➣Beyond Competitive Intelligence:Repositioning SCIP

Clifford C. Kalb

SCIP 1999-2000 President

Director of Strategic Business Analysis

Merck and Co., Inc.

Over the years the word “intelligence” has causedconcern regarding the nature of what, exactly, SCIPmembers do. “Competitive intelligence,” it’s been ar-gued, leaves the impression of a possible link to spying,although we know this is not the case. As we moveinto the next millennium, I’d like to pose a question:Should SCIP reinvent itself by taking a look at the realfunctions now performed by our members and howthey have changed over the decade and a half that theSociety has been in existence?

SCIP was founded on the principle that collectingand analyzing competitive intelligence was the mainrole of our members. But as CI has been main-streamed as part of the normal culture of companies,its functions have expanded to include forecasting,the use of knowledge management tools, and, morebroadly, the development of insight from a variety ofdisparate facts that are woven into patterns to becomerecommendations for strategic action. In other words,the job functions that SCIP members perform profes-sionally now typically extend to include both knowl-edge management and strategic planning. This maybroaden our mission considerably. In a sense, whatour corporate members do might be better viewed as“internal consulting” within their companies, as thetraditional CI operation evolves to become the com-pany’s internal “think tank.” How you label peoplewho serve this function inside a company is the openquestion that calls for honest discussion and healthydebate.

Evolve or Die?Why is this important to consider now? Just a fewyears ago, the Strategic Leadership Forum was a suc-

cessful professional association serving memberswhose responsibilities focused on the then-hot roleof “strategic planning” as a way of improving com-pany performance and achieving global competi-tiveness. This year, the SLF went bankrupt. Whathappened? The SLF operated on the principle thatstrategic planning per se was a well-embedded con-

THE TRADITIONAL CI OPERATION IS EVOLVING

INTO AN INTERNAL “THINK TANK.” HOW TO

LABEL PROFESSIONALS WHO SERVE THIS

FUNCTION IS THE OPEN QUESTION THAT CALLS

FOR HONEST DISCUSSION AND HEALTHY DEBATE.

cept in the corporate world, but over time, as withmany business buzzwords, it seemed to outlive its use-fulness. The successful members of the SLF were theones who outgrew their own professional association,which hadn’t kept pace with them.

To avoid such a fate, as CI professionals we mustconstantly look at ourselves to ensure that we are ac-curately defining our mission to serve the full rangeof professional interests of our members. Is competi-tive intelligence the only thing we do, or has whatwe do advanced to encompass multiple interdiscipli-nary tasks that help companies make decisions to cre-ate and sustain competitive advantage? In otherwords, is it time to take a second look at how weidentify ourselves?

Advancing Up the PyramidAs a construct, visualize a pyramid. Across the base atthe first level is Data. Up each of the next levels, inascending order, are steps representing Information,Intelligence, Knowledge, Insight, and, at the top,Wisdom. Radiating out of the pyramid, at the pinna-cle, is Action. While the ascending order of the termsis a matter for debate, it is clear that today’s CI pro-fessionals can be found serving in capacities at any ofthese levels, and frequently moving up from one stepto the next. Looked at this way, Knowledge, Insight,and Wisdom are the steps beyond Intelligence, or thelevels between the traditional CI practitioner and cor-porate actions. As you step up to a higher level, you

Competitive Intelligence Review, Vol. 10(4) 1–2 (1999)© 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. CCC 1058-0247/99/04001-02

President’s Message

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move closer to the decision-makers and the real ac-tion.

If you have an opinion on repositioning SCIP andits mission, I encourage you to join in the debate.Suggestions can be sent to the SCIP board’s strategycommittee, which considers new ideas and initiatives

for your professional Society (the committee isheaded by board member Eric Timm, who can bereached at eric.e.timm@monsanto.com). Comments mayalso be directed to CI Review’s Managing Editor,Stephen H. Miller, at smiller@scip.org.

Kalb

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