Competitive Intelligence

Unless your company enjoys monopoly status, chances are that competition is a huge part of your world. But do you know the best-practice techniques and ethical guidelines for gathering and utilizing competitive intelligence against your business rivals? Most people confuse competitive intelligence with industrial espionage, writes Chris West, the managing director of a CI services firm with long experience in corporate research. His book, though rather dry in tone, is extremely thorough at outlining the whys and hows of this increasingly important arena. Aimed at business strategists, market research professionals, and people new to the field, particularly those working in the U.K. and Europe, it focuses not on strategy but on the most important techniques: primary intelligence collection, analysis, verification, and legal and ethical guidelines, as well as counterintelligence. This book is a good step toward competing well and fairly.