In the first book designed for businesses of all sizes and managers at every level, Larry Kahaner explains the increasingly vital practice of competitive intelligence and how American companies can use it for success. With a wealth of case studies, Kahaner shows How to profile your competitors' executives to unmask their decision-making processes The line between legal and illegal or unethical activities How to protect your own company against your competitors' intelligence operations COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE is a practical guide to turning raw information into priceless knowledge and winning business strategy.

A practical introduction to the necessity of competitive intelligence for smarter business decisions-from a leading CI expert and speaker In Competitive Intelligence Advantage, Seena Sharp, founder of one of the first Competitive Intelligence firms in the US, provides her expert analysis on the issues and benefits of CI for today's businesses. CI is critical for making smarter business decisions and reducing risks when formulating strategies, leading to more profits and fewer mistakes. This is a practical guide that explains what CI is, why data is not intelligence, why competitor intelligence is a weak sibling to competitive intelligence, when to use it, how to find the most useful information and turn it into actual intelligence, and how to present findings in the most convincing manner. Importantly, Sharp argues that businesses would benefit from shifting their perspective on CI from viewing it as a cost to viewing it as an investment that saves money and provides immediate value. Author Seena Sharp is a noted CI expert who established Sharp Market Intelligence in 1979 Addresses all the most common myths and misconceptions about CI Includes more than sixty examples of when to use CI Completely explains the ins and outs of CI, and why your company will act faster and more aggressively with CI Competitive intelligence is a management tool that is misunderstood and underestimated, yet results in numerous benefits. If you are a senior level executive or operate a business-and you aren't tapping the power of CI to improve your decision making-you are missing a potent advantage.

Tested-in-the-trenches competitive intelligence techniques used at today's top companies This book brings together the best thinking and practices in competitive intelligence (CI) currently being used at many of today's most successful companies. Featuring contributions from leading industry executives, it covers CI strategies across a wide range of business functions, including marketing and sales, market research and forecasting, product development, and teams. The only book on the subject offering a comprehensive view of CI, from the CEO down to the tactical CI team Numerous case studies vividly illustrating cutting-edge CI techniques in action

The Holy Grail for most organisations is the successful attainment, and retention, of inimitable competitive advantage. This book addresses the question of how to leverage the unique intangible assets of an organisation: its explicit, implicit, acquired and derived knowledge. The refreshingly innovative concept of Intelligence-Based Competitive Advantage© is one which will eclipse the cost-driven and resource-reduction attitudes most prevalent in the first decade of this century. Tomorrow’s organisation will need to derive IBCA© through the expert execution of bespoke competitive intelligence practice, unique analytical processes, pioneering competitive strategy formulation, and timely execution of all three, if they are to succeed. This volume consists of insights from Competitive Intelligence practices at both country and organisational level, Competitive Analysis processes within the firm and within challenging sector and economic environments and Competitive Strategy formulation in profit, non-profit, real and virtual world contexts. It is essential reading for anybody wishing to gain a formal understanding of the practical and intellectual challenges which will face organisations in the future as they strive to achieve strategic foresight and Intelligence-Based Competitive Advantage. This book was originally published as two special issues of the Journal of Strategic Marketing.

To beat your competitors you must know exactly what they are doing. It is impossible to put together a successful competitive strategy if you are unsure what your competitors are doing, what they plan to do or even who your competitors really are. As markets evolve even more rapidly and companies adapt their plans much faster, the demand for competitive intelligence has spiralled. Christopher West, an expert in the field, shows you how to collect, analyse and use competitive intelligence from a variety of sources, including the internet, and change your competitive strategy accordingly.

Strategic intelligence (SI) has mostly been used in military settings, but its worth goes well beyond that limited role. It has become invaluable for improving any organization's strategic decision making process. The author of Strategic Intelligence: Business Intelligence, Competitive Intelligence, and Knowledge Management recognizes synergies amo

Because of their daily presence in the field and favored relationships with their customers, salespeople are the eyes and ears of their companies. In the new economic war, managers cannot take the chance of not being fully aware of the way they could be threatened by the competition. Yet, organizations face great difficulties to stimulate salespeople's collection and dissemination of competitive intelligence, and to manage market-based intelligence efficiently. This book aims to assist sales and marketing managers in facing such challenges while providing them with action-oriented answers to the following key questions: What kind of information salespeople should collect from the field and how to transform such information into intelligence? How to improve salespeople's competitive intelligence collection and exploitation skills? How to enhance the sales force's commitment to competitive intelligence activities? How to manage and distill market-based intelligence throughout the organization and maintain market leadership? And, how to approach the ethical aspects of competitive intelligence and remain protected against competitors' competitive intelligence activities? By leveraging the latest research, practitioners' interviews, companies' best practices, along with practical tools and guidelines, this book help organizations achieve their market-orientation strategy and maintain a sustainable competitive edge.

Information professionals should be able to take a proactive role as a strategic partner in their organization's competitive intelligence. Their role needs to focus on the "outside-in" approach, based on their organization's strategic needs and objectives. Competitive Intelligence for Information Professionals explores the role of strategic information and intelligence in organizations, and assesses the values and needs of intelligence in organizations. The book provides guidance on how to work strategically with competitive intelligence, methods for monitoring and analysis and a process-oriented approach. Chapters include discussions on how news monitoring and competitive intelligence interact and how this offers opportunities for cooperation between different departments. Cases from the authors' own experiences when working with competitive intelligence in international corporations are also included. Competitive intelligence (CI) is a new area for Information professionals Offers perspectives on a new trend within the library and information sector Provides a comprehensive approach to CI

Effective strategies for outsmarting the competition and driving better bottom-line results In this groundbreaking book, T.J. Waters has turned his experience collecting and analyzing competitive intelligence for the CIA into effective strategies for businesses wanting to stay on the leading edge of their industries. The book describes a practical process from planning (identifying competitive threats and determining the resources needed to counter them) through implementation (creating an organizational strategy) to execution (collecting key information and turning it into bottom-line results). The book is filled with illustrative examples of companies from start-ups to multi-nationals that have used similar strategies successfully. Offers a key resource for gaining competitive advantage in tough times Outlines a proven strategy for planning, implementing, and executing a strategic plan for bottom-line results Written by T.J. Waters who has combined his intelligence expertise with his years of business experience This book clearly shows that it's no longer a question of becoming the next Google, IBM, or Coca-Cola-it's all about knowing what your competitors are doing.