Introduction to Strategic Intelligence
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”.
In order to practice effective Strategic Intelligence capable of meeting the needs of strategic Executive Summary management and introducing intelligence of strategic value into the decision-making process, certain critical aspects should be considered.
The role of Intelligence in strategy formulation is a critical one, especially now, given the quickly changing business environment. As the pace accelerates, it becomes more difficult for senior managers and decision-makers to adequately monitor, interpret, and respond to environmental changes. This is where SI, a systematic process of collecting, analyzing and communicating actionable strategy-oriented business information, can serve as input in strategic decision-making.
Key Statements from the Document
- Strategic planning does not guarantee strategic thinking. Most strategic planning systems rely on historical data and numbers generated internally.
- The major difference between SI and CI is that SI actions focus strictly on supporting strategic decision-making by monitoring aspects with strategic significance.
- Scenario planning should be used as a means of supporting strategic planning by identifying emerging competition, technologies and customer needs well in advance in order to formulate a prediction that can initiate an early change of direction.
- “Moves and changes which are not observed cannot be reacted to”. SI plays an important role in controlling these moves and changes.
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