A more formal definition comes from the Society of Competitive Information Professionals, страница 2

The CI Process

Figure 1 shows the CI process and how it is related to both business intelligence (BI) and knowledge management (KM). Business intelligence is used to find and analyze data about the firm from its various data sources and repositories. That data is mostly internal and about firm operations. Knowledge management involves collecting, codifying, and disseminating the intellectual capital of the firm. Knowledge is both explicit (e.g., facts you can record such as a competitor’s reported revenue) and tacit, but only explicit knowledge can be dealt with routinely in knowledge management.

BI and KM (see the first three steps in Figure 1) are both inputs to competitive intelligence. Competitive intelligence adds collecting and analyzing external data, selecting knowledge, and then communicating it to decision makers. The decision makers, in turn, act and observe the results.

Figure 1 does not show the feedback that can occur along the way, such as decision makers going back to the CI analysts to obtain more data or more knowledge.

Competitive Intelligence versus Competitor Intelligence

CI can be divided into two classes: competitive intelligence and competitor intelligence.

Competitive intelligence involves finding out about the state of the world as it affects your firm. Some examples include:

^■■ Are new technologies emerging that will be disruptive for your present and future products?

^■■ Are consumer/customer tastes changing, and what does that mean for your offerings?

^■■ Are new markets (e.g., market segments, countries) opening up in which your firm’s product can and should compete?

^■■ Are the demographics in your sales areas shifting favorably or unfavorably?

^■■ How will pending legislation, regulations, or taxes change your revenue streams?

Note that many of the answers to these questions apply to your industry competitors as well as to your own firm. However, relying on your industry association for answers is not enough, because associations supply the same information to all their members. Your management wants to know how your firm will be affected.

CoMPETITIvE InTELLIGEnCE

Competitor intelligence is much narrower than competitive intelligence. It applies to analyses of individual firms. Here you want to know what each of your competitors is doing and to use that information to compete with them. The typical approach is to create individual competitor profiles to examine their strengths and weaknesses and identify your opportunities and threats (see SWOT Analysis below).

J. Robert Oppenheimer’s insight applies: “The real secrets are not the facts of nature but the intentions of men.” That is, in a stable situation, you are as interested (perhaps even more interested) in what competitors will do in the future than what they are doing now.  You need to learn about their strategies, their current and forthcoming products, their finances, their alliances (joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions), and their people. Simple things help here. For example:

CI Techniques

Several techniques are available for developing competitive knowledge, including: