40 Strategic Marketing: Planning and ControlCI can provide a number of useful functions within any organisation.
These can be summarised as follows:
● Anticipating competitors’ activities: The most obvious advantage of CI is
in provision of system(s) to consider the likely action of specific com-
petitors. The various strengths and weaknesses of the opposition can
be considered and frameworks established to anticipate and pre-empt
competitor initiatives. Early warning of competitors’ actions enables
the organisation to judge the seriousness of a threat and develop
appropriate responses. The process may also uncover potential com-
petitors who are about to target your existing customer base or indus-
try activities.
● Analysing industry trends: By examining the actions of groups of com-
petitors within specific segments and/or market leaders it is possible
to proactively establish growing trends. If management can spot the
convergence of technologies and operating procedures, it is possible to
‘steal a march’ on competitors.
● Learning and innovation: The CI process offers tremendous opportunities
to learn. CI forces managers to have an external focus. By constantly
reviewing the opposition, we are better able to develop, adapt and innov-
ate our own product offerings. For example, the process of reverse engin-
eering – involving detailed examination of competitors’ products – can
provide a valuable insight into improving our own products. Scenario
planning exercises, which anticipate competitors’ actions, can enhance
the organisations’ understanding of the competitive environment.
● Improved communication: Key principles of CI are: (a) the delivery of
concise, timely information to decision makers and (b) the ability to
share information across functional boundaries and provide wider
access to knowledge. These general concepts do much to enhance
overall corporate communication and promote teamwork. Correctly
applied CI concept enable staff to overcome many problems associ-
ated with information overload.Illustrative Example 3.1
Competitious social networking for CI
The next generation of CI vehicles may deploy social network as a powerful analytical tool.
Competitious, an innovative web-based service, offers clients the opportunity to collabora-
tively share and manage competitive knowledge. Co-founders Kris Rasmussen and Andrew
Holt aim to provide tools which allow organisations to collectively build an on-going know-
ledge base about competitive companies or products. The effective use of such information
allows users to identify threats, find opportunities and plan future strategy. The concept can
be thought of as a social networking specifically focusing on the client’s completive business
environment.
Source: http://www.competitious.com, Accessed 5/2/07.