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KNOW! CASE STUDIES

Competitive Intelligence


The North American subsidiary of a global services firm faced an increasingly competitive market. They had a strong understanding of their competitors’ current positions, but needed to take the extra step to anticipate their competitors’ actions and positions. They also needed to improve intelligence communications and selected intelligence functions within their organization.

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in’s Consulting Services helped them develop a deeper understanding of their internal and external situation, as well as solutions for enhancing their intelligence capabilities. KiF devised a multi-phase plan to improve intelligence development, intelligence-sharing, and intelligence applications. To help them quickly develop their capabilities, KiF also provided targeted training and resources to their staff.

 

 


An information/market research professional wanted to transition into competitive intelligence, but didn’t know how to assess his transferable skills, devise a plan for developing essential CI skills, and sell his experience to prospective employers.

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in’s Advisory Services helped this information/market research professional

  • Conduct a skills assessment
  • Establish professional goals
  • Outline current intelligence practices, expectations, and requirements
  • Prioritize his development needs
  • Develop his skills through resources and training
  • Position himself during the interview process

Within months, our client successfully landed a position as the manager of the CI unit in a services firm. To help him further establish himself, we continued to help him transition into his new role as internal CI expert and advisor.

 

 


A major high tech firm had been experiencing significant growth and wanted to maintain their competitive edge. They needed to train new employees across units and functions on how to identify, gather, manage, and use intelligence information amongst themselves and with other strategic development units. They also needed to add intelligence training into their existing professional develop program.

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in’s Training Services worked with the company to assess areas and levels of training and identify the best delivery method. KiF created an ongoing, customized, modular curricula in industry/market analysis, competitive intelligence, and market research for both new and established employees. Employees across geography can now access on-going intelligence training on site, on line, or in print.

 

 


In order to enhance the competitiveness of its members, a law association was interested in offering a competitive and market intelligence professional development program to one of its regional groups. Levels of CI experience were wide-ranging among its members, who also served in a variety of functions and law settings. The association struggled with how they could design and deliver a meaningful and enlightening intelligence program that could be satisfy its diverse membership.

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in’s Training Services conducted a series of discussions to better understand the backgrounds and expectations of the associations members. Based on this understanding, i custom designed a successful one-day program that provided an overview of intelligence and it’s applications in the law sector, demonstrated how intelligence may be maximized in various law practices and settings, and discussed intelligence management issues that are specific to law settings.

 

 


A growing publishing and consulting firm was confronting a number of issues relating to business development and growth. It faced few direct competitors and it enjoyed satisfied clients; however, it faced challenges relating to generating new business opportunities efficiently, balancing product mix and project load, and establishing a direction for the company.
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Through a series of teleconferences in’s Advisory Services worked with the head of the firm to better understand the key issues and decisions facing the company and its management. i worked with the firm over the course of a few weeks to help get the firm back on track. i helped firm management prioritize its issues, address some immediate issues, and provided strategic and tactical recommendations for marketing, lead generation, and partnership development. i also identified a series of blind spots and assumptions that were preventing the managers from more clearing seeing the opportunities presented to the firm.

 

 


The intelligence unit of an energy company designed a robust intelligence knowledge and content management system that was to be a showcase for its intelligence process enhancement. In its final phase, it confronted a number of issues relating to intellectual property, content policy, archiving, and other matter which had not been previously considered and would have significant impact on the success of the system. The project was slated for launch in a matter of weeks and the intelligence unit required solutions that could satisfy various stakeholders and fulfill the intent of the effort.

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in’s Advisory Service worked with the intelligence unit manager to assess the various issues confronting the project, taking into consideration the project timeline, intent, expectations, user requirements, and other key factors. i provided recommendation that addressed intellectual property concerns and helped establish content management policy. i also devised a phased-in solution that allowed the project to launch successfully and on schedule. The client’s intelligence knowledge and content management system was able to fulfill its function, while the unit made the required modifications over time.

 

 


An established research services firm faced significant new competition, as clients and prospects shifted the types of services they require. The firm was struggling with understanding its competition and its new competitive dynamics, positioning itself in this new environment, as well as with finding better ways to generate leads and appeal to prospects.

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Through a series of sessions, in’s Advisory Service worked with the firm’s general manager to enhance her understanding of her new competitors, the competitive dynamics, and practices. She was able to better assess her firm’s environment; understand her competitor’s position, strategy, and tactics; and differentiate her firm from the competition. This enabled the firm to carve out a more robust strategy, establish a more stable position in the marketplace, and market itself in a way that more clearly communicates its value proposition to its prospects.

 

 


A growing biopharmaceutical firm recognized that it was failing to generate the type of intelligence to support management’s intelligence needs. Thus far, the firm had been relying on information and assessments that were generated or acquired on an ad hoc basis. It needed to establish an intelligence system that will support a number of vital functions, including commercial product management, R&D, manufacturing, and corporate strategy. It struggled with understanding where to start, how to structure and manage the intelligence function, and establishing the intelligence system in the company.

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in’s Consulting Services worked with managers from with each of the relevant functions to assess requirements, resources, expectations, practices, and other key factors. This informed a more comprehensive intelligence audit and diagnostic, which evaluated the client’s various intelligence needs, resources, information and workflow systems, recent and current practices, and other key factors against intelligence best practices. i provided recommendations and defined a plan for establishing an intelligence program that best suits their resources and requirements, taking in to consideration ways in which the company can build upon and use existing resources and systems. i also outlined intelligence competencies for developing staff skills and for defining qualifications for new hires.

 

 


A leading financial services firm sought to expand the competitive intelligence capabilities of their market research department so that they may better support the firm’s marketing and sales functions. Since the firm has no formal or centralized intelligence program, these capabilities were not readily available through in-house training. Time – and successful generation of intelligence – was of the essence, since the firm’s competitors have been aggressively developing new products and services for launch in multiple markets, threatening the firm’s market position in a number of fronts.

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in’s Training Services worked with the firm’s corporate training department and market research team to establish a timetable, methodology, and the content for a customized intelligence training program suited to the firm’s requirements and to the participants’ functions, experience, and backgrounds. i designed an intensive, multi-day program to kick off this initiative and 1) to help our client acquire the necessary skills and tools to begin generating effective intelligence and 2) on which they can build their intelligence capabilities. Through the i intelligence training program, the market research team was immediately able to develop a deeper understanding of their competitive environment and issues, apply their new intelligence skills, and more effectively support the firm’s marketing and sales functions.

 

 


A leading internet services company lacked intelligence research skills, techniques, and tools to generate usable “raw material” for generating good intelligence. The firm also lacked a corporate library or formal research or information management function, and there were no plans to establish these functions or positions. This requires that research is acquired or conducted by each department; and each department faced the challenge of balancing their need for good intelligence information with other responsibilities of their function. They needed to conduct intelligence research more knowledgeably, effectively, and efficiently.

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in’s Training Services worked with the firm’s management to outline an effective custom training program that satisfies their need to generate good intelligence research without consuming too much time and effort. i designed an intelligence training program that focused on research best-practices; professional search techniques, technology, and tools; and continuous skills development. i applied cases and examples that were specific to the industry and issues that were relevant to the client, thus enhancing the participants’ intelligence and industry awareness, and conferring real-world applications to our training. As soon as during the session, the participants were able to apply their new knowledge to generate immediate, useable results regarding key competitors.

 
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