VIGIL
Competitor & market profiling expert
Frequently Asked Questions
Book Recommendations
What is the cycle of Competitive Intelligence?
The CIA describes the intelligence cycle as “the process by which
raw information is acquired, gathered, transmitted, evaluated,
analyzed and made available as finished intelligence to use in
decision-making and action.” There are five steps which
constitute this cycle:
  • Planning and direction
  • Collection and research
  • Processing and storage
  • Analysis and production
  • Dissemination and delivery
What is Competitive Intelligence?
Competitive Intelligence is the purposeful and harmonized
monitoring of your competitor(s) within a specific marketplace...
  • Recording competitors’ behavior and analyzing their
    actions in order to assess and foresee their ability in a
    certain sphere.
  • Recording markets’ behavior and analyzing their
    characteristics in order to assess and foresee their
    potential.
Competitive Intelligence is usually composed of five major areas
of endeavor:
  • Assessment of strategies
  • Competitor perceptions
  • Effectiveness of current operations
  • Competitor capabilities
  • Long-term market prospects
“What is the cost of not having the information provided?” The cost is that of
a missed opportunity that could have made millions, or of not preparing
adequately for a threat to the business that resulted in a loss.

The value of Competitive Intelligence is that it can give organizations the
information that not just saves them time and money but also helps them
make it.
Effective implementation of a Competitive Intelligence Program
requires not only information about the competitors, but also
information on other environmental trends such as industry trends,
developments, political developments and economic conditions.

The relative strength of the competitor can be judged accurately
only by assessing it with respect to the factors listed above. In the
increasingly complex and uncertain business environment, the
external [environmental] factors are assuming greater importance
in effecting organizational change.

Therefore, the determination of CI information needs is based
upon the firm's relative competitive advantage over the competitor
assessed within the 'network' of 'environmental' factors.
What are the information hazards of Competitive
Intelligence?
What are the general uses of Competitive
Intelligence?
The competitive intelligence intelligence can be used in
programs that supplement planning, mergers and acquisitions,
restructuring, marketing, pricing, advertising and R&D activities.
Competitive Strategy : Techniques for
Analyzing Industries and Competitors
Michael E. Porter
The Art of the Long View : Planning for the
Peter Schwartz
Strategic and Competitive Analysis: Methods
and Techniques for Analyzing Business
Craig S. Fleisher & Babette Bensoussan
Competitive Intelligence: Gathering,
Analysing and Putting it to Work
Christopher Murphy
Modern Competitive Analysis
Sharon M. Oster
Co-opetition: 1. a revolutionary mindset
that redefines competition and
cooperation; 2. the game theory strategy
that's changing the game of business
Adam M Brandenburger, Barry J Nalebuff
What is the value of Competitive Intelligence?
The objective of the Competitive Intelligence Program is to gather
relevant information that is valid and accurate. Incomplete or
inaccurate information may jeopardize the organization's CI efforts.
  • False confirmation: There might be instances of false
    confirmation in which one source of data appears to confirm
    the data obtained from another source. In reality, there is no
    confirmation because one source may have obtained its data
    from the second source, or both sources may have received
    their data from a third common source.
  • Disinformation: The data generated may be flawed because of
    disinformation, which is incomplete or inaccurate information
    designed to mislead the organization's CI efforts.
  • Blowback may occur when the company's disinformation or
    misinformation that is directed at the competitor contaminates
    its own intelligence channels or information. In all such cases,
    the information gathered may be inaccurate or incomplete.
How to determine Competitive Information Needs?
Please contact us  to request a free capability presentation and to discuss how we can help
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