Apply Competitive Intelligence As A Strategic Tool

Launch your next competitive intelligence (CI) search with a visit to CISource, an information clearing house, CI resource, and gateway to providers of CI products and services. Run by NextStep Communications Group, Chicago, the site content includes:

• Best-practice essays by leading CI practitioners and suppliers
• Descriptions of CI products and services with hot links
• Searchable listing of CI consultants with hot links
• Bookstore with a selection of CI books and periodicals
• Current listings of CI conferences and seminars

Competitive intelligence -- the gathering and analysis of information from internal resources, secondary research, and interviews -- helps companies compare strengths and weaknesses to competitors, uncover new business opportunities, and avoid threats in the marketplace. Companies use it to profile and monitor competitors, fine-tune marketing strategies, examine new markets and product lines, identify merger and acquisition candidates, benchmark manufacturing processes and technology, identify export opportunities, and counteract import challenges.