Competitive Intelligence

"A formalized, yet continuously evolving process by which the management team assesses the evolution of its industry and the capabilities and behavior of its current and potential competitors to assist in maintaining or developing a competitive advantage" (Prescott and Gibbons 1993).

CIP tries to ensure that the organization has accurate, current information about its competitors and a plan for using that information to its advantage (McGonagle & Vella, 1990).

CI uses public sources to get information- can be legally and ethically identified and accessed
Business espionage: develops the same information by illegal means like hacking

• External environmental factors affect organizational change and competitive advantage can only be assessed with respect to these factors
• Choose sources to obtain the data- restrictions often influence this decision and it is up to individuals
• The same standards held to the reliability and validity of scientific research apply to CI
• Competitors play “strategic games” to mislead CI
  

CI itself has become a business. Many internet sites are publishing CI on companies within different industries and sell them. They also offer tools to help analyze the CI data and send updates when reports are updated. I would question the validity of these companies and their data. Who’s to say they aren’t owned and operated by a firm that is posting fraudulent information? I think CI is more valuable when a company does it for themselves so that they can establish beforehand what they are looking for and how they will get it.