The reality is that most organisations have some form of CI. For example
they conduct benchmarking exercises, commission market research or
monitor competitors’ prices. CI offers the opportunity to bring together
the various stands of information which already exist into one cohesive,
practical system.
■ The CI cycle
Kahaner (1997) develops the concept of CI cycle (see Figure 3.1). This basic
concept is derived from government agency intelligence gathering oper-
ations (e.g. CIA).
Competitive intelligence 413 Analysis1 Planning anddirection 2 Collection4 DisseminationCI
cycleFigure 3.1
CI cycle
(Source: Adapted
from Kahaner, 1997)Planning and directing
The cycle begins with establishing intelligence requirements. It is
important to prioritise information needs and set appropriate time-
scales/reporting periods. This phase requires a detailed understanding
of what business decisions are being taken and how information will be
used. When prioritising information it is important to differentiate
between ‘targeted intelligence’ – collected to achieve a specific objective –
and ‘awareness intelligence’ – collecting general information which will
be ‘filtered’ in order to build a general picture of the competitive environ-
ment. Targeted intelligence is used to resolve specific problems, while
awareness intelligence is designed to monitor the competitive environ-
ment on an on-going basis. The planning process is concerned with
obtaining the correct balance between the two.