Early Warning/ Intelligence Process
“It’s a dangerous world out there and we’re not
talking about war and terrorism. CEOs may not even be prepared from basic
business
developments such as competitors that appear from nowhere… That’s
the conclusion Fuld & Co. has reached on the basis of a year-long survey
of 140 corporate strategies from Global 2000 companies…” – Chief
Executive Magazine, June 2003
Most companies are not prepared for marketplace Tsunamis!
“
Less than 3% of all respondents stated they have a formal early warning
system to anticipate and potentially mitigate competitive threats looming
on the horizon. The vast majority stated that their companies either
had some components or none, with 56.4% stating they have only some
early warning components but not all, and 37.1% claiming no systematic
process at all.”
Early Warning: Management Crisis – Management Failure, White
Paper, May 2003
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Early
warning is more than just looking for competitive tsunamis – nearly
everyone can see major industry shifts coming. That is not the problem.
Most companies fail to act expediently. That is where both the problem
and the challenge lie for management. Fuld & Company can both help
your company anticipate and act on future events before you miss the opportunity
or become victim to the threat.
Our approach is unique and effective. We want to make you and your company
intelligence independent. Our clients develop an external focus on the
market and the competition.
Companies that employ an early warning process have a powerful tool that
allows them to:
- Identify competitive threats or opportunities, as they emerge – not
after the fact
- Create strategic transparency throughout management ranks
- Develop management
feedback loop to keep management informed of signals that have become
hot
- Know your strategic options before a threat or an
opportunity arises
How to build an early warning system
We encourage clients to follow these four steps in constructing an ongoing,
effective early warning process.
- Build an early warning roadmap through
scenarios: Scenarios alone are not enough. When harnessed to a tracking
program, you begin to see how
your strategy aligns with industry shifts. By tracking the scenarios
you can prepare strategies in advance to take advantage of an impending
opportunity
or threat.
- Track signals: Fuld helps clients identify key signals that
if triggered will indicate which – if any – of the predetermined
scenarios will emerge. We also help clients identify the right sources
to track,
allowing you to waste little time and energy in the process.
- Use sentries
to apply swarm intelligence: Your entire organization absorbs information
each and every day. Why not focus what they watch,
letting
them become your “sentries.” Fuld can introduce an intuitive
technology to assist in this process.
- Act expediently: Whether it is
a war game, a strategic analysis exercise or some other decision-producing
mechanism, we will help clients
face
and act upon these critical junctures.
For more information, contact lfuld@fuld.com with
specific questions.
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