1 Pathways to a World-Class Competitive Intelligence Function John E. Prescott, Ph.D Alessandro Comai, Ph.D candidate (ESADE Business school) September, 2009

2 World-Class CI Framework and Workshop Structure –Introduction: Building the “World-Class” CI Framework Workshop Structure: –Activity 1 - Benchmarking –Activity 2 - Road-Mapping –Activity 3 – Strategizing –Activity 4 - Action planning –Activity 5 – Identifying your Pathway Disclaimer: This is not a sales presentation. To demonstrate our model and approach, it is necessary to illustrate how our workshop functions. A firm can conduct the workshop on their own.

3 Background Nagging question: Is CI a Profession? If yes, then there should be an explicit body of knowledge that managers and firms can draw on to develop their CI Programs Our World –Class Competitive Intelligence Function Framework™ is our approach to developing an explicit body of knowledge at the firm level

4 Building the World-Class CI Framework: Four Key Research questions  What are the dimensions and aspects of a World-class CI function?  How have world-class companies developed their CI programs?: what are the main phases of development and how are they described in terms of milestones relating to the various aspects?  What are the logical relationships between the aspect milestones?  What are the best ways to achieve world-class CI? – PARTS + M&Ms We adopted a project management perspective to as a tool for supporting the establishment, implementation and development of the CI Function.

5 Building and implementing the World-Class CI Framework Phase of ProjectStatus Phase 1- background material to develop the framework Completed – 51 items/aspects grouped into 9 dimensions Phase 2 – field validation – semi- structured questionnaire focusing on agreement and missing items – 2 rounds Completed – 14 World-Class CI functions – also a sample of 15 Japanese firms Phase 3 – survey validation – development of diagnostic tool and norms On-Going – norms developed based on ~140 CI functions Phase 4 – Road-Mapping, Strategizing and Action Planning Workshops On-Going- in-house programs and seminars

6 the World-class CI Framework 1.The strategic significance of CI 2.The CI function in the strategic business unit 3.Organization culture with respect to CI 4.Human resources for CI 5.Non-human resources for CI 6.Collection, analysis, dissemination and management of intelligence 7.Selection and management of CI projects 8.Top level management control of CI 9.Evolution of the CI unit The Nine Dimensions Note: There are 51 aspects across the nine dimensions

7 3. ORGANISATION CULTURE WITH RESPECT TO CI: For world-class CI there is an organisational culture that allows the contribution of CI to be maximised. AspectWorld-class standard Attitudes to the gathering of intelligence or information 3.1 Everyone in the organisation who is in a position to do so does their best to gather intelligence. Attitudes to the sharing of intelligence or information 3.2 Everyone in the organisation who is able to gather intelligence feels positive about sharing this intelligence with those working in CI. Management support for gathering and sharing of intelligence 3.3 Managers at all levels reinforce the culture of gathering intelligence and sharing it with those working in CI.. … An Example of Aspects within a Dimension

8 General Findings (Best Practice only)  Firms have different patterns of achievement; none report full achievement for the 9 dimensions  Most respondents report a high level of achievement for the “Non- human resources for CI” dimension  In contrast, most have a low level of achievement in “Organizational culture with respect to CI”  The overall mean response was “We have nearly achieved this but still have some work to do” (4 out of a possible 5)

9 Example - Dimension 3 (1) ORGANISATION CULTURE WITH RESPECT TO CI Best Practice Mean Score Japanese Mean Score

10 OVERALL SUMMARY of RESPONSES (only Best Practice)

11 Workshop Structure: –Activity 1 - Benchmarking –Activity 2 - Road-Mapping –Activity 3 – Strategizing –Activity 4 - Action planning –Activity 5 – Identifying your Pathway

12 Activity 1 – Benchmarking- Norm comparison Understand the current position of your company as compared to the world-class model norms Participants will: Compare your company current positions against the World-Class CI model (Employ the questionnaire - Separate handout). Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your CI function and select what aspects need urgent improvement.

13 Activity 2 – Road-mapping Where do I want to go or Be? This part will take a longer-term perspective, addressing the issue of how to bridge the gap between your current position and your medium-long term target. Participants will: Identify the set of aspects that need urgent improvement Define your weaknesses and establish priorities among them (please use the separate handout) Build an initial action plan in terms of milestone objectives and strategies for achieving them Frame in terms of project management tasks and tools

14 Activity 3 – Strategizing – How do I get to my destination? The focus is on “How” you will achieve World-Class standards in your selected aspects Participants will: Consider formal and informal processes for enhancing their CI functions. Develop ways to overcome problems in achieving their milestone objectives. Prepare updated action plans. 1.Small groups of participants will work on a few dimensions/aspects. 2.Identify actions that can be taken for achieving a better position against each aspect you have chosen. 3.Discuss and compare the difficulties you have encountered in implementing/developing a CI function. 4.Prepare a presentation about your findings and knowledge. This is a brainstorming, data collection and information sharing activity

15 Activity 4 - Action Planning – short term This part of the workshop is designed to prepare a provisional action plan according to the identified prioritizes in Activity 2 – Road- Mapping. Participants will: Develop ways to overcome problems in achieving their milestone objectives. Prepare updated action plans. Create “road-maps” for medium-long term action plans in terms of sequenced milestone objectives. (see separate handout)

16 Activity 5: Identifying Your Pathway Long-term plan  Visual representation of the sequence of measures, milestones, actions, PARTS and logical links among aspects across dimensions  Pathway – one possible strategic route to developing a World-Class CI function expressed as a series of measures, milestones, actions, PARTS and logical links  Pathways should be developed and implemented using project management concepts and tools

17 Summary  Research-based framework for a World-Class CI Function  Visit for access to the instrument and normshttp://  Continuing to build norms  Building Indicators and identifying alternatives pathways  Multimedia tool