliers, vendors, and customers. Information about products, payment terms, and operating instructions are widely available online. Inventory costs have been drastically reduced while sales have increased significantly, as evidenced by Wal-Mart and Baxter Healthcare with their digital logistics and distribution systems.

Cisco Systems, a major supplier of networking products and services on the Internet, also demonstrates the potential of these electronic interfaces: a representative from investor relations at the company recently told me that the firm took in $5.6 billion, or 64 percent of their total 1998 sales, through its Web site (this is an average of $20 million per business day). Forrester Research, a leading research and analysis firm, estimates that business transactions on the Internet will account for up to 6 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product in 2005 (Rigdon, 1999).

Nicholas Negroponte envisioned this digital revolution in his book, Being Digital (Knopf, 1995). According to Negroponte, as the resources of the world become more extensively composed of bits rather than atoms, society will assume a digital state of being. Organizations populated with computers can work together to crunch complex data sets and, thereby, meet customer needs more effectively and more collaboratively.

In his recent article, Slywotzky (1999) applied Negroponte's futuristic perspective to today's digital business environment when he asked readers, "How digital is your company?" That is, what aspects of work involve atoms as represented by paper, pens, and people? What aspects involve bits as evidenced by the use of digital technologies such as groupware, computer-aided-design, and electronic distribution and logistics technologies? What aspects of work, currently in the form of atoms, are key to the business? If digitized, what resulting cost and competitive advantages would you recognize?

You can also examine the digital status of corporate information resources and the intelligence function. At least 70 percent of the information needed to conduct intelligence effectively already resides within most firms. Are the resources in a digital format? Can the entire staff communicate electronically? Do you have access to analytical software that organizes and examines information from key business operations? Can you access external information resources that offer critical insights about your market environment? Can you disseminate intelligence reports electronically across the firm? How can managers try to keep up in an environment whose rate of change grows exponentially?

Managers have some options. They can rely on their past experience, their business associates, and their expertise for making decisions. This cavalier approach may work in some instances, but not in all. Most managers talk to trusted colleagues before making decisions. Yet, these sources of information cannot identify all the critical issues to consider. For example, supermarket managers can talk with supervisors to determine how much chicken noodle soup to re-order. Yet, consumers may favor the low-fat and low-salt brands — a fact that the staff may not know.

A second option is to ignore marketplace fluctuations completely; disregard changes and run the business as usual. Arrogant managers believe that their rank and title demonstrate their understanding of the industry; therefore, no one needs to inform them of marketplace changes before making decisions. This option has led many firms to lose market share or, even worse, file for bankruptcy. The past disruption of the U.S. automobile industry is a good example of the consequences of such ignorance and arrogance.

As a third alternative, managers can attempt to conduct some type of intelligence work. This option is a logical choice today, especially for managers of small firms with fewer than 500 employees. Since many such firms cannot afford to hire an...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: CyberAge Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2000
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0910965285
• ISBN 13: 9780910965286
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 276
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar