Fuld & Company's Competitive Intelligence Blog

Asian, Latin American Corporate Intelligence Technology Users Claimed to be “More Sophisticated” than those in US, Europe, Sweeping Global Survey of Almost 500 Companies Finds

Global CI Benchmarking Project, Largest in Industry, Ranks “World Class” Characteristics and Reviews Software Packages

Cambridge, MA (August 21, 2008) – Corporate cultures of such diverse countries as Israel, India, Sweden and Brazil are more likely than those of the United States and Europe to embrace and adapt competitive intelligence technology solutions than those of the United States and Europe, according to a recent benchmarking survey by Fuld & Company here. The survey, “Tech Super Users & Tech Kryptonite: Latest findings from the Fuld & Company Global CI Benchmarking Project™,” included in its 2008/2009 Intelligence Software Report, is based on findings from 480 companies worldwide.

“Watching rivals is a process driven by people. And process always trumps technology; yet, technology increasingly plays a role, especially when management must keep track of complex, global markets. ‘World class’ –or ‘Super Tech’– corporate and competitive intelligence software users have specific characteristics all over the world,” said Leonard Fuld, president of Fuld & Company and one of the coauthors of the report.

“Management at major corporations worldwide are increasingly having their guidance shaped by competitive intelligence and the internal organizations which supportsit – suggesting that this asset has a value in excess of its capital investment.”

In 2006, Fuld & Company launched a global survey to examine corporate intelligence programs. To date the CI Benchmarking Project has collected data from over 480 companies worldwide. The Project is regarded as the most comprehensive database of its kind worldwide.

The survey found:

–Over 60 percent of the super tech users have budgets of over one million dollars, with more than 40 percent having budgets of over two million dollars.

• More than 60 percent of the top-rated programs are housed in either technology or pharmaceutical companies;
• Companies from Israel, India, Sweden, and Brazil rank as the most sophisticated technology users for corporate intelligence programs with the United States and most European companies falling into the middle or the bottom of the rankings.

The survey also identified organizational activities that can undermine corporate intelligence support, Fuld said. These included:

• Immaturity: Over two-thirds of these highly-rated technology- supported intelligence programs are four years old or older, implying that technology works better in mature programs with well-constructed networks, and mature, experienced management;

• Lack of Money: Nearly all of these tech-successful programs had budgets of over one million dollars for their intelligence programs overall, with most having budgets in excess of two million dollars

• Lack of process. Technology initiatives can be undermined by a lack of defined roles and responsibilities, skill building in primary research, building in an ability to do analysis, a training regimen, defined organization structure and reporting relationships, and business-wide awareness of the intelligence program

Additional Survey Findings

Over a dozen of the companies in the database were contacted about their experience with over a dozen specific corporate intelligence software packages, as well as their experiences with internally developed solutions. A majority of the respondents used off-the-shelf software or customized their own technology for use in their corporate intelligence programs.

About The Intelligence Software Report® and Fuld & Company

Published by Fuld & Company for the past decade, The Intelligence Software Report is the first publication to review technologies in the competitive intelligence industry. Fuld & Company, based in Cambridge, Mass (US) with offices in London (UK), is the world’s preeminent research and consulting firm in the field of competitive intelligence. Founded by Leonard Fuld, a pioneer and recognized leading authority in the field, Fuld & Company is a full-service competitive intelligence firm, providing research and analysis, strategic gaming, business intelligence process consulting, and training to help clients understand the external competitive environment. Our ultimate goal is to help our clients improve their performance by making better decisions through the application of solid intelligence on their markets and competitors. A copy of the report, along with additional information about Fuld & Company, can be found at www.fuld.com.

In competitive intelligence, we often lack a perfect set of data, so we do a lot of analysis to fill in the blanks.  Sometimes, though, you actually can find the dead-on-data you’re seeking. You’ve nailed it.  That’s a lesson I learned at a barber shop a few weeks ago. I realized just how much information people will spill while sitting in the chair – a lot of it could be dead-on-data, critical to a company.

Remember the recent Yahoo! – Microsoft hostile merger discussions. Yahoo! has over 14,000 employees, a large proportion of them employed at its Sunnyvale, California offices.  Most of them will visit a barber or hair dresser. Did you know that greater Sunnyvale has over 480 barbers or hairdressers? (Source: Switchboard.com).

Sure, lots of barber discussions are filled with small talk, but people also complain and talk about things they should not.

A couple of weeks ago I visited a barber, a new guy recommended by a friend.  Boy, did he talk while snipping away what little hair I had on my head in the first place.

When I came home, my wife asked me what I thought of him. I said he was fine. He did the job but “Boy, could he talk,” I told her.  She was curious and asked me what he said.

I told her that he emigrated from Greece in the late 1970s, had two daughters, one of whom has found a career and the other is still searching. He lives in a nearby suburb, and so on. 

Then she asked me what I had said.

“Not much.”

I hesitated then realized that I told him we have four children.

Oh yes, I also discussed their ages.

By the way, I also told him what each was doing (we were comparing notes on our children, after all).

Hey, you know we also discussed town politics, what business I was in, and so on. While I did not reveal anything about my clients, I did tell him far more than “Not much.”

When Yahoo! was fending off Microsoft–not to mention investor Carl Icahn’s move to take control of Yahoo!–don’t you think these battles were the talk of the town? Don’t you think that every coffee shop, post office corridor, grocery store checkout aisle was filled with gab and gossip about the hostile takeover attempts? Don’t you think that Yahoo! employees seeking solace and refuge from the anxiety of such attempts will speak volumes while sitting in a barber’s chair? I do.

The lesson is not:  Don’t get a much-needed haircut or styling.  The lesson is be careful where you decide to discuss company matters  Not only are barber shops legendary places for giving hot stock tips, they’re also great receiving stations for hot information leaking out of companies.

Hey, I wonder who was sitting in the chair next to me?