Competitive intelligence comprises the actions of defining, gathering, analyzing and distributing intelligence about customers, competitors, government actions, and any other aspects of the marketplace to enable more effective decision-making. In its truest form, it’s an ethical and essential function that involves collecting and analyzing often public but little-noticed information with an objective of “connecting the dots” to uncover insights that may provide a source of competitive advantage.

Effectively aligned with strategy-setting, competitive intelligence can help companies decipher the early signs of opportunity or trouble before they become obvious to everyone else. In this issue, we look at why companies should use competitive intelligence as an enterprise value protection tool.