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What is Competitive Intelligence?
Due to globalization and the rapid advancing of technology, it is becoming more important than ever to research methods of competitive intelligence. A Competitive Intelligence program can be described as,
“A CI program can make a valuable contribution to decisions regarding strategic planning, mergers, and acquisitions, regulatory requirement for exporting to new markets, international market penetration, product launching, pricing, recruiting, in new countries, cultural settings, strategic alliances for distribution channels, research and development (R&D) activities, and much more” (Blenkhorn & Fleisher, 2005,18).
The responsibilities and duties of a competitive intelligence program are extremely broad and almost overwhelming. In order to concentrate and manage resources wisely, the competitive intelligence producer must address the organizations intelligence needs.

Leadership Involvement
From my research on Competitive Intelligence I have learned that involvement from leadership is a significant factor in the success of the CI program and the organization. Prescott and Miller discuss this in a recent study conducted with the American Productivity and Quality Center. This study revealed that upper level management support is significant when establishing a Competitive Intelligence program (Prescott & Miller, 2001, 3).
The involvement of top management or organization leaders is also seen within the KIT (Key Intelligence Topics) process, also known as competitive intelligence needs. KITs are used to better understand the needs of the clients and to organize the role and goals of the CI program. With such a large definition of competitive intelligence and what the job entails, it is highly recommended that the CI professional receive direction of the CI needs of the organization from senior management. “Identifying and prioritizing an organization’s critical CI needs and then focusing on delivering actionable intelligence to meet those needs is critical for both the success of the CI program and for the success of the organization” (Prescott & Miller, 2001, 18).
This identifying and prioritizing the focus of the CI needs involves “interactive dialogue between the CI professionals and key decision-makers of the organization” (Blenkhorn & Fleisher, 2005, 18). During this interactive dialogue, also known as KITs interviews, the goal is to identify key strategic issues where intelligence can add value to decision making (Blenkhorn & Fleisher, 2005, 18). Once again, this is another situation where communication is critical. By better communicating and establishing a focus the better the CI results. Interviews are maintained throughout the process to “refine the user’s needs and keep communication channels open” (Blenkhorn & Fleisher, 2005, 19).

Intelligence Issues
I think Sue Myburgh describes Competitive Intelligence best in her statement, “CI is about mining information sources and using appropriate analytical techniques to put this information together-information becomes intelligence only after it has been analyzed”(Myburgh, 2004, 48). This has been an important issue for users of competitive intelligence involving the credibility or lack of research in intelligence. Prescott and Miller touch on this when discussing the issues between CI users and CI producers. Within this text it explains that the information received is too shallow, meaning that the depth of the research possibly did not go beyond information presented by the media or by competitors. Also, the credibility of the information is questioned due to the possible inexperience of the researcher (Prescott & Miller, 2001, 47).
I consider this a knowledge management issue. Knowledge management is the transferring of ideas, information and concepts. The credibility of the intelligence is jeopardized because the researcher has not achieved a level of wisdom. According to Jay Edwin Gillette, wisdom can be achieved through personal experience. This level of knowledge is considered the highest level of understanding (Gillette, 2000, Table 2). In other words, if the information has not been thoroughly analyzed, how can it be considered intelligence?

Personal Views
Through my research I have found that a profound importance is placed on knowledge management and communication in the field of competitive intelligence. These tools are the building blocks in establishing the intelligence needs of an organization. To successfully assess a business’ needs there must be accurate communication between the leaders within that organization and the CI producers. Also, information or knowledge must be accurately analyzed before it is considered intelligence.

Bibliography
Blenkhorn, David L. & Fleisher, S. Craig. (2005). Competitive Intelligence and
Global Business.
Gillette, Jay. (2000). “Information Knowledge in Motion”: A Practical Framework
for Understanding Knowledge Management.
Miller, H. Stephen & Prescott, E. John. (2001). Proven Strategies in Competitive
Intelligence: Lessons from the trenches. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Myburgh, Sue. (2004). Competitive Intelligence. The Information Management
Journal; Mar/Apr2004, Vol. 38 Issue 2, p46-55.