Competitive Intelligence Advantage

16In a challenging and constantly changing business environment, knowledge and foreknowledge about your business environment is crucial to smart decision-making and sound strategy. Competitive intelligence (CI) reveals the true state of your business, exposes the unknown, and shows you how to tackle current market conditions. It helps you recognize risks and new market opportunities earlier and act faster.In Competitive Intelligence Advantage, Seena Sharp, founder of one of the first CI firms in the United States, provides her expert analysis on the immediate benefits of CI for today's businesses. She reveals why CI is critical for minimizing risks when formulating your business strategy.Good CI delivers often surprising truths, gives you a heads-up on what's coming, and equips you with the knowledge to outmaneuver your toughest rivals. Using the accurate and objective knowledge good CI provides--particularly during unpredictable and turbulent times--you can gain control over the16future of your business. The true power of CI lies in its ability to reveal what's happening outside your organization--to take off the blinders and show you the true competitive state of play.Competitive Intelligence Advantage:Defines and refines the elements of quality CIDetails why what you don't know will hurt youEquips you with techniques for detecting opportunities and seizing themShows you when and why to use CI to your advantageHelps you understand and evaluate information sourcesDemystifies and debunks common myths about CICompetitive intelligence is a robust management discipline that is often misunderstood and underestimated, yet always results in numerous benefits when used wisely. If you're a senior- level executive or organizational leader--and you aren't tapping the power of CI for an external perspective on your customers and the marketplace--you're giving your competitors the upper hand. A practical introduction to the necessity of competitive intelligence16 for smarter business decisions-from a leading CI expert and speakerIn Competitive Intelligence Advantage, Seena Sharp, founder of one of the first Competitive Intelligence firms in the US, provides her expert analysis on the issues and benefits of CI for today's businesses. CI is critical for making smarter business decisions and reducing risks when formulating strategies, leading to more profits and fewer mistakes.This is a practical guide that explains what CI is, why data is not intelligence, why competitor intelligence is a weak sibling to competitive intelligence, when to use it, how to find the most useful information and turn it into actual intelligence, and how to present findings in the most convincing manner. Importantly, Sharp argues that businesses would benefit from shifting their perspective on CI from viewing it as a cost to viewing it as an investment that saves money and provides immediate value.Author Seena Sharp is a noted CI expert who established Sharp Mar16ket Intelligence in 1979Addresses all the most common myths and misconceptions about CIIncludes more than sixty examples of when to use CICompletely explains the ins and outs of CI, and why your company will act faster and more aggressively with CICompetitive intelligence is a management tool that is misunderstood and underestimated, yet results in numerous benefits. If you are a senior level executive or operate a business-and you aren't tapping the power of CI to improve your decision making-you are missing a potent advantage. Competitive Intelligence Advantage"Savvy business owners and managers must read Sharp's insightful book before making another big decision. The top expert in this field has written a compelling and extremely readable book for staying ahead of your competition."-Jane Applegate, columnist and author of 201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business"After reading this book, you will see your business differently, because you will see the work differently...a16set of new opportunities to exploit."-Steve Moya, consultant and former senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Humana, Inc."Seena Sharp has done it again! This incisive book clears through the clutter that encumbers so many others on competitive intelligence. And Seena's no-holds-barred style rings true as she pierces several myths surrounding vaunted business decision-making, and the holy grail of crunching business data."-Paul Kinsinger, Professor of Business Intelligence, Thunderbird School of Global Management"Seena Sharp has always provided her fellow professionals and clients a fresh and insightful perspective on competitive intelligence. This book fulfills those expectations."-Jan Herring, advisor to intelligence professionals, Meritorious Award Recipient, Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals"Seena's book provides the insight on competitive intelligence that all companies should embrace. The CI that Seena provided to our small manufacturing co