competitive analysis

Christmas, A Season for Gratitude

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One of the purest ways to communicate is to express gratitude which is one of the practices of cooperative communication. There are so many way to express gratitude. A thank-you when someone does something nice is a good start, especially to those people in our lives who are often unseen as we go rushing through our lives. This Christmas is bittersweet for me as I mourn the loss of my Dad who was such a warm and giving man. I am grateful to have been influenced by such a good man.

Meet August Jackson, Competitive Intelligence Podcast King!

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August Jackson is one of the competitive intelligence profession’s leading edge users of social media, which he openly shares. I was honored earlier this month when he interviewed me for a podcast on cooperative intelligence. As August was interviewing me I had the feeling that he had done a lot of podcasts! Check out his podcast postings http://www.cipodcast.com/ which go back to 2005!

Real-time Collaborative Architectural Modeling Enhances Complex Product Development

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Bryan Moser spoke to our Denver PDMA group about the value of models such as the one his company, Global Project Design developed to forecast, optimize, allocate and measure coordination in complex product development projects. The key takeaway is that coordination is often way underestimated in these complex product development projects across multiple countries. It’s better to run the model earlier in the process, so as to re-schedule or re-work pieces to reduce the less productive coordination time. Choosing the best coordination architecture can lead to a 20% improvement in time/cost performance.

Improve Your Competitiveness: Adopt Technology & Pharmacology to Boost Intelligence

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Those who don’t take advantage of technology and pharmacology might be at a competitive disadvantage, increasingly so in the future. Today we are getting smarter through what Jamais Cascio describes as intelligence augmentation, which helps us make connections and see patterns in order to avoid being overwhelmed by this information glut. By 2030, we’ll live in a world where sophisticated foresight, detailed analysis and insight and augmented awareness will be commonplace. Many professionals will use simulation and modeling in their daily work as the supporting technology will be readily available. Read how.

Deloitte Shift Index Findings: Global Collaboration Will Improve Business Competitiveness

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The Deloitte Center for the Edge recently got my attention with its findings that competition is intensifying globally with a US return on assets dropping consistently across 15 different industries by 75% over the last 40 years! The Shift Index consists of 3 indices: Foundation, Flow and Impact, plus 25 other metrics that together quantify the stock, pace and implications for change. Successful firms will shift from what’s worked in the past, scalable efficiency to scalable learning.

Think Apple Computer when you think about a successful company by these “Shift Index” standards. It’s no coincidence that Apple customers enjoy the experience of using its products. I think a lot of what this long-term study concludes with is what good competitive intelligence has been preaching for YEARS. Keep reaching out and connecting both internally and externally and build on the intelligence you gather. Stay connected with people through all the means technology allows you to reach them. Isn’t this the foundation of a good early warning system?

Jeffrey Immelt’s Ideas on Renewing America’s Competitiveness

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Jeff Immelt, GE’s visionary and innovative Chairman & CEO thinks the US needs to create an industrial renewal as follows:
1. Invest in new technology
2. Win where it counts in Clean Energy and Affordable Healthcare
3. Become a country that’s good at manufacturing and exports
4. Embrace public/private partnerships
5. Encourage leaders that are also good citizens
He concludes that as “Business leaders we are responsible for the competitiveness of our own country.” The US is at a competitive disadvantage globally since its private and public sectors are often at odds and do not cooperate like they do in most other countries in the world!

Competitive Intelligence at SLA 2009 & Other Favorites

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Just before SCIP09, we shared a list of 10 things we wanted to do while at the conference, so in the spirit of cooperative intelligence, I’ll share the talks in the Competitive Intelligence Track and some of my favorites at SLA2009, which takes place in the Washington, DC Convention Center June 14 – 17.

2014 Update: Books on Analytic Tools for Competitive Intelligence

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This is an update of books on competitive intelligence tools and techniques from a 2009 blog. Analysis Without Paralysis was updated in 2012 and now includes 12 techniques, 2 more than the first edition in 2006. Mercyhurst University students and staff published The Analyst’s Cookbook, Volume 2, available only in Kindle format.

Integrate Competitive Intelligence and Marketing: Jazz Up Your Presentations!

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Last week I shared a book list which we used to supplement our AMA (American Marketing Association) course on Integrating Competitive Intelligence into Marketing. In the cooperative spirit, this list continues with 3 books to help you spruce up your communication and presentation skills. I love Advanced Presentations by Design: Creating Communication that Drives Action by …

Read moreIntegrate Competitive Intelligence and Marketing: Jazz Up Your Presentations!

Integrating Competitive Intelligence and Marketing: Boost Your Interviewing & Elicitation Skills

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This is a recommended book list from an AMA course I helped teach called: Integrating Competitive Intelligence and Marketing. The books include: What Every Body is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People; Take the Cold out of Cold Calling; Basic Interviewing Skills; Confidential: Business Secrets – Getting Theirs, Keeping Yours; Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind; The Discipline of Market Leaders; and Competitive Intelligence: How to Gather, Analyze, and Use Information to Move Your Business to the Top.

© 2024 Ellen Naylor