This article discusses why is Competitive Intelligence important.
Your important strategic decisions within your organisation are dependent on many factors. Factor such as industry changes, your organisation’s competences, the global economy, the shrinking talent pool and new entrants to your competitive environment.
The last thing you should do is basing your important decisions on guesswork. And you can’t afford you to make strategic business decisions in a vacuum. And you must be able to anticipate and react to changes that occur within your company and your industry.
What is Competitive Intelligence?
CI is about the knowledge about your competitors and market, which is not readily available. It’s the information you need to dig a little deeper to find, often in places where people don’t want to share. It’s asking the questions to get the answers you want to know. Also, it helps you make decisions and take action relying on more certainty, rather than guesswork and dated assumptions.
So, CI allows you to avoid surprises, think more moves ahead of your rivals, and minimise uncertainty when you make business decisions. And it gives you the ability to see through or stay ahead of the competition. Also in many cases, can be the unspoken, hidden key to success
Are they looking at you?
Most importantly, it is likely that your rivals are conducting some Competitive Intelligence against you. And if they are not, then why not?
Benefits for your business
Perhaps the desired result is growing market share, but Competitive Intelligence can also benefit your business by:
- Improve your organisation’s knowledge of the markets you operate in
- Enhance confidence in strategic planning Improving the quality of your products and service levels compared to your rivals
- And improve communication across your organisation in terms of competitive environment and activities
Studies involving FT100 and Fortune 500 Companies show that those who place Competitive Intelligence at a crucial strategic level tend to outperform their rivals in terms of revenue and profit margin. So Competitive Intelligence is not only a powerful tool for multinationals. but also the smaller businesses who face similar issues. It’s just as crucial for decision-makers in comparatively smaller companies to understand their competitive landscape to develop robust long term strategies.
Finally
This article discussed why is Competitive Intelligence important. And your decisions are dependent on factors like changes to your industry, core competencies and the economy as well as new competitors coming onto the scene.
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