Competitive Intelligence Rescue: Getting It Right

by Carolyn M. Vella, John J. McGonagle

Overview

A powerful "how-to-do-it-better" book, this is the first guidebook on competitive intelligence that uses case studies to provide behind-the-scenes insights into how professionals improve competitive intelligence processes.

All organizations need to stay competitive in their respective fields to ensure success. Competitive intelligence (CI) is an established discipline that focuses on giving businesses and nonprofit organizations the advantage of staying fully informed about what their competitors are doing, are capable of doing, and will likely do. CI is a particularly valuable and powerful tool that supports everything from strategic planning to marketing and new business development to human resources—if it's executed properly. This groundbreaking book uses real-world case studies to expose common CI challenges and present a simple methodology for spotting problems, understanding how to rectify each problem, educating others in order to bring about improvements in a process, and testing and validating that the changes are working.

Competitive Intelligence Rescue: Getting It Right provides invaluable insights from Carolyn M. Vella and John J. McGonagle, two of the most prolific authors, recognized experts, and in-demand speakers on the topic of competitive intelligence worldwide. Any manager, executive, or owner of any organization—including medium-sized and large enterprises such as businesses, law firms, hospitals, nonprofits, and universities—as well as anyone inside or outside of a firm who provides competitive intelligence to managers or executives will benefit from reading this book, regardless of previous experience with or knowledge about CI.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798216064107
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	07/20/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	7 - 17 Years

About the Author

Carolyn M. Vella is founding partner of The Helicon Group, a global competitive intelligence research, analysis, and consulting firm.

John J. McGonagle is managing partner of The Helicon Group.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Chapter 1 The Language of Competitive Intelligence and of This Book 1

Chapter 2 Diagnostic Quizzes and Questions 3

Chapter 3 DIY CI 13

Chapter 4 Creating a New CI Function and Staffing a New CI Team 39

Chapter 5 Defending against Your Competitors' Intelligence Activities 75

Chapter 6 Adding Strategic Intelligence to Market/Tactical Intelligence and Contracting Out for Market/Tactical Intelligence 97

Chapter 7 Bringing CI Inside 111

Chapter 8 Integrating an Acquisition, Developing DIY Capabilities, and Adding Primary Research Capabilities 139

Chapter 9 Starting Late 163

Chapter 10 What Does This All Mean to You? 169

Index 173

What People are Saying About This

Peter C. Oleson

“In a complex global economy, doing competitive intelligence well is difficult. Screwing it up is easy. Long experienced in competitive intelligence, Vella and McGonagle provide insightful lessons for those who need intelligence to compete, profit, and succeed. They answer such questions as how to set up a competitive analysis effort and how to tell whether an existing effort is contributing as it should. This is a practical ‘go to’ book for executives who need competitive intelligence, may not know how to employ it, or may be perplexed about how to manage it.”

Benjamin Gilad

“I have worked with John and Carolyn for many years. Their meticulousness shines on every page of this very real approach to solving competitive intelligence problems. In this book you get to listen in on real conversations and solve real issues. I will definitely recommend it to the managers attending our certification program.”

James D. Stockmal

“Vella and McGonagle’s conversational style brings you directly into the narrative through engaging, thought provoking questions. As such, it felt as if I was doing the CI project with them. Anyone involved in CI, or trying to rescue their CI program, will find Vella’s and McGonagle’s book informative, insightful, practical, and executable.”

Lora Bray

“Vella and McGonagle’s practical, real-world guide to CI provides wonderful evidence that traditional corporate librarians are especially well suited to practicing CI because of our research skills and inherent curiosity. When corporate librarians embrace the transition from ‘question-answerer’ to ‘question-asker,’ we open up new career paths. This is an essential addition to every librarian’s shelf.”

Editorial Reviews

Conscientious decision makers in large multinationals and/or do-it-yourselfers will glean valuable insights from Vella and McGonagle's workbook/thinkbook. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals.” —Choice

“This is a must read for strategic planners who want to understand why and how competitive intelligence is done, and how it enables smart decision-making.” —The Strategic Edge

“Any knowledge producer—researcher, practitioner, or manager—will learn something valuable here. Likewise, the user of intelligence—business owner, executive, or investor—will benefit by becoming an 'educated consumer' of intelligence work products and by seeing what is possible, even with limited resources.” —Knowledge Value Chain

From the Publisher