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.

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.

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.

For Strategic Management courses. This book examines the techniques involved in analyzing business and competitive data and information including environmental analysis, industry analysis, competitor analysis, and temporal analysis models.

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.

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.

Competitor Intelligence Turning Analysis into Success David Hussey and Per Jenster The seminal work of Michael Porter in the 1980s provided a conceptual basis to competitor analysis which has stood the test of time. The emphasis of his work, and of many books by other authors which followed it, has been on the why and what of competitor analysis. David Hussey and Per Jenster's book moves beyond this to the problems faced by organizations in applying the concepts at a practical level. It shows how real companies can use competitor intelligence and analysis in real situations. Three major strands are drawn out by this book, which shows how to: * obtain competitor information in a legitimate way * analyze information so that competitors can be better understood, and strategic options explored * develop ways of achieving competitive advantage which may move the organization ahead of others in the industry This book provides a comprehensive guide for marketing and planning practitioners, managers and management consultants, to enable them to improve the competitor information and intelligence available to their organizations, and to use it to gain advantages over the competition. The book goes beyond the broad concepts, and gives practical advice on how to obtain and use the necessary information, offers various analytical techniques and approaches, and shows how to develop strategies for both attack and defence. It includes numerous cameo examples, a case history of how an organization undertook competitor analysis in an industry with little coherent published information, worked examples of many of the methods suggested, as well as a number of case studies of various industry situations. The text builds on a sound conceptual foundation, and draws heavily on the authors' practical experience.