Target-Oriented Competitive Intelligence

Target-oriented CI is intelligence about competitors, their capabilities, current activities, plans, and intentions. It is most often used when CI efforts are best focused on a small number of competitors that a firm faces in several market niches. It encompasses elements of what is sometimes called business intelligence or competitor intelligence.

Common elements

All of these types of active CI have in common the following:

They all deal with the same sources for raw data.
They all make use of a common CI toolbox.
They all follow the classic CI cycle.

Key Differences

The four types of active CI differ with respect to the following: ^[3]

who and what are served
its primary focus
its typical time horizon

the relative balance between raw data and finished analysis

intelligence-related processes, such as benchmarking and shadowing, that they employ

^[2]This has been called "customer intelligence." Annette Rich, "Sales Intelligence: The Marriage of Competitive and Customer Intelligence," Competitive Intelligence Magazine 5, no. 3 (May–June 2003), 17–20.

^[3]See McGonagle and Vella, Bottom Line Competitive Intelligence, 40–52.

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Target-Oriented Competitive Intelligence

Target-Oriented Competitive Intelligence

Common elements

Key Differences