The CI Cycle

As shown in Figure 1.1, the CI process is most commonly divided into five basic phases or stages, each linked to all of the others by a feedback loop. ^[7] These phases, which make up what is known as the CI cycle, are:

Establishing your CI needs: This means that you both recognize the need for CI and define what kind of CI you (or your end user if you are providing the CI for someone else) need. It also means considering what type of issue (strategic, tactical, marketing, etc.) is motivating the assignment, what questions you want to answer with the CI, who else may be using the CI, and how, by whom, and when the CI will ultimately be used.

Collecting the raw data you need: First you must translate your end user's needs into an action plan. In the case of the internal CI professional, that is his or her internal client. We prefer the term end user because not all CI is used by those who ask for it. However, regardless of terminology, this process involves, either formally or informally, identifying what questions need to be answered and then where it is likely that you can collect the data needed to answer them. You may also have to decide who should be collecting the raw data that will be turned into intelligence through the CI process. This can be one or more of the following: the end user, another internal CI professional, other employees (e.g., sales personnel), or an external CI firm, You should, by this point, have a realistic understanding of any significant constraints you face in carrying out this assignment, such as time, financial, organizational, informational, and legal, that may prevent you from developing the specific CI you are seeking. Thus, you can now identify the data sources that are most likely to produce reliable, useful data and proceed to acquire it.

Evaluating and analyzing the raw data: In this phase, the data you have collected is evaluated and analyzed, and thus is transformed into CI. This might involve comparing the data you found with data from other sources, integrating your conclusions from the data with other CI, or measuring the results of your CI against predetermined benchmarks. It can involve the application of experience or the use of sophisticated CI.

Analytical tools and models: It should be kept in mind that there are two distinct ways in which analysis is applied to the data collected in the CI cycle. The first is the use of analysis to make a selection, such as deciding which of a dozen news articles is important. The second is the use of analysis to add value to one or more pieces of data. That would mean, for example, adding a statement to an article indicating both why and how its contents are important to the end user. Although CI analysts provide both types of analysis, end users properly regard only the latter process as analysis.

Communicating the finished intelligence: This phase involves preparing and then presenting the results to the end user in a usable format and in a timely manner. In some cases, the CI may have to be distributed to those who asked for it and, occasionally, to others who might also profit from having it. In other contexts, the CI is simply made available to potential users. In any case, the final form of the CI, as well as its timeliness and security, are important considerations.

Taking action: This involves using the CI in decision making. The CI may be used as an input to decision making, or it may be the first of several steps in an overall assessment of, for example, a new market. If the end user also does the analysis, then this is just a part of the previous stage.

Figure 1.1: The CI process.

The feature that runs through, and directly links, all the phases of the CI cycle is the need to monitor, on a continuous basis, what you have done and how well you have done it. The goal is to provide feedback from each phase to the other four phases of the CI cycle. By doing this, you will improve both the product of an individual assignment and the entire CI process even as you are using it.

Feedback to and from each phase of CI to all others is essential. That feedback generates a constant review that seeks to raise and then answer questions like these:

Are the CI targets still correct?
Are the areas of interest still of interest?
Should the CI unit add or delete targets, areas of interest, internal customers, and so on?

However, the feedback process must go further. Here are some examples.

A change in the job description of the end-user to whom you are providing the CI could mean that you will have to change the kind of data you are collecting, the type of CI you are providing, or the way in which you are presenting your CI. For example, if your end users in a marketing department are now requiring their managers to track competitive programs, and create and maintain a library of competitive promotional media and tactics, ^[9] that could translate into a change in your own efforts. You may no longer need to collect this data, but rather to help develop an underlying understanding of what they mean, or, conversely, you may be called on to begin accumulating these materials when you had not been doing so in the past.
Similarly, difficulty in collecting important data, if identified in time, may mean that you have to reconsider the type of data you are seeking or even reconsider the specific target, despite the fact you may be in the middle of an assignment.
If you find out that regular updates of a CI report you are now preparing might be needed in the future, you should think about changing the way you are collecting the underlying data now. The change is that, given a choice, you should leave open, rather than close, routes to potential data sources for the future work. This may mean making sure you identify and capture sources that might have key data in the future, even if they do not now have anything you can use.

As shown in Table 1.1, there appears to be an optimal balance among the four stages of CI with which the typical CI unit is involved: needs, collection, analysis, and communication. This allocation includes the feedback within each phase.