Competitive intelligence can be defined as knowledge and foreknowledge about the external operating environment. The ultimate goal of each intelligence process is to facilitate decision-making that leads to action.

Strategic Intelligence can be defined as “a systematic and continuous process of producing needed intelligence of strategic value in an actionable form to facilitate long-term decisionmaking”.

Measurement of CI benefits is an important means of getting senior management support for the CI function. CI activity could be seen as an internal service with clear and defined product offerings that consists of required products such as competitor or customer profiles, industry monitors and strategic outlooks.

While the key success factors are valid for all intelligence programs, no single system architecture can be found appropriate for developing a successful intelligence program.

An Intelligence System can be implemented in any organization regardless of industry, size, or organizational structure. Although specific needs emerge within individual development projects and they must be carefully addressed, the general steps leading to successful Competitive Intelligence operations are the same.

Scenario planning distinguishes itself from other more traditional approaches to strategic planning through its explicit approach toward ambiguity and uncertainty in the strategic question. There are other planning tools and analysis frameworks as well that are useful during times of uncertainty. But scenario thinking provides a comprehensive tool set.

Establishing “Competitive Intelligence (CI) intranets” has become commonplace in international companies. As is intuitively clear, technology is simply an enabler in this process.

The activities of CI most in need of further development include utilizing information possessed by personnel, identifying critical information needs, and gathering and managing information effectively.

Several problems present in the field of intelligence and early warning system are examined and a number of concepts are proposed that can be institutionalized in order to overcome these problems. A potential solution is offered via integrating the areas of competitive intelligence, balanced scorecard, and business performance indicators in order do develop a comprehensive early warning capacity.

Intelligence activities are rather complex and abstract by nature, which is why the output of an intelligence operation should be built into “intelligence products”; an area still rather unknown in research literature.

The number of useful information sources in the world grows by leaps and bounds. It is important that we keep learning how to use them efficiently, but it is also necessary to keep in mind that the individuals who ultimately make use of all this information often have limited capacity to handle this information.

Creativity is an essential part of product innovation and strategy development. Therefore, it is, or at least should be an important part of industry analysis, competitor understanding, and customer understanding, and intelligence operations in general.

Developing a Market Intelligence capability that provides valuable input to organizational strategy and planning processes is of major importance in today’s turbulent business environments.

The Global Intelligence Alliance (GIA) has renewed a Global Market Intelligence Study on large companies; the first study was conducted in 2005 and it is now one of the most comprehensive, if not the most comprehensive, global Market & Competitive Intelligence study based on manual interviews.

This White Paper discusses the kinds of Market Intelligence support that the corporate customer processes (marketing & sales planning and management, marketing process, sales process, and the account management process) typically require both on a continuous basis and periodically.

The Global Intelligence Alliance focuses on the process side of marketing & innovation intelligence efforts in their new white paper issue named “Market Intelligence for Innovation and Product Life Cycle Management“.

The newest GIA (Global Intelligence Alliances) White Paper focuses on strategic intelligence. In 5 strong case studies the authors present a broad view of the importance to base strategic planning on top notch intelligence.

The Global Intelligence Alliance (GIA) has renewed a Global Market Intelligence Study and extended the sample significantly; the first study was conducted in 2005 and it is now truly the most comprehensive, global Market & Competitive Intelligence study based on primary research.