BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."

Sun Tzu

Business Intelligence and Competitive Intelligence: the differences

Business Intelligence (BI) and Competitive Intelligence (CI) are related but different factors. Both refer to the process by which a company gathers information from various sources to enable it to make informed strategic planning decisions. The difference between Business Intelligence and Competitive Intelligence is that Business Intelligence focuses on the collection of information within the company and Competitive Intelligence focuses on the collection of information related to the external business environment also through OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) activities, research, collection and analysis of data and news of public interest taken from open sources such as the web considered the first public source of news and also through HUMINT (Human Intelligence) activities, collection of information through interpersonal contacts. Both Business Intelligence and Competitive Intelligence allow a company to plan effective business strategies that can help the company move forward in a competitive market.

Focus on Competitive Intelligence

Competitive Intelligence is a process of gathering information about competitors, various subjects, products and consumers, but in an ethical manner. Any information gathered in an unethical manner could be understood as industrial espionage and not Competitive Intelligence. Competitive Intelligence can be divided into strategic and tactical intelligence. Strategic intelligence is used to make long-term strategic planning decisions. Tactical intelligence is used to make more immediate decisions. An example of long-term strategic intelligence includes information about external factors that could affect the longevity, productivity and success of a company. Tactical intelligence refers to intelligence related to factors such as the type of products competitors have, their pricing structures and their marketing tactics.