Course detail

Competitive Intelligence

FP-IcinPAcad. year: 2020/2021

The course Competitive Intelligence provides students with the basic knowledge necessary to understand how to correctly and legally obtain the necessary information from a competitive environment, how to evaluate it well in order to add value to this information and thereby gain intelligence when this intelligence is a good basis for strategic decision making. of the top management of the company.
It represents a compendium of knowledge necessary to perform the function of Competitive Intelligence process manager or company managers in general at all levels of management.

Language of instruction

Czech

Number of ECTS credits

5

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Learning outcomes of the course unit

Knowledge
Knowledge of modern approaches and methods of legally obtaining information about a competing company, competitive environment, including the creation of added value necessary for intelligence. Basics of intelligence analysis of acquired information. Analysis of competitive hypotheses, check of key assumptions, time analysis, patent analysis. Software tools used in Competitive Intelligence. Basic forms of organization of the Competitive Intelligence process in a company. Knowing the most common causes of Competitive Intelligence failure.
Skills
Ability to correctly analyze the examined problem, propose a thought model of the problem, identify the information gap, perform intelligence analysis of the information obtained. To create a basis for strategic decision-making by predicting probable hypotheses. They will acquire basic approaches to the protection of business secrets of the company.
Competence
The listener will have competencies of the Competitive Intelligence Process Manager

Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Co-requisites

Not applicable.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Lectures have the character of explanation of basic principles, methodology of given discipline, problems and their exemplary solutions.
Exercises support especially the practical mastery of the subject matter presented in lectures or assigned for independent study with the active participation of students. During the exercises students will learn in CI laboratory specific software programs used in solving tasks in Competitive Intelligence processes. Students will try to create a prediction of possible future behavior of a competing company.

Assesment methods and criteria linked to learning outcomes

Credit requirements:
a) Active participation in exercises - evaluated by the teacher
b) Recognized seminar paper.
The work will be evaluated 0 - 100 points. To be able to acknowledge the seminar paper it is necessary to obtain at least 65 points. The points correspond to the level of difficulty of solving the individual steps of the seminar work as follows (in parentheses the minimum number of points to be achieved for each step) is stated:
Step 1 - 10 points (7 points)
Step 2 - 5 points (3 points)
Step 3 - 20 points (10 points)
Step 4 - 10 points (7 points)
Step 5 - 50 points (35 points)
Step 6 - 5 points (3 points)
The minimum number of points required for each step must always be earned! Failure to achieve the prescribed minimum score in any of the steps will result in the seminar paper not being recognized as a whole, even if the final score is 65 or more. If plagiarism is detected, no credit will be granted.
Test requirements:
The exam has a written form. Only those students who have a credit in IS can participate.
The exam consists of three open theoretical questions, the time for answering is 30 minutes. Rating:
a) Correct identification of the problem
b) The way and extent of problem solving with emphasis on its explanation.
The answer to each question is evaluated separately. The resulting evaluation is given by the arithmetic mean. The exam is classified on the ECTS scale. Incorrect and illegible answers are considered unsatisfactory.

Course curriculum

The aim is to enable students to understand the issues of Competitive Intelligence processes needed to obtain information about the competitive environment and to equip students with the knowledge for their legal acquisition with their subsequent evaluation.
Furthermore, students must understand how to approach the issue of the quality of information needed to obtain background information for strategic decisions of top management, including identification and subsequent analysis of misinformation.
1. Introduction, definition of Competitive Intelligence (CI), basic concepts, bases of approach to CI
2. Method of Competitive Hypothesis Analysis (Step 1 - 4)
3. Method of Competitive Hypothesis Analysis (Step 5 - 8)
4. Intelligence process Competitive Intelligence - disadvantages of the intelligence cycle, definition of the intelligence process and its advantages, basic intelligence process CI (steps 1 - 4)
5. Intelligence process Competitive Intelligence - CI CI (5 - 9 steps), five-phase reporting process
6. Selected methods Competitive Intelligence - Control of key assumptions
7. Selected methods of Competitive Intelligence - Time analysis, Patent analysis
8. Counter Competitive Intelligence (CCI) - business secrets of the company, information protection and confidentiality activities.
9. Counter Competitive Intelligence (CCI) - basic CCI intelligence process, five-phase CCI process.
10. Forms of Competitive Intelligence organization in a company. The most common causes of CI process failure, trends in CI development.

Work placements

Not applicable.

Aims

The aim is to enable students to understand the issues of Competitive Intelligence processes needed to obtain information about the competitive environment and to provide students with the knowledge for their legal acquisition with their subsequent evaluation.
Furthermore, students must understand how to approach the issue of the quality of information needed to obtain background information for strategic decisions of top management, including identification and subsequent analysis of misinformation.

Specification of controlled education, way of implementation and compensation for absences

Checking the results of independent work on assigned tasks.

Recommended optional programme components

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

Not applicable.

Recommended reading

FULD, L, M., 1995: The New Competitor Intelligence. The Complete Resource for Finding, Analysing, and Using Information About Your Competitors. 1995. 482 p. ISBN 0-471-58508-4.
KAHANER, L., 1997: Competitive Intelligence. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. ISBN 978-0-684-84404-6.
LIEBOWITZ, J. Strategic Intelligence. New York: Auerbach Publications, 2006. 223p. ISBN 978-0-8493-9868-1.

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme MGR-IM Master's, 2. year of study, summer semester, compulsory-optional

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

20 hours, optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

Syllabus

Introduction, definition of Competitive Intelligence (CI), basic concepts, bases of approach to CI
Method of Competitive Hypothesis Analysis (Step 1 - 4)
Method of Competitive Hypothesis Analysis (Step 5 - 8)
Intelligence process Competitive Intelligence - disadvantages of the intelligence cycle, definition of the intelligence process and its advantages, basic intelligence process CI (steps 1 - 4)
Intelligence process Competitive Intelligence - CI CI (5 - 9 steps), five-phase reporting process
Selected methods Competitive Intelligence - Control of key assumptions
Selected methods of Competitive Intelligence - Time analysis, Patent analysis
Counter Competitive Intelligence (CCI) - business secrets of the company, information protection and confidentiality activities.
Counter Competitive Intelligence (CCI) - basic CCI intelligence process, five-phase CCI process.
Forms of Competitive Intelligence organization in a company. The most common causes of CI process failure, trends in CI development.

Exercise

10 hours, compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

Syllabus

Topics of exercises:
Ethics in Competitive Intelligence - codes of ethics, rule of harm, assignment of seminar paper
Case study using Tovek Tools - CI laboratory
Control of key assumptions
Analysis of competitive hypotheses - laboratory CI
Sensitivity analysis, completion of tasks