| What is CI? |
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CI is an ethical process of managing knowledge external to one's organization for the purpose of making sound, educated decisions vital to growth or survival. CI is an organization's response to change so that it does not become blindsided by aggressive competition, shifting markets, changing government policies, rising technologies, or in extreme cases, terrorism. CI and strategy (or decision-making) go hand-in-hand because critical decisions cannot be made in a vacuum. Decisions drive the CI effort or requirement while CI supports decision- making. Therefore, CI is like decision- making, a continuous process of keeping abreast with change. |
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| What is the difference between CI and market research? |
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Marketing research (MR) is just one dimension of CI. MR utilizes a specific set of collection methodologies that are focused more on the demand side of a business, i.e. the market. CI treats everything external to an organization that affects its ability to achieve its goals as the competitive environment. This includes other competitors, suppliers, distributors, business partners, the government, lobby groups, and the market or consumers. Unfortunately not all MR methodologies can be applied to CI; for instance, one cannot conduct a focus group discurssion among idustry competitors. So specialized and creative approaches must be taken. In essence, CI looks at the whole industry supply chain, from raw material provider all the way to the market. |
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| Who needs CI? |
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Regardless of function or department, executives and managers across the organization are given the task of ensuring the survival and growth of the business by making the right decisions everytime. In order to do this, they should be supplied with timely, accurate and useful intelligence on a continuous basis. |
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| How do I find information about my competitors? |
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Many individuals make the mistaken assumption that in order to find competitive information, one must go directly to the target company. These individuals either end up frustrated or find themselves on the wrong side of the ethical wall. No manager in his right mind will ever divulge company information beyond what it openly advertises or posts on its website. |
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The key is to find other individuals or groups who seek the same information about the target organization, but for different purposes. For example, while Orient Computer Corporation (OCC) will never divulge its current and projected revenue data to any of its competitors, it may reveal the exact (or related) information to its suppliers (who must align their manufacturing plans with OCC), its distributors (who must plan their fleet utilization, logistics and warehousing around the current and projected operations of OCC), the government trade bureau (who provides incentives to OCC in relation to its business size), the customs bureau (that processes OCC's importation requirements), the labor union (who negotiates for salaries & benefits depending on OCC's performance), the investment banker (who handles the financing for OCC's operations), and many more. |
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| How can I learn more about CI? |
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ExplorAsia conducts CI awareness programs around the Asian region. |
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Otherwise, there are a number of books published on this subject that may be purchased in bookstores or online. |
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Finally, you may want to contact SCIP at www.scip.org. |
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| What is the state of CI in Asia? |
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In 2005, the Society of CI Professionals (SCIP) celebrated its 20th anniversary. In its current form, CI is relatively new in Asia. SCIP members from Asia make up less than 5% of the association total. Interest in CI started fairly recently around Asia. To date, there have been CI associations established in China, Japan, Singapore, Korea, and Australia. However, many Asian CI practitioners often look to the west for techniques, ideas and new approaches in the CI realm. |
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| How is CI related to corporate espionage? |
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Espionage is the result of watching too many James Bond movies or reading spy novels. It has no room in CI. While CI has adopted some of its techniques from the government intelligence agencies, it places a strong emphasis on ethics in order to differentiate it from its distant cousin. In government intelligence agencies, particularly during the height of the Cold War, espionage was justified because its ultimate cause was national security and survival. In business, espionage represents the failure of CI and it is practiced by unscrupulous characters who have neither the knowledge nor the skill to carry out proper CI research. |
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| Who uses CI? |
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Key decision-makers like the CEO, the Board of Directors, Directors of Strategy, Marketing, Business Development, Operations, Finance, Human Resources, Product Development, and everyone else use CI. They must understand what goes on outside the company walls so that they can do their jobs well. |
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| What is SCIP? |
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The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals is a global association of CI practitioners, academics and consultants who are dedicated to the furtherance of ethical business intelligence practices. |
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More information can be obtained from their website at www.scip.org.. |
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| How does ExplorAsia conduct CI in Asia? |
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ExplorAsia has established an elaborate intelligence structure around the Asia Pacific region. At the core of this operation is an intelligence research nerve center located in Manila, Philippines which is staffed by full-time, multi-lingual, experienced CI researchers, analysts and project managers. The center is capable of conducting both primary and secondary research around Asia. |
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This center is supplemented by two regional support units in Hong Kong and Singapore, providing ready access to knowledge from north/east and south/west Asia respectively. Furthermore, this team is augmented by a robust network of field researchers, interviewers and data collectors based locally in each major Asian market. |
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Taken together, ExplorAsia is able to access multiple information sources using various collection methodologies and contact points. This multi-pronged and highly-coordinated approach guarantees wider coverage, raises the level of confidence, moves the project more quickly, and provides for cross-checking of data and sources. As a result, ExplorAsia is able to handle multi-country regional projects simultaneously at very competitive costs. |
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| How does ExplorAsia guarantee the accuracy of intelligence it collects? |
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ExplorAsia maintains a policy that any intelligence it reports must have been provided by at least two or three independent, objective and qualified sources. To ensure this, ExplorAsia conducts random quality inspection of the interviews being conducted in the field. As mentioned earlier, two teams conduct intelligence interviews from the central office and in- country. |
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