Competitive Intelligence: An International Perspective

Unlike the United States , many countries place a much higher value on competitive intelligence. For example, the Japanese look at competitive intelligence as a basic competency within the organization. Nissan Motors has a library consisting of over 100,000 books, accessible to all employees. The Japanese culture lends itself to competitive intelligence. Reading and studying information from all over the World is a common activity for many Japanese. Public sources of information fuel the Japanese thirst for information and knowledge.

The Chinese are similar to the Japanese. The Chinese are very curious about the outside world. As you might expect, the Chinese Government sponsors several competitive intelligence programs. The real problem for the Chinese is a lack of infrastructure to support competitive intelligence.

France is perhaps one of the best countries for competitive intelligence. The French are very aggressive in learning what the competition is doing. The French Government works hand-in-hand with French companies to collect and gather intelligence. Since the French take competitive intelligence so seriously, it has become a major strategic advantage for the French in the global marketplace.

England is similar to the United States . Competitive intelligence is not taken seriously. Most large businesses have not developed competitive intelligence as a core competency within the organization. However, this is starting to change as more executives recognize the importance that competitive intelligence plays in strategic planning.