Pub@Hub focuses on competitive forces

The Pub@Hub attendees. Marié-Luce Muller of IBIS. Networking in action.

The first days of spring at The Innovation Hub this year coincided with the season's first INNOV8 Pub@Hub event. The topic of discussion focused on Competitive Intelligence (CI) in the telecommunications sector - an active sector for members of the INNOV8 community.

Marié-Luce Muller, Managing Director and Competitive Intelligence Analyst of IBIS, provided an in-depth discussion on the nature of a successful CI unit, together with insight into its operation and execution within the telecommunications sector.

Competitive Intelligence is a strategic tool aimed at improving and securing the competitive advantage of a company. The key to successful CI is the "actionability" of the intelligence provided or available in an organisation. For the intelligence to be useful, especially at a strategic level, management needs to receive it within a period where it can be structured and utilised in a manner that assists in decision-making processes.

Qualities of a top CI unit within the telecoms sector include:

• the presence of relevant processes that clearly indicate the key activities of the unit and ultimately yield a useful CI product for its clients
• a culture of knowledge sharing where the entire organisation should be in constant communication to leverage competitive opportunities and threats
• the structure and position of the unit placed easily and appropriately within the overall organisation structure - research has shown that most CI units fall into a corporate unit or strategic planning group, and not into Marketing, Knowledge Management, Information Services or IT
• the provision of intelligence by the unit that is on time and conducive to assisting in the decision making process, and
• the use of appropriate technology to assist CI activities and the dissemination of the produced intelligence.

INNOV8 members left the presentation with a better understanding on how to initiate and implement CI initiatives within their companies. Attesting to this, one INNOV8-tee even remarked, "It was great to finally see how the activities I have been performing informally can provide strategic assistance to top-level management!"

For further information visit the IBIS website. View a copy of the presentation.

If you are interested in attending future events for the INNOV8 community, contact us or visit Value-Added Services on our website for further information.

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