Building a Competitive Intelligence Function

Over the last few years, many companies have realised that their adhoc approach to finding out what their competitors are doing is insufficient if they are to compete and grow. They realise they need something more - a professional in-house competitive intelligence service. The problem is how to establish such a service. Our "Building a CI Function" service is aimed at helping companies do this. The service combines our training services, mentoring services and CI Audit services and result in you not only having an effective CI function staffed by people who know what they are doing, but also knowing what information you already hold on your competitor and its significance.

The "Building a CI Function" service takes place over a period of time - depending on the exact organizational requirements and your company size, industry and structure. As standard, we include elements from our basic training courses on CI, so the key people involved know what CI is, and how it will help your company. As part of the process, we also include a half-day overview (or if preferred a full-day workshop) on CI, aimed at all senior staff likely to be involved in the process as either a user of competitive intelligence or as a provider. A key aspect in the process of setting up an effective CI department is to ensure the involvement of both staff capable of providing relevant information and staff who require the resulting information for their decisions.

We also include a CI Audit, producing a report on what is currently known, and by whom within the organization, giving us, and more importantly you, the knowledge on what is needed. This is then used to launch the new department, as the CI Audit will have identified where to focus and what is required to make an impact and provide real value from the start.

Following on from the CI Audit, we then work together with the people assigned to do the actual work - whether this is a single individual (sometimes called a "lone CI practitioner") or a full department. This work includes

• Identifying intelligence requirements and key intelligence topics (KITS).
• Ensuring relevant staff know how to find competitive information.
• Establishing ethical guidelines.
• Training so that staff have a thorough understanding of CI theory.
• Training staff in the analysis techniques they will need.
• Establishing templates and processes for communicating intelligence.
• Establishing feedback mechanisms to ensure that value is achieved.

As part of the service we also provide

• An information sources list giving both online and offline information sources that will simplify intelligence gathering.
• Sample case studies to show you what results can be achieved and how.
• Blank templates and sample reports as a starting point to producing your own customised versions.
• A "next steps and action plan" to give you focus and so you know exactly how to proceed.

The service includes six-months mentoring as standard, with a dedicated contact point, so that staff can contact us for any questions they may have - providing advice in case they are stuck, and ensuring that best practices are followed.