The Intelligence Game
The Intelligence Game |
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Good information is the basis of good decisions. This is particularly the case in business where timely intelligence often makes the difference between a desirable, and a wholly undesirable outcome.
Many large companies set aside budgets for "market research" as an activity in its own right. These companies know that information is the key to severely reducing, or eliminating, risk in an uncertain business environment. For without the right information, we assume the answers we seek, rather than know them.
Novels and television depictions
are responsible for portraying private detectives and other
in/vestigators in dirty raincoats, spending their time following
people and interviewing suspects. Some investigators still do
that, but nowadays most do not. 
Commercial Intelligence Agencies very rarely use physical surveillance, as the pool of other resources they can draw on is inevitably more effective or appropriate to the type of assignments they are usually given.
The potency of the resources available to today's intelligence agencies are almost unimaginable. In this age of rapidly advancing electronic spy satellites, miniature tracking attachments, electronic surveillance devices and a myriad of (theoretically secure) computer records, physical surveillance is virtually obsolete. And the more "evolved" the agency is in accessing and manipulating its resources', the more complex the cases it can (and does) solve. So efficiently, in fact, that most of the top ten intelligence agencies in the UK achieve between a 90 - 95% per cent success rate, even on very complex cases. And that's no exaggeration.
Another misconception is that Commercial Intelligence is simply a fancy word for collating public information and regurgitating it in another format. Some companies do that, but reputable ones do not. (See the section on Selecting the Right agency on this site.)
Real Commercial Intelligence is about obtaining information that is specifically targeted and acquired to meet the specific requirements of the intelligence agency's client. This is probably information that the target has taken steps to hide. Hide because the information is inevitably incriminating, for one reason or another.
Therefore skilled intelligence utilizes proven techniques and resources to circumvent the security and "red tape", often preventing the obtaining of that information by other parties. But that's not all. A prerequisite of professional intelligence means operating without leaving "footprints". In other words an attribute of a proper intelligence agency is the professional discretion used to ensure the target is completely unaware that the "game" is up.
This not only protects the client's anonymity, it also ensures all the client's options remain open, resulting in superior risk management. The mark of a clear thinking and competent organisation. It is unfortunate that companies only use defensive "intelligence" when a crisis arises. This is almost entirely due to the lack of awareness of what a CIA (Commercial Intelligence Agency) is fully capable of. Furthermore, there is a similar lack of awareness of the extent to which an intelligence agency can contribute to the quality of the feedback a company needs to make better informed decisions on reccurring specific issues.
As a result of their evolution' in the investigative field, CIA's can, therefore, provide a multitude of very important services beyond the perceived constraints of electronic and physical surveillance. Intelligence nowadays is a completely different game to the one played a few years ago. Even Television and Cinema depictions cannot capture the full flavour of what is now possible.
The information provided on this web site will enlighten you to the many more options available for use in circumstances where you need covert business intelligence for one reason or another.
Example applications of this new knowledge include, (but are not restricted to) :
1) Screening out undesirable candidates for employment who might otherwise slip the net using standard interview techniques.
2) Monitoring existing key employees suspected of disloyalty. There is more to this than just the use of electronic surveillance. Electronic surveillance may be inappropriate in the circumstances, or inefficient where a combination of other resources and/or techniques are more appropriate.
3) Knowing the pros and cons of the different types of electronic surveillance equipment on the market.
This is useful for internal applications, as well as protecting information or assets from external threats.
4) Diligently establishing the bona fides of new companies or individuals to which or to whom you intend to grant credit. This does not necessarily incur delay in doing business.
5) Pre-litigation (or post-litigation) asset assessment and identification. There are many other legal and business applications. This is just one application of asset tracing.
6) Location of witnesses, debtors and other elusive individuals or companies.
7) Help with strategic and other
planning.
For example, timely intelligence can help:
i) To identify new areas of business opportunity already served by direct competitors. (And why these areas have been targeted by these competitors).
ii) To expand your list of customers by seeing who buys from your competitors. (And why).
iii) To acquire financial details on competitors, not publicly available. (Indicating the most profitable and/or growth areas of interest).
iv) To acquire dossier material on target companies and/or individuals who work in them. Dossier material is often used to check out prospective business partners or for conducting more in-depth research on companies seeking Venture Capital or loans. As the individuals running such companies are often crucial to these companies' futures, they are also often subjects of (covertly compiled) "background check" dossiers.
v) For Head Hunting purposes.
vi) To win a Competitive Tender or auction.
vii) To ascertain how your purchasing prices compare to those of your competitors. And if there are discrepancies in your efficiency why and what can be done to improve matters.)
viii) To fight off a hostile takeover, or use intelligence to make the most of an acquisition or merger.
Many companies recognise the benefits of the above in cutting down time and costs by exploiting the often expensive research done by others.
This is why, if you have information that someone else wants, you could be targeted as an economical collection source for that information. There are numerous ways to penetrate the standard security of most companies. There is an abundance of examples of this in the real world.
This is not to say that Commercial Intelligence is always synonymous with industrial espionage. It is not. Commercial Intelligence is usually directed at penetrating "the system" that protects guilty parties from the wrongs they have caused their "prey". (Eg: Identifying and proving the connections fraudsters thieves and debtors have with their "anonymous" offshore companies and banks, in an attempt to hide their ill-gotten gains).
8) Due diligence for takeovers, acquisitions and other circmstances where a lot is at stake.
9) Identifying the suppliers of grey product importers.
10) Awareness of the professional techniques of physical surveillance, and how to avoid being tailed by experts. Did you know that almost all professional surveillance is conducted not by individuals, but by teams of several operatives, all in covert radio communication with one another? (Surveillance is conducted this way to ensure that the same person or car is never spotted behind you on more than one occasion and that the chances of losing you are minimised).
Note: Commercial Intelligence Agencies utilise the same pool of resources in tackling a variety of other investigative assignments, as they would in obtaining the information in the above cases. (See the Allocation of Resources section on this web site for further information).