Case Study Overview

Peter, leader of the competitive intelligence team, receives an urgent assignment from his manager, Ramesh. They have six days to complete a competitive intelligence analysis for a possible innovative product move by Acme Technologies, an aggressive competitor. Each day is pressure packed with activities and decisions.

• Day 1: Getting the Assignment
• Day 2: Deciding the Plan
• Day 3: Meeting the Sponsor
• Day 4: Deciphering the Data
• Day 5: Testing the Interpretations
• Day 6: Delivering the Conclusions
  

DAY 2 – Deciding The Plan

Guest Commentaries: Ellen Naylor, August Jackson (interview)

The meeting with Peter’s boss, Ramesh, went well. They had agreed on how to approach the latest competitive intelligence project commissioned by the product development strategy team. Now the preliminary work was underway in preparation for meeting with the senior management sponsor, Sally Martin, the next day. Sally had the management assignment to present recommendations about how the company should respond to the next moves by Acme Technologies. She also had a personal investment in the end result since the product development organization would be significantly affected by the outcome.

Peter felt positive about the first steps he had taken with Ramesh, although they went back and forth about the key questions. Ramesh wanted a long list of detailed questions. “Every issue should have a question!” he argued. Peter, having been through the process many times, knew that this approach could be self-defeating. In the presentation and the selling of the results, the people listening and deciding could be distracted with too much information. It was better, Peter thought, to focus on a small set of essential questions and then let the detail support the answers to those questions.

Finally, they seemed to agree on the three critical questions that required answers:

1. What resources was Acme applying per product line?
2. How could the Acme development capabilities support new product features?
3. What are Acme’s strategic directions?

If they could support each answer with credible details, the organization would have the competitive intelligence about Acme it needed to move forward.

Ramesh’s support of the three questions was unenthusiastic, and it did not take long for him to tell Peter the reasons. “What about their corporate strategies?” he asked. “You aren’t considering their acquisitions and I have already told you about two companies that they purchased. Even worse, I don’t recognize where Sally will get the direct answer that she expects.”

“Whatever development capabilities the acquired companies bring to Acme will be addressed in the second answer and the management plans in the third,” explained Peter.

“Okay. What about the original question about their new product? This is what started the whole exercise,” Ramesh challenged.

Peter thought for a moment. The first question was where he intended to discuss the specific product but, admittedly, it was stated a little too broadly. On the other hand, if the audience was sidetracked with a product answer too soon, they might miss some other critical points that followed. He had an idea.

“How about we reorder the questions so that we sort out the strategic direction first? That way we can pull in information about all the actions that Acme is taking and make sense of them. Then we cover what they could do with the resources and capabilities that they have. We’ll have to make estimates for this and Sally’s team could solidify them. Finally, we answer the direct question of what Acme is doing with the specific product. Does this work?” asked Peter.

“Yes, it does. Write it down just like you described it,” replied Ramesh. He sat back in his chair and looked at the ceiling. “You know, Peter, it’s great to have these questions for Sally. But we only have five more days to finish. How in the world do you expect to do that?”

Peter noticed that he had said “we.” This was a subtle signal that he had learned to look for in every project. When he did his job well, others began to take an ownership stake. That was good.

“Ramesh, if we had to start from scratch, we would be trouble. However, thanks to the budgets that you argued for, we already have much of the information that we need!” said Peter. Peter and his team had long been tracking Acme Technologies’ product roadmaps, financial transactions, and marketing activities. All that information was stored in their growing database. Ramesh knew of the database but, thought Peter, he is going to be surprised at how much information about Acme we already have.

“We won’t lack information. The challenge will be making good interpretations of it and aligning the organization before the product development strategy meeting. This is where I especially need your help,” Peter went on. “My team is already identifying the analyses and data that we need. Now we need to schedule some meetings.”

“Meetings for what?” asked Ramesh.

“We need to discuss with experts every major assumption and conclusion before the management meeting,” said Peter.

“And where are you going to find ‘experts’ in five days that have the time and interest to discuss all of this with you?” Ramesh asked sharply.

Not offended, Peter replied, “Here are people we need to consult. Note that we have assigned responsibility for contacting each expert to someone on our team.”

