Alessandro Comai. Ph.D. Candidate ESADE Business School, University Ramon Lull. Updated the 11of May 2005

Transcription

1 Alessandro Comai Ph.D. Candidate ESADE Business School, University Ramon Lull Updated the 11of May 2005 Alessandro Comai. Licenciado en Ingeniería Industrial (BSc.Honor), MBA por la Universidad Pompeu Fabra y doctorando en Ph.D Management Science por ESADE. Profesor asociado de la Universidad Pompeu Fabra, profesor visitante de la Tampere University of Technology (Finlandia) y consultor independiente ( Sus clientes son empresas privadas del sector industrial, público y centros de formación. Ha impartidos diferentes cursos y seminarios sobre la inteligencia competitiva y escrito varios artículos acerca del tema. Director de la revista Puzzle-Revista Hispana de la Inteligencia Competitiva, miembro editorial del Journal of Competitive Intelligence and Management (JoCIM) y asociado a SCIP. JOURNALS Competitive Intelligence in Spain : a Situational Appraisal. (with Joaquín Tena Millán), Journal of Competitive Intelligence and Management. 2, 3, (fall 2004) ( This paper describes the evolution of competitive intelligence (CI) in Spain by looking at the specialized literature available on the subject and analyzing how CI has been adopted and developed in Spanish firms. The second part of the paper introduces the key findings of a survey carried out at the beginning of Multinational firms and identified best practice firms were studied and compared against an identical CI framework. The paper concludes with a description of the potential barriers to full development of CI in Spain and some of the conditions required in order for this development to be achieved. A perspective for the future is also introduced. Global Code of Ethics and Competitive Intelligence Purposes: an Ethical Perspective on Competitors. Journal of Competitive Intelligence and Management 2, 1, (spring, 2004) ( This article discusses the ethical problems faced in those investigations where competitors are the central objects of the study. A conceptual framework is developed that helps build ethical boundaries between information collection techniques. The model will employ four fundamental variables, the analysis of which will lead to the progressive selection of collection techniques. The final outcome will primarily depend on the strategic purposes of decisionmakers. The model helps resolve ethical dilemmas that can arise in the competitor information gathering process in domestic and global markets. In addition, this article will present a new approach to the treatment of corporate ethical consciousness.

2 BOOKS Inteligencia Competitiva: Fundamentos y herramientas para la Organización (with Joaquín Tena Millán) (Fall 2005) Forthcoming Establishing a World-class Competitive Intelligence Function. (with Richard Wheeler and John Prescott) ) (spring 2006) forthcomming PROCEEDING PAPER REFEREED Discover Hidden Corporate Intelligence Needs by Looking at Environmental and Organizational Contingencies Frontiers of e-business Research 2004 (Conference proceedings of ebrf 2004) (spring, 2005) Published by Tampere University of Technology (TUT) and University of Tampere (UTA), pp (Volume II) (ISSN ). The purpose of this paper is to put forward a research framework capable of detecting the hidden needs of a firm in terms of type of formal competitive intelligence program (CIP). The model will focus on the internal and external determinants which compel an organization to establish a formalized intelligence process. This study is concerned with measuring the competitive intelligence sensitivity of a particular organization in a particular context. The first part introduces two different approaches to the examination of the corporate and decision maker s needs which are generally used in the competitive intelligence field. Subsequently, it discusses the decision maker s role and the potential failure to determine the CI needs as well as the potential value of the CI program. The second part focuses on research questions. The third part discusses which types of external and internal factors prompt a firm to establish a formal CIP. The paper concentrates on putting forward the factors which are assumed to have the most significant analytical influence and through which it is possible to pinpoint which organizations need to establish a CIP as well as the type of process required. OTHER PUBBLICATIONS " La Gestión de la Vigilancia Tecnológica y Empresarial en Zanini Auto Grup: dos Enfoques de Inteligencia Competitiva. (with Joaquín Tena Millán) PUZZLE Revista Hispana de la Inteligencia Competitiva. 4, 15, (January-February, 2005) ( This article sums up the experience in the application of Competitive Intelligence by Zanini Auto Grup, a very innovative Catalan automobile industry supplier. In the middle of intense global competition, the company performs CI activities from two perspectives: marketing getting the support of the customer as a source of information, and technology surveillance, using a broader variety of sources. "Formación en la Inteligencia Competitiva: Qué contenidos para qué destinatarios?". (with Joaquín Tena Millán) PUZZLE Revista Hispana de la Inteligencia Competitiva. 3, 12, (July- August, 2004) ( The article provides some thoughts about the contents that can be included in specialised Competitive Intelligence training programs and on the diversity of target groups for that type of

