MGT 409 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Bernard Madoff, Scenario Analysis, Competitive Intelligence
Document Summary
External scanning predicting changes in the firm"s environment, detecting changes already underway, working out possible responses. External monitoring tracking trends, sequences of related activities, organized programs. Competitive intelligence tracking and understanding the industry, monitoring the competition, identifying opportunities and threats that may be emerging. Alters the organization to critical trends and events before changes develop a discernible pattern and before competitors recognize them. Involves the development of plausible projections about the direction, scope, speed and intensity of environmental change. Underestimating uncertainty can lead to strategies that neither defend against threats nor take advantage of opportunities. Competitive intelligence is based on information collected through various public and industry sources, not espionage; It"s a tool that can alert management to threats before they get out of control, not a crystal ball. It"s an analysis; a set of opinions, calculations and conclusions, not just raw data.
