The Implementation of Competitor Intelligence: Conceptual Foundations and Empirical Analyses

Competitor Intelligence (CI), a well-established practitioner field, is crucial to the long-term performance of any company in today's globalized economy. While the practical managerial importance of CI is high, it has received less recognition in academic circles. By providing an in-depth analysis of current practitioner views on CI, this book aims to redress the balance. It determines that managers who understand the markets as networks view and utilize its implications in their daily decision-making should see CI and the information they gain from this in a different light: suggesting opportunities for cooperation with competitors rather than confrontation. Whether via mergers and acquisitions or joint ventures, the book posits this change to a more cooperative mindset as a potential first step towards improving the use of insights gained through CI. This change in mindset would be particularly useful in cases where managers apply the framework of facilitators or challenges associated with implementing a global CI system also introduced in this book, which shows that setting up such a system not only requires considerable financial, human, informational and organizational resources but also necessitates thorough planning and preparation prior to any implementation as well as constant commitment from top management once it is in place. While this framework provides the set up to help managers implement a sound CI system on an organizational level, the book also considers the style in which CI is managed. It is shown that the style chosen can determine both the effectiveness of CI implementation and its outcomes. The book builds upon this finding by developing a taxonomy to help support managers in selecting the right CI implementation style so they can achieve the desired outcomes.