AIAA Delta Forum 2002 Using the Web for Competitive Intelligence Gathering by J. Rocker & G.J....

AIAA Delta Forum 2002

Using the Web for Competitive Intelligence Gathering by J. Rocker & G.J. Roncaglia (AIAA Paper 2002-0282)

Presented by

JoAnne Rocker

NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program Office

Langley Research Center

What Competitive Intelligence is and is not

Why It is Important

Benefits of doing CI

Using the Web for CI

Topics for Discussion


Rocker, AIAA Paper 2002-0282, Jan 2002

1

What is Competitive Intelligence

• Sometimes referred to as corporate or business intelligence

• Intelligence about market trends, competitor strategies, government policies, laws, domestic and global events, etc.

• Purpose is to help make strategic decisions

Collect Filter Analyze Actionable Intelligence(decision)

CI Process



What Competitive Intelligence Is NOT

• Common misconception

- Espionage or spying

• Economic Espionage Act of 1996

- Made it illegal to steal or "appropriate" proprietary information with penalties of up to 15 years in prison and fines up to $10 million

• Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP)

- Defines CI as, "the legal collection and analysis of information regarding the capabilities, vulnerabilities, and intentions of business competitors, conducted by using information databases and other "open sources" and through ethical inquiry” (http://www.scip.org/)

• Experts estimate

- 95% of the information desired for CI purposes is publicly available*

*(Source: Competitive Intelligence Magazine, v.3(1), pp.37-40Rocker, AIAA Paper 2002-0282, Jan 2002


Why is Competitive Intelligence Important

Competitive playing field has changed over time

• Global marketplace forces companies to find new ways to differentiate themselves from a larger pool of competitors

• Economic superiority is based on technological innovation and knowledge industries

• Staying competitive means staying informed of what is going on in marketplace, customer demands, federal regulations, laws, and other external factors



CI takes the guesswork out of making decision

• Anne Selgas, director of corporate intelligence for Eastman Kodak, says, "companies that don't use competitive intelligence are running blind“*

• CI gives corporate decision-makers the insight and knowledge to make decisions based upon intelligence versus assumptions about marketplace trends

• CI process provides businesses with an objective intelligence source - not guesswork

Why is Competitive Intelligence Important (continued)

*(Source: Network World, v.15(45), p.42, 1988)



Examples of CI

• Potential alliances for joint ventures, licensing and partnerships

• Potential merger and/or acquisition targets

• Customer needs and wants

• Competitor existence, pricing, products/services, marketing

strategy, production

• Evaluations for offensive/defensive marketplace tactics

• Marketplace trends

• Predicting technology readiness

• Regulatory activities by government, others

*(Source: Competitive Intelligence Review, v.9(2), 10-16, 1998)

CI is feedback about*



Who does CI in a Company

• Most companies do some kind of CI activity – ad hoc basis, project-based, or continuous program for gathering intelligence

• CI departments found in one or more departments

- Mergers & acquisitions

- Corporate strategy

- Market strategy or market research

- Pricing and yield management

- Business development

*(Source: Competitive Intelligence Magazine, 3(2), pp.17-20, 2000)Rocker, AIAA Paper 2002-0282, Jan 2002


Benefits of CI

• Increase chances of success*

- Avoid surprises- Identify threats and opportunities- Gain competitive advantage by decreasing reaction time - Improve planning- Improve understanding of one’s own company

• Financial Return on Investment (ROI)

- Robert Flynn,former CEO of NutraSweet, says that CI was "worth up to $50 million per year” to his company+

+(Source: Network World, v.15(45), p.42, 1988)*(Source: Competitive Intelligence. New York: The Conference Board, 1988



Internet Increases CI Accessibility

• Internet and web-enabled technologies have changed the way companies do business

- E-business initiatives allow innovative ways to interact with customers and market new products and services

- Internet levels the competitive playing field; small companies can compete with larger companies by using the Internet to establish market niches

• As companies use the Internet as a business tool, more information is available on the web for CI purposes – websites, news services, etc. – this information is retrieved, filtered and analyzed to perform the CI process

• More CI web-enabled tools and services exist today than ever before and the market is growing for these CI products




• Chatrooms, Listservs and newsgroups

• Company websites

• Consultants specializing in CI

• Internet search engines

• Local, government, and state websites

• News services

• Subscription services

• Universities

Sources




Free Information For-fee Services

Advantages:

No cost (in terms of access)

Relevant information

Broad coverage

Advantages:

Sources verifiable

Specialized information

Reduces searching time

Disadvantages:

Filtering time-consuming (staff time)

Information integrity (authentication, timeliness)

Disadvantages:

Cost

Pay for more than need




Examples of CI resources available on web



• Hoover’s Online service (Directory information)

- Company profiles and financial information are available from 12 million public and private companies from over 300 industries (http://www.hoovers.com/)

Internet Sources for CI




Chatrooms, Listservs, and Newsgroups

• Discussion groups cover the gamut of interests and what people say in these virtual spaces can be relevant to companies

- Employees discussing their work may reveal useful details about their companies and their technologies

- Customers may complain about the service they received from a certain company and the quality of the product. These sites can be monitored for relevant information




• Catalist is a site that has cataloged all the public LISTSERV® lists on the Internet (http://www.lsoft.com/lists/listref.html)




The government is the largest producer of free information in the U.S.

• Firstgov- Official government portal to government information, services, and online transactions; its search engine searches across all government websites, making it easier to find government information (http://www.firstgov.gov/)

• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website provides Company financial data (http://www.sec.gov/)

• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website can be used to search for patents and trademark information (http://www.uspto.gov/)

• Library of Congress’ Thomas site searches Congressional legislation and proceedings dating back to the 1700’s (http://thomas.loc.gov)




Scientific and technical research information is also available from government agency websites (citations, full-text documents, fact sheets, etc.)

• DoD’s Defense Technical Information Center (http://www.dtic.mil/)

• DOE’s Office of Science and Technology Information and Resources (http://www.osti.gov/)

• NIH’s National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/)




• NASA – Scientific and Technical Information Program Office (http://www.sti.nasa.gov/)



• NASA’s Technical Reports Server (http://techreports.larc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/NTRS)





• Lexis-Nexis™ - Offers online databases covering legal information, news

sources, company and financial information, and public records (http://www.lexis-nexis.com/)

• Dialog Corporation™- Access to suite of web-based products provides access to

business, engineering, medical, news, and technology information (http://www.dialog.com/)

Subscription Services



Database providers are often useful sites to use because of they offer access multidisciplinary information sources through an integrated user interface, thus making it easier to find information on a wide variety of topics

Conclusions

• CI is available via legal and ethical means – not spying

• CI is critical factor in company’s success – strategic planning and return on investment (ROI)

• Internet and web-based products can enhance CI data collection

• Advantages and disadvantages of relying on free versus fee information for CI

• Companies should capitalize on the accessibility of CI and incorporate CI into strategic planning activities

• Failure to utilize CI will result in missed opportunities and/or unwelcome surprises



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