Affordable Competitive Intelligence Strategies
Getting the Edge on the Competition Without Paying too High a Price
Feb 14, 2009
In Competitive Intelligence: Fast, Cheap & Ethical (AuthorHouse 2008, ISBN 978-1-4343-0641-8), Rob Duncan explains the techniques used for what was once called industrial espionage. Duncan's central themes are that gathering intelligence does not have to be expensive, can be done ethically, and must be done quickly in order for it to have real value in the marketplace. Competitive Intelligence includes easy-to-understand examples and step-by-step exercises for mastering each concept in the book.
Competitive Intelligence vs. Industrial Espionage
The phrase “industrial espionage” is conspicuously absent from this book, and the reason is clear: Duncan's mission is to explain how to ethically obtain information about one's competition through research, analysis, interviews and other means; the word “espionage” clearly suggests a murkier moral ground. Duncan follows the ethical code of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals, and strongly maintains that ethically obtained information is of superior quality.
Quick Intelligence vs. Complete Intelligence
Duncan practices what some business professionals terms the “ready, shoot, aim” approach: gather information as quickly as possible, and only then refine your strategy. “Waiting for several weeks to get an exhaustive answer is not a winning option in highly competitive environments,” he explains in the introduction. One of the early chapters of the book is focused on the development and use of intuition, which is critical to quickly gathering intelligence: an entrepreneur must be able to rely on hunches when deciding how to move forward.
Techniques for Gathering Competitive Intelligence
The book is divided into three parts, aimed at guiding the novice through developing the critical skills necessary and implementing a plan to gather intelligence on the competition regularly. Each chapter leads off with a summary of the main points, and concludes with exercises to practice the concepts.
- Part one focuses on the core skills of CI (as competitive intelligence is often abbreviated). The chapters are Curiosity, Sensory Awareness, Numeracy, Research Ability and Ethics.
- Part two is more extensive, guiding the reader through various applied CI skills, such as market research, analysis using the internet, and interviewing one's own competition and trade shows.
- Part three is only one chapter, CI as a Daily Practice. Here, Duncan provides tools and a framework for developing a regular routine of gathering intelligence.
Competitive Intelligence: Fast, Cheap & Ethical is a short read of only 124 pages, but the information is powerful and well organized. Rob Duncan accomplishes his goal of laying out a system that any business owner can use to get that critical 1% edge over his or her competition.
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