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5 Steps to Turn Business Disruption Success Into Competitive Advantage
When 9 in 10 startups fail, how do you become a unicorn instead of going the way of the dodo? In other words, how do you succeed as a disruptor like Uber and not end up a business school case study like Blockbuster? The real trick to succeeding as a disruptor is having a crystal-clear understanding of your competitive advantage.…Read More -
AI-Powered Automation to Transform Finance, HR, and Sales
With every prompt you put into ChatGPT or another of the large-language artificial intelligence (AI) models producing so much buzz lately, you’re powering forward the next incredible shift in modern business operations. These shifts began with the personal computer, which boosted output and made business fundamentals easier to accomplish. Then the Internet connected and accelerated everything. And now, AI, as…Read More -
What is Competitive Strategy?
It’s imperative for organizations to have a robust, battle-tested competitive strategy that guides their decision-making and resource allocation. A competitive strategy dictates how an organization can build a competitive advantage over competitors, creating a superior market position that enables them to perform better in the long term. The foundations of competitive strategy are found in legendary academic Michael Porter’s 1980…Read More -
7 Market Research Examples for Competitive Intelligence
Conjoint Analysis for Competitive Intelligence Published Market Research Reports Attendance at Industry Conferences & Events TURF Analysis Using Government Agency Websites & Databases for Market Research Analyzing & Optimizing Positioning Prediction Market Research for Competitive Intelligence Market research is an important––but often overlooked––element of the wider Market and Competitive Intelligence (M/CI) process. Various different types of market research enable organizations…Read More -
Building a Comprehensive Competitive Strategy
Every organization should take steps to build a comprehensive competitive strategy. Without one, an organization can easily find itself falling behind competitors, bleeding customers, and ultimately, limping towards failure. But with a robust competitive strategy, organizations can make smart investments in building core competencies that create a defensible market position. While the process of building competitive strategies is different for…Read More -
Competitive Intelligence Analyst: Career Path & FAQs
The field of market and competitive intelligence (M/CI) is growing fast, and there’s more demand than ever for Competitive Intelligence Analysts across all kinds of industries and company sizes: from Fortune 50 corporations to tiny startups. Competitive intelligence analysts can have a major impact on their organizations, helping to inform strategic decisions by developing and sharing insights about the organization’s…Read More -
Competitor SWOT Analysis
If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you know that assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is a regular exercise. Internal SWOT analyses have a ton of benefits and can shed light on areas of struggle and opportunities for growth. But a deeper look at what’s going on inside your company isn’t the only useful way to…Read More -
Data vs. Information vs. Knowledge vs. Wisdom
The world at large uses the terms data and information interchangeably. And sometimes the terms knowledge and insights are bundled with them as well. If you're sitting around a table during Happy Hour (back when that was a thing) catching up with friends, odds are your audience doesn't know (our care about) the differences. If you were to say step into a…Read More -
Everything You Need to Know About Trend Monitoring
An organization must have a comprehensive understanding of the continuously evolving world around them, not only to hone their competitive advantage, but also to be aware of possible opportunities (partnerships, adjacencies, acquisitions, etc.) and be prepared for emergent threats (political/security issues, technological developments, market entrants, etc.). Knowledge and awareness of the forces that affect the marketplace helps to create an…Read More -
Basics of an Effective Competitive Intelligence Program
Traditional competitive intelligence is reactive. When a disruption surprises company leadership, they rush to create a CI taskforce from their marketing or sales teams. The teams are made up of smart people who probably have experience with data and business concepts. The ambiguous directive provided to these people is: “Do competitive intel.” Sounds like fun right? No hard and fast…Read More -
What is Competitor Analysis?
Competitor analysis is an in-depth overview of the strategic capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses of a single competitor of your organization. This is different from competitive analysis, which involves the analysis of multiple competitors. Many of the world’s top-performing companies share one thing in common: they closely track the activities of their rivals by conducting competitor analysis exercises regularly. If you want…Read More