Ramesh looked the list over. He recognized many names: the fellow from finance, the marketing communications manager, several leading engineering types, a few industry analysts, and some others he did not know. Each person had a CI team member assigned to interview them. A few names were even assigned to him.

“This is a good list though I don’t know how you will get through them all. What about the people I’ve got? What exactly am I supposed to do with them? They can’t possibly answer any of the three questions,” Ramesh said.

Peter explained, “We don’t expect any one person to provide the full answer to a specific question. The interviews have three goals. First, we want to uncover as much supporting information as possible. We’ll use this information to make sure we’re on the right track and to add credibility to the ‘big answers.’ Second, we want to discover new sources and interpretations we’ve not yet considered. As thorough as my team is, we don’t know everything. Third, we’ll develop internal support for our conclusions. People seem more willing to accept our judgment when they have been involved with the process.”

Peter stopped. He could see that Ramesh was thinking about what he had said. When Ramesh appeared to have absorbed the explanation, Peter continued[BH1] . “My team’s preparing interview outlines for each person on the list. Thanks to your support for training, everyone on the team can do primary research correctly.” Peter did not tire of giving Ramesh credit. He knew that Ramesh had overcome some personal and organizational skepticism to support the intelligence team.

“Okay, you’re organized to move forward,” conceded Ramesh. “So we have all of these conversations and gather information, then what?”

Peter said, “We post everything in the CI war room. At the end of each day, we debrief each other about our findings and debate their meaning and usefulness. You’ll want to be a part of these meetings.”

Ramesh interrupted, “Wait a minute. I explicitly did not agree to fund a war room for your team. It cost too much and giving you one would set a bad precedent for my other teams that want a dedicated room. What gives?”

It was Peter’s turn to look at the ceiling and exhale slowly. “The room isn’t costing you anything. It is a storage room that IT used for old PCs. When I found out that they needed to send them to surplus, I asked if we could help them move them. My team came in over the weekend to do it. Afterwards, it turns out that they didn’t need the storage space for at least a year but they were worried that someone from Facilities would find out and take it away from them. We offered to make it look occupied.”[BH2]

Ramesh guessed that the arrangements with IT were a little less coincidental than Peter described. Nevertheless, he had to admire his Competitive Intelligence team. More than that, he wanted to see the war room. If it turned out to be useful, maybe it was time for every team to have its own room. There was nothing wrong with changing one’s mind, he thought.

After Ramesh left, Peter reflected on the day. He had a mixture of emotions that seemed common to the job. There was excitement of receiving the initial assignment. He liked being involved with the strategic issues and the urgent issues of senior management. Privately, though, he was always concerned that others would expect too much, too soon from his team. Just for good measure, there was the constant pressure to reduce complexity into simple presentations. Finally, and this was the most difficult thing, Peter had to navigate the politics of the organization to protect his team. No small feat when there were those that did not understand or accept competitive intelligence.

When the pressure felt the greatest, Peter found it helpful to review his assets. He had a great team of dedicated workers who could manage the information collection, execute the analyses, and produce thoughtful interpretations. His boss, Ramesh, was usually supportive and helpful. The people throughout the organization who Peter had cultivated during previous projects would likely help. Moreover, as he had told Ramesh, they were not starting from scratch. The team had amassed information and practiced processes that worked.

There was one more call to make before heading home for the day. Peter needed to talk with his mentor, Jason Williamson. Jason had served in multiple senior management positions in the company over the years. Peter had met him at a volunteer charity event several years ago and struck up a friendship that had evolved into a mentoring relationship. Jason was invaluable to help Peter understand the background and preferences of the current management. Peter wanted his guidance before talking with Sally. Since he had never worked with Sally, Peter absolutely needed that initial discussion with her to go well. It would set the tone for the entire project.

Competitive Intelligence Case Studies (www.cicases.com) is an effort dedicated to advancing problem solving discussions among competitive intelligence professionals. The cases are fictional and any resemblance to actual people, companies or situations is coincidental. Read or contribute commentary about this case at http://blog.cicases.com. Contact Tom Hawes at tom@jthawes.com for permission to use this material in classroom or training settings.

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