3 training. The article suggests a training priority framework- the CI training pyramid - and a description of the main types of trainees. Suggestions that are made here should help for the establishment of contents as well as other CI training parameters, therefore also in the design of general or ad hoc - for instance, in company - programs, in a varied type of circumstances. "Externalización de la búsqueda y el análisis en proyectos de Inteligencia Competitiva: Una elección estratégica?". (with Joaquín Tena Millán) PUZZLE Revista Hispana de la Inteligencia Competitiva. 3, 10, (March-April, 2004), ( The purpose of this article is to provide some suggestions and criteria in order to decide when to look for and elaborate competitive intelligence internally, and when to use and external provider- not only for information sources but also for its analysis. On the first part of the article shall be treated the strategic points about taking a choice of a eventual externalization or internalization, while in a second part it will be described some internal and external items which induce to outsourcing. "Inteligencia Competitiva en Ferias y Congresos: Cómo obtener la mejor información de una feria o evento comercial?". (with Joaquín Tena Millán) PUZZLE Revista Hispana de la Inteligencia Competitiva. 3, 9, (January-February, 2004) ( This article describes how to plan and develop a competitive intelligence research project for a tradeshow, conference or any other type of business event. We shall describe the different steps necessary for any organisations wishing to use this type of event to the best advantage and extract a maximum amount of relevant intelligence. The proposed project offers a systematic way of collecting information from all the available sources. The article concludes with a brief description of counterintelligence at such events. La inteligencia competitiva en la planificación estratégica y financiera. (with Joaquín Tena Millán) Harvard-Deusto Finanza y Contabilidad No 56 (November December, 2003) "Cómo la inteligencia competitiva apoya a la innovación". (with Joaquín Tena Millán) PUZZLE Revista Hispana de la Inteligencia Competitiva. 2, 8, (November-December, 2003) Los Propósitos de la Inteligencia en la empresa: Competidora, Cooperadora, Neutral e Rival. (with Joaquín Tena Millán) El profesional de la Información, 10, 5, (May 2001) This article describes the different purposes that competitive intelligence can have in the company. Three different types of intelligence defined from the corporate needs have been identified while there is also a fourth one, stemming from personal needs. Furthermore, the article describes a correlation between the industry life cycle of the company or strategic business unit, with the global investment in competitive intelligence and its distribution regarding the above mentioned tree type of intelligence.. REPORTS AND TECHNICAL STUDIES: Observatorio de la Inteligencia Competitiva en las empresas Hispanas. (with Joaquín Tena Millán) Emecom, Barcelona (Spring, 2005) Forthcoming (

