Is Your Organization’s Strategy Driven by Corporate Intelligence?

In an increasingly complex and uncertain world, companies must base their decisions on reliable and relevant information that helps them prevent and address risks, seize opportunities, and maintain a competitive edge.

The complexity of the current global world and the multiple impacts of an adverse event on an organization is captured by the term “polycrisis,” which refers to a situation where several simultaneous and interconnected crises occur, influencing and aggravating each other, making it difficult to identify causes and solutions. Consider, for example, the coronavirus pandemic, which triggered an unprecedented health crisis, a global economic crisis, an international trade crisis, an energy crisis, and a social crisis. Or the war in Ukraine, which sparked a geopolitical crisis, endangering European security and human rights, triggering an energy crisis that fueled inflation for over two years; it also caused a humanitarian crisis and an environmental and food crisis by blocking the supply of grain and raw materials. Or the climate crisis, which leads to an ecological and water crisis, endangering biodiversity and potentially triggering a food and migration crisis.

How can up-to-date, reliable, and high-quality information contribute to a sustainable and successful business strategy?

Firstly, by mitigating threats: information can help companies identify and assess potential risks, both internal and external, and implement defense and crisis management strategies.

Moreover, information allows for crisis management, helping companies respond quickly and effectively to critical situations, minimizing negative impacts, and restoring operational normalcy. It is important to simulate and predict adverse crisis scenarios and develop contingency and recovery plans.

Understanding the context not only allows companies to avoid risks and threats but also to seize opportunities, facilitating growth strategies. Identifying and evaluating development opportunities, both in existing and new markets, helps implement innovation and differentiation strategies. For example, data analysis can help companies understand customers’ needs, preferences, and behaviors and offer personalized and quality products and services. Think only of the Big Pharma business with the sale of COVID-19 vaccines or the sale of personal protective equipment such as masks.

Awareness of new factors benefits companies that optimize emerging opportunities by leveraging technological, social, and environmental changes and creating added value for stakeholders.

All this allows organizations to compete effectively: by monitoring and analyzing the competitive context, companies can implement positioning and competitive advantage strategies. For example, corporate intelligence can help companies collect and analyze information on markets, competitors, customers, and stakeholders and provide insights and scenarios for decision-making.

A well-structured, multicultural, and multidisciplinary Corporate Intelligence team can help company leaders excel in performance and manage strategic, operational, and reputational risks.

To effectively manage risks and opportunities, companies need quality, timely, and reliable information and analysis to help them make informed and strategic decisions. This is the role of the Corporate Intelligence team, specialized units within companies that collect, process, and disseminate relevant information for the company’s goals and risk profile.

These teams use legal methods and open source intelligence techniques to access millions of publicly available information sources worldwide, from traditional and social media to public registers to sanction lists to industrial relations and much more. And, where appropriate, they activate human source networks to obtain unique information.

In summary, they provide business leaders with insights and scenarios on various aspects, such as:

• The opportunities and threats of existing and potential markets, including political, economic, social, and regulatory dynamics that can influence the company’s operations and performance.
• The strategies, capabilities, weaknesses, and intentions of competitors, including their innovations, acquisitions, alliances, and vulnerabilities.
• The needs, preferences, behaviors, and satisfaction of customers, including their opinions, expectations, habits, and reactions.
• The interests, influences, relationships, and opinions of stakeholders, including suppliers, partners, regulators, media, pressure groups, and opinion leaders.

These intelligence units help companies see beyond the horizon, mitigate risks, provide insights, and shape their decision-making process.