Unfortunately there are currently not many university courses that cover competitive intelligence formally – although CI is available as a module in some (mainly post-graduate) degree courses (for example DeMontfort University, based in Leicester in the UK, offers a module in competitive intelligence as part of their Strategic Marketing MSC and there are similar courses offered in some US and Canadian colleges).

As a result, the best ways of learning about CI will be through

• commercial CI firms offering competitive intelligence training - for instance AWARE (for in-house training and a few public courses offered in partnership with commercial training providers);
• the Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP - www.scip.org) - via SCIP chapter meetings;
• conferences on CI organised by SCIP and others;
• The Institute of Competitive Intelligence (ICI) offering a full range of competitive intelligence training options;
• books on the topic.

SCIP chapter meetings are worth attending if you have a local chapter as these often include speakers covering a variety of topics, so you learn and network at the same time and SCIP conferences have a wide range of speakers and education opportunities. There are also a number of organizations that hold conferences inviting speakers to talk about their own CI practice. The trouble with these is that they tend to target practitioners who already have experience rather than novices. Often they focus on particular industries – telecoms, pharmaceuticals or utilities for example, so are useful for learning about CI in a particular industry.

An alternative to consider is the Institute of Competitive Intelligence (ICI). The ICI is the only global alternative for competitive intelligence education - offering a full range of course options, covering all aspects of CI. The Institute for Competitive Intelligence was founded to offer a solid and flexible CI training program leading to a qualification as a certified CI-Professional. This qualification is exam based - and helps make the ICI route to CI education a gold-standard, guaranteeing that alumni will be at the forefront of the field. Faculty include a mix of academics and practitioners - making the ICI the only training option to offer both the intellectual rigour provided by university theoreticians and the practical experience given by experts working in the field. Faculty and advisory board members include:

• Professor Craig Fleisher from the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada;
• Prof. Dr. Utz Schäffer from the European Business School, Germany;
• Rainer Michaeli, the Managing partner of Die Denk-Fabrik - a specialist German CI consultancy;
• Sheila Wright - Principal Lecturer in Strategic Marketing and Competitive Intelligence at Leicester Business School in the UK;
• Arthur Weiss, AWARE's managing director, who teaches a course on secondary research for CI;

- and many more competitive intelligence experts from both Europe and North America. Craig, Rainer and Sheila have all served on the SCIP board and both Sheila and Craig are on the editorial of the Journal of Competitive Intelligence and Management. (View ICI Course Prospectus)

Finally, there are also a number of other options available - especially in the USA. These include the Fuld-Gilad-Herring Academy of Competitive Intelligence (ACI) - run by three recognised experts in CI with many years experience (Leonard Fuld, the CEO of a leading CI consultancy, Ben Gilad and Jan Herring). ACI courses are expensive ($10,000+) and are thus more suitable for large corporate organizations with the budget to pay for staff to attend rather than individuals who want to learn more about CI.

Although we can recommend the Institute of Competitive Intelligence courses - especially for those seeking accreditation, it is important to note that they are aimed at individuals who want to progress to the top of the CI profession - and are thus less suitable for training groups of individuals from the same company or company department. AWARE's courses differ from those offered by the ICI in that they are not public courses but are offered as in-house courses and customised to individual company and departmental needs. AWARE training courses & workshops thus can focus on the real issues facing clients, yet covering the same ground as some ICI course modules. For more information on our training services contact us today.)

In summary, if you want to learn about CI you will need to convince management to pay for you, attend SCIP chapter meetings (and conferences) or read books on the subject. You may lose the personal touch of face-to-face training, but if you are self-financing your education this is definitely a cheaper way of learning about CI.

Note: This FAQ was originally published in the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professional's membership magazine (Competitive Intelligence Magazine - Jul-Aug 2002). This is an update reflecting changes since the original answer was published.