p.14 The most advanced application for competitive intelligence
is that which enables companies to recognize current and future competitive threats and to devise stratagems that
will neutralize their effectiveness and gain some form of competitive advantage.
p.33 The intelligence needs of any organization must be driven by
the applications for which the intelligence is to be used... The need for competitive intelligence derives directly
from an organization's competitive strategy
p.33 At a strategic level intelligence is used to define:
- How an organization can be positioned (or repositioned) in order to win business
from competitors
- The likely responses that competitors will make when challenged by a new
market initiative
- Future changes in the shape and structure of the competitive environment
that may enhance or detract from the organization's ability to sell
p.34 Companies coming to competitive analysis for the first time generally
require a map of the competitive landscape within which they are operating... experience is sometimes a poor guide to competition,
particularly if the business is evolving rapidly, and can be completely inadequate when looking forward to the structure of
future competition.
p.34 An important ingredient in both activities is an assessment of the competitors'
ability to sustain the positions they have chosen and their vulnerabilities to competitive attack.
p.35 Most competitive situations are sufficiently complex to defy simplification
and a map of the competitive landscape is the key to understanding the nature of the competitive battle to be fought...
it represents a starting point.
p.47 Changes in competitive activity can be triggered not only by the ambitions of the competitors themselves
but also by external factors such as... structural changes in the market.
p.48 With strategic intelligence it is also possible to anticipate competitors' actions and provide an opportunity
for pre-emptive action.
p.49 The fundamental objectives of competitive intelligence are
to avoid surprises and gain competitive advantage. These can be achieved only if future actions by competitors can
be predicted accurately... The analysis must also take account of major changes... that may result in changes in objectives
and changes in the way in which competitors respond to the market environment.
p.130 A key decision facing all companies developing competitive
strategies is how to collect, analyse and disseminate the intelligence they require.