4 La Inteligencia Competitiva en las Mejores Practicas Españolas. (with Joaquín Tena Millán) Emecom, Barcelona (October, 2004) ( La Inteligencia Competitiva en las Multinacionales Catalanas. (with Joaquín Tena Millán) Emecom, Barcelona (May, 2004) (DL B ) ( Chapter in Reports La Inteligencia Competitiva y el Contexto Estratégico de una Organización in Primer Estudio de Inteligencia Competitiva en la Industria Farmacéutica Mexicana 2004 by José Carlos Ferreira, Inno-pharma, Mexico (2005). Forthcoming SELECTED ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS La Inteligencia Competitiva en España (with Joaquín Tena Millán) FESABID - Madrid (April 2005) Establishing a World-class CI Capability. (with Richard Wheeler and John Prescott) SCIP, Chicago, USA, (April 2005) ( Competitive Intelligence in Spain (with Joaquín Tena Millán), SCIP, Milan, Italy (October 2004) ( Uncover Corporate Intelligence Hidden Needs, EBRF, Tampere, Finland (September, 2004) ( OTHER PRESENTATIONS La Inteligencia Competitiva en los países Hispanos - Poster - (with Joaquín Tena Millán) FESABID - Madrid, Spain (April 2005) Buenas prácticas de Inteligencia Competitiva en las empresas. Herramientas para la Mejora de la Vigiliancia Tecnólogica Inteligencia Competitiva GAIKER Zamudio, Spain (March, 2005) Competitive Intelligence in Spain: the best practices experience LEIA - Verite conference, Vitoria, Spain (October, 2003). WORK IN PROGRESS The development of the Bus iness Intelligence function in 4 Finnish case Companies. (with Virpi Pirttimäki and Mika Hannula) forthcomming To manage the BI process effectively, companies have to manage the different kinds of resources which are available inside the firm, and also in the external environment, into an organized system. This process will give rise to the establishment of a BI function: a set of specific competencies focused in such a way as to help managers take better decisions and thus add significant value to their decision making process. The Purpose of this Visipro project is to understand how Finnish companies have developed their own BI function and how this process has been evolving with time. The research is also concerned with the understanding of the following: what are the tangible and intangible assets

5 which have been used, what are the critical activities and stages which must be considered during the establishment of a BI capability and what level of BI processes have been achieved in the Finnish companies. To answer these questions 4 Finnish case companies will be studied between February and June The project is concerned with the establishment of a general BI framework which will be based on the experience of the Finnish case companies World-class CI function: How to Establishing a Competitive Intelligence Capability. (with Richard Wheeler and John Prescott) ) (spring 2005) forthcomming This paper reports on work carried out to explore the way in which principles and techniques of project and program management can be helpful to the establishment of a Competitive Intelligence (CI) capability in an organization. Project management discipline insists that a project has a clearly defined set of outcome objectives, expressed in such a way that they can be verified without dispute. A combination of published work and the authors' own knowledge of project management and CI was used to establish a set of outcomes describing world-class CI capability. A statement of world-class performance was defined for each outcome. The outcome statements reflect the fact that "world-class" will depend on the nature of the business within which the organization operates. The statements highlight the key choices that need to be made in order to define a CI capability that is best suited to the needs of an individual organization. The validity of the initial model has been checked through a case-study survey and the model refined as appropriate. The model will provide a "Road Map" that will help those setting up a CI capability to define an appropriate CI destination and select an appropriate route towards it. It therefore has potential benefit for chief executives considering setting up CI, newly appointed CI Managers establishing CI Units, and CI consultants offering advice to client organizations. The role of Competitive Intelligence in Theories: an appraisal. (with Roy Suddaby) ) (Fall 2005) forthcomming The purpose of this paper is to introduce several theoretical schools that are directly and indirectly related with competitive intelligence (CI). By combining the theoretical models and the several core CI elements, it will be proposed a framework in which competitive intelligence will be justified as being an essential part of the entire organization. At the moment, literature revision about CI shows that there is no satisfactory explanation about the relationship of competitive intelligence in the theoretical framework. Thus, this part has the objective to describe what theory gives the most support to CI. For accomplish with this purpose, the first paragraph will describe three components that may considerate as being the basis for any CI function. This level of analysis is concerned with the description of the CI function contingencies. The second part, will introduce five theories from which it will be discussed the potential connections between CI and the theoretical perspectives. Subsequently, it will be introduced the several application of CI under a specific perspective. The third part will be dedicated to the CI function/structure as result of the interaction of the internal and external environments. It will be studied the way that the different theories repercussions to the environment affect the way that the CI function is structured in the organization. The last part postulates how the CI function has the capacity to influence the organization and therefore produce some internal changes.