Make competitive intelligence part of your business practice—and be on the cutting edge Competitive intelligence is the art of defining, gathering, analyzing, and distributing intelligence about products, customers, competitors, individuals, concepts, information, ideas, or data needed to support executives and managers in making strategic decisions for an organization. Competitive Intelligence For Dummies introduces you to this fascinating subject and gives you the tools you need to incorporate it into your business decision-making process. Conducted within an organization, competitive intelligence serves as a catalyst in planning and strategic growth. It is part of the value chain that converts gathered data to actionable information that results in strategic decisions. Competitive Intelligence For Dummies helps readers gather valuable information on the competition, the operational environment, and the target customer. It also explains how to carefully analyze and use this information in decision making processes to gain market share and stay on the cutting edge of an industry. Whether you are just starting a business, venturing into new areas with your existing company, or looking to gain ground on a key competitor, Competitive Intelligence For Dummies gives you insight on how to gather valuable information on not only your competitors, but on your market and key customer base. Gets you up to speed on how to locate, collect, and process competitive intelligence Shows you how to carefully analyze competitive intelligence and disseminate it throughout your organization Illustrates how competitive intelligence can help you gain market share If you're a business owner, analyst, manager, or researcher, Competitive Intelligence For Dummies gives you and your business an edge.

You're intelligent, right? So you've already figured out that Business Intelligence can be pretty valuable in making the right decisions about your business. But you’ve heard at least a dozen definitions of what it is, and heard of at least that many BI tools. Where do you start? Business Intelligence For Dummies makes BI understandable! It takes you step by step through the technologies and the alphabet soup, so you can choose the right technology and implement a successful BI environment. You'll see how the applications and technologies work together to access, analyze, and present data that you can use to make better decisions about your products, customers, competitors, and more. You’ll find out how to: Understand the principles and practical elements of BI Determine what your business needs Compare different approaches to BI Build a solid BI architecture and roadmap Design, develop, and deploy your BI plan Relate BI to data warehousing, ERP, CRM, and e-commerce Analyze emerging trends and developing BI tools to see what else may be useful Whether you’re the business owner or the person charged with developing and implementing a BI strategy, checking out Business Intelligence For Dummies is a good business decision.

In the first book designed for businesses of all sizes and managers at every level, Larry Kahaner explains the increasingly vital practice of competitive intelligence and how American companies can use it for success. With a wealth of case studies, Kahaner shows How to profile your competitors' executives to unmask their decision-making processes The line between legal and illegal or unethical activities How to protect your own company against your competitors' intelligence operations COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE is a practical guide to turning raw information into priceless knowledge and winning business strategy.

A practical introduction to the necessity of competitive intelligence for smarter business decisions-from a leading CI expert and speaker In Competitive Intelligence Advantage, Seena Sharp, founder of one of the first Competitive Intelligence firms in the US, provides her expert analysis on the issues and benefits of CI for today's businesses. CI is critical for making smarter business decisions and reducing risks when formulating strategies, leading to more profits and fewer mistakes. This is a practical guide that explains what CI is, why data is not intelligence, why competitor intelligence is a weak sibling to competitive intelligence, when to use it, how to find the most useful information and turn it into actual intelligence, and how to present findings in the most convincing manner. Importantly, Sharp argues that businesses would benefit from shifting their perspective on CI from viewing it as a cost to viewing it as an investment that saves money and provides immediate value. Author Seena Sharp is a noted CI expert who established Sharp Market Intelligence in 1979 Addresses all the most common myths and misconceptions about CI Includes more than sixty examples of when to use CI Completely explains the ins and outs of CI, and why your company will act faster and more aggressively with CI Competitive intelligence is a management tool that is misunderstood and underestimated, yet results in numerous benefits. If you are a senior level executive or operate a business-and you aren't tapping the power of CI to improve your decision making-you are missing a potent advantage.

Learn to use, and not be used by, data to make more insightful decisions The availability of data and various forms of AI unlock countless possibilities for business decision makers. But what do you do when you feel pressured to cede your position in the decision-making process altogether? Decision Intelligence For Dummies pumps the brakes on the growing trend to take human beings out of the decision loop and walks you through the best way to make data-informed but human-driven decisions. The book shows you how to achieve maximum flexibility by using every available resource, and not just raw data, to make the most insightful decisions possible. In this timely book, you’ll learn to: Make data a means to an end, rather than an end in itself, by expanding your decision-making inquiries Find a new path to solid decisions that includes, but isn’t dominated, by quantitative data Measure the results of your new framework to prove its effectiveness and efficiency and expand it to a whole team or company Perfect for business leaders in technology and finance, Decision Intelligence For Dummies is ideal for anyone who recognizes that data is not the only powerful tool in your decision-making toolbox. This book shows you how to be guided, and not ruled, by the data.

Competitive intelligence (CI) is the practice of gathering and analyzing information about competitors in order to gain an edge in the marketplace or by shoring up one's own company's defenses prior to an anticipated assault. The stakes are even higher in a global environment, where the potential risks and rewards are amplified. This volume explores emerging trends that affect and influence CI today, such as the impact of digital commerce, the effects of interest groups, and new laws governing the practice of CI across borders. This book illustrates how CI is conducted around the world and highlights the ways in which practicing CI globally is fundamentally different from doing so in a static, one-country context. The authors offer fresh insights and recommendations for CI specialists, strategic planners and executives, marketers and product developers, and anyone studying competition and strategy. Competitive intelligence (CI) is the practice of gathering and analyzing information about competitors in order to gain an edge in the marketplace (for example, by anticipating their next moves and beating them to the punch) or by shoring up one's own company's defenses prior to an anticipated assault. The stakes are even higher in a global environment, where the potential risks and rewards are amplified. This volume explores emerging trends that affect and influence CI today, such as the impact of digital commerce (which enhances the speed with which products and services can be delivered around the world, as well as the speed with which competitors can surprise you), the effects of interest groups (such as those advocating environmental protections, which can tilt the playing fields), and new laws governing the practice of CI across borders. In this book, contributions from researchers, scholars, and practitioners specializing in competitive intelligence reveal the most current practices in the field. In-depth analysis of emerging approaches to CI in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, and in industries across the spectrum from pharmaceuticals to automotive supply chains, highlight the ways in which practicing CI globally is fundamentally different from doing so in a static, one-country context. The authors offer fresh insights and recommendations for CI specialists, strategic planners and executives, marketers and product developers, and anyone studying competition and strategy.