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WHAT IS COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE? Competitive intelligence (CI) is a business discipline used to make informed strategic business decisions based on understanding the competitive environment. WHAT IS THE FINAL PRODUCT OFFERED BY INSIGHT? INSIGHT's consultants and experts create written reports containing highly specific, precise information directly responding to our client's questions. It is time sensitive information that is not part of the public domain. Our reports are concise and go directly to the heart of the client's questions. We do not generally include secondary research or public domain information in the reports, as our goal is to provide focused, reliable information that our clients can use to make strategic decisions. IS COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE THE SAME AS BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE? No. Business intelligence is now widely accepted as being concerned with information technology solutions for transforming the output from large data collections into intelligence; usually through the integration of sales, marketing, servicing, and support activities. Business intelligence companies generally provide computer systems and solutions for the management of a company's own corporate data. In contrast, our competitive intelligence reports are produced by our experts and consultants based on extensive primary research and investigation. The intelligence we provide is not published on-line in any database nor gathered by any software. IS COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE THE SAME AS MARKET RESEARCH? No. Market research is a valuable tool, but it is quite different in many key aspects. Competitive intelligence is highly specific, precise information tailored to be directly responsive to an individual client's needs. The information is actionable and provides the basis for strategic decision-making. It is time sensitive, acquired through primary research and is not part in the public domain. In many cases, the information will be public knowledge at some point, but it is the advance warning and the inherent advantage it brings that provides the value. In other cases, the information may change over time and what was once true is no longer valid. Finally, our competitive intelligence reports become the exclusive property of the client and are never re-sold. Market research, by contrast, usually provides a more general understanding of a market and/or industry. It is public information and lacks the specificity and custom tailoring of CI. It is not generally actionable, nor timely. It can get gathered from primary but more often is gathered from secondary research. And the same information is generally sold to many clients. CAN'T WE GET THE SAME INTELLIGENCE THROUGH OUR COMPANY'S RESEARCH DEPARTMENT? No. A company's research department can get information through their own intelligence channels, but that information will inherently be biased and cannot be collected anonymously. The intelligence that we provide is independent, anonymously collected, and both contrasted and validated to ensure its reliability. IS COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE THE SAME AS COMPETITOR INTELLIGENCE? No. Competitor intelligence is focused only on monitoring the current and potential activities of competitors. Competitive intelligence covers not only existing and potential competitors, but clients, partners, suppliers, and the market, sector or industry itself as well. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY RESEARCH? Primary research is also called field research and involves the collection of data that does not already exist in the public domain. This research is tailored to a company's particular needs. This kind of research delivers more specific results than secondary research. Secondary research is also known as desk research and involves the summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research. HOW DO YOU ENSURE DATA QUALITY AND ACCUARACY? All the information gathered by our experts and consultants is cross-checked, contrasted and verified. We validate the reliability of both the information and the sources involved before providing any information to the client. IS COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE INDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE? No. Industrial or corporate espionage is the use of illegal and unethical means to gather information. In contrast, competitive intelligence practitioners abide by local legal guidelines and ethical business norms to get the information decision makers need to know about the competitive environment. At Insight, we abide by a very strict ethics policy. WHAT BUSINESSES CAN BENEFIT FROM INSIGHT'S SERVICES? Any business seeking an understanding of the external environment in order to make strategic business decisions can benefit. Our clients represent firms from many industries, including aerospace, construction, consumer goods, energy, financial services, pharmaceuticals, technology, and telecommunications. Included are small businesses, growing mid-market firms, and large international corporations. We work with corporate development, strategy, business development, expansion, finance, and sales & marketing executives, particularly as they seek to identify and exploit new markets and business opportunities. WHAT SHOULD I ASK MYSELF BEFORE GETTING INTO A COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE PROJECT? There are seven questions that you should answer prior to making the decision to invest in CI:
DOES CI REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO A COMPANY'S BOTTOM LINE? Yes. Research shows that companies with well-established programs enjoy greater earnings per share than companies in the same industry without CI programs. Moreover, Business Week magazine stated in its Nov. 26, 2001 issue that "in a recession, competitive intelligence can pay off big." |