The Unique Value of Human Source Intelligence for Business

Attention, business executives and managers: Ask yourself, how well does your company gather, analyze, and take action on what you know about your competitors? Sure, your market research department has a decent budget and a capable team - but this intelligence is firmly rooted in the past and present. It will leave you in the dark when it comes to the future. And when your company is making multi-million-dollar investments in new products and services, being in the dark about the competition is the last place you want to be.

Predictive analytics are essential, but they work best when they are integrated with human source intelligence. Having even the briefest of glimpses into the future can be a godsend in the planning and decision-making process. And only one tool can offer such a glimpse: competitive intelligence (CI).

Whether you call it market intelligence, strategic intelligence, or business intelligence, veteran CI consultants Gary Maag and David Kalinowski demonstrate how CI makes strategic adaptation possible. They dispel the myth that CI is the shady activity some still believe it to be. Think investigative journalist instead of spy, or a sports team scouting the opposition versus breaking into the locker room to swipe the playbook.

Changing business dynamics - from mergers and acquisitions to globalization to changes in the regulatory environment - have intensified the need for powerful, primary intelligence that effectively impacts your business decisions. Now is the time to embrace CI, because before long, you'll be reading influential business books about the successful, forward-thinking companies that did.