...premiere gourmet grocery store that offers shoppers the finest baked goods, meats, cheese and dairy, produce items and an assortment of domestic and imported wines. Kudler Fine Foods offers all customers a wonderful shopping experience and the finest quality of foods and wines. Leaving room to expand its current services and opening new locations. The company’s growth span is leading to an increased customer base. Kudler Fine Foods is increasing and looking to drive revenue upward while leaving the current prices as set. Kudler Fine Foods is ready to develop changes to increase their revenue . I will discuss in this paper the important elements needed in Kudler Fine Foods goal towards advancement in marketing and the role of using the competitive intelligence tactics. This could include other ways to successfully achieve goals of growth. Marketing Research “Although marketing research isn’t perfect, it seeks to reduce risk and uncertainty to improve decisions made by marketing managers” (Armstrong, , 2011) . Marketing research can help develop new product ideas and offer a fine tuning in slimming down products and services. Businesses use market research t o help determine who will be interested in purchasing their products and services. Marketing research will reach out to a target group of people based on certain feelings, needs, income and age. Mrs. Kudler conducted surveys to reach out to customer and receive feedback in areas of potential improvements. Pointing them in the...
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...THE EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC WAR ON ORGANIZATIONS FROM A LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR PERSPECTIVE. Individual Term Paper Table of Contents I. A. 1. 2. B. 1. 2. II. A. 1. 2. B. 1. 2. C. 1. 2. III. A. B. Background of the topic ............................................................................................................... 3 What is Economic War and what are its practices? .............................................................. 3 Pre-technological Era ........................................................................................................... 3 Technological Era ................................................................................................................. 3 How Competitive Intelligence translates into companies’ life? ............................................ 6 As a tool of Corporate Strategy ........................................................................................... 6 As a part of the Corporate Culture ..................................................................................... 6 Economic War and Corporate Culture .................................................................................. 7 Organizational Leadership....................................................................................................... 7 Where Economic War becomes a problem: advocating ethical behaviour ..................... 7 Where Economic War benefits: crisis leadership ......................
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...Analyzing Your Competition Overview Almost everyone in business understands the principle of trying to offer something better than what their competitors are offering. Gaining an advantage is the key to success and even survival. But many of the so-called advantages that businesses rely on are not sustainable. They can be easily copied, stolen or negated. Real competitive advantages — things like brand name recognition, patented manufacturing processes or exclusive rights to a scarce resource — cannot be easily copied. Every company has a unique set of strengths, and it's critical that you determine yours, as well as your competitors'. Hold a brainstorming session with your staff and advisors to perform a formal SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. This analysis helps you to see how your strengths stack up against your competitors' weaknesses and suggests ways to take advantage of marketplace opportunities. After you have performed the analysis, there are four basic competitive strategies to consider. 1. Become the low-cost supplier. By under-pricing the competition, you can achieve greater volume, which can drive your costs down even further by realizing economies of scale. Of course, it's important to still maintain a healthy profit margin so the key here is to lower costs, not just prices. 2. Achieve product or service quality differentiation. Think about the hundreds of companies that have achieved such differentiation for themselves...
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...Kudler Fine Foods After searching for opportunities for a different lifestyle, Kathy Kudler had a vision of opening her own gourmet food department. On June 18, 1998, Kathy Kudler’s first store front of Kudler fine foods opened their doors, in La Jolla, California (Kudler Fine Foods.) Within two years later she open an additional establishment in Del Mar, California, which is within 30 minute distance from the La Jolla Store. Five years later she open a third store located in Encinitas, California. Kudler fine foods’ businesses have been doing great with the exception of one of the stores making enough money to break even. Kathy wanted her store to sell the finer items of the international cultures. Kudler Fine Foods consist of freshly bake breads, the finer meats, freshly organic produce, gourmet cheese, and superior selection of wine. Importance of Marketing Research Kudler Fine Foods is an upscale food supplier that will attract customers who are of a median to upper income. Marketing research is of importance when dealing with this any organization, especially when the products exceed the average price the same items. Kathy would need to know the target market of her customers. The target market consists of the characteristics and dimensions of their present and potential clients. Kathy needs to be aware of the average income of individuals in the area of the store, their lifestyle, population, sex, marital status, and the commute from Kudler fine foods to their home...
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...Proctor & Gamble Competitive Intelligence Case Tristen Leeder RES/351 January 14, 2013 Instructor: Steve Roussas Abstract In this paper I will show the usefulness of corporate intelligence. While this tool is helpful in making solid business decisions effort needs to go into monitoring of the gathering process. Intelligence gathered by unethical means does more harm to an organization then good. The financial repercussions of involvement in corporate spying are steep, and the damage it does to an organizations reputation can take years to repair. Management teams must continually monitor how intelligence is gathered to make corporate intelligence work for their benefit. Proctor & Gamble Competitive Intelligence Case In spring of 2001 John Pepper, then chair of Procter and Gamble was faced with a dilemma (Tuck School). It had been brought to light that P&G’s competitive analysis department had engaged in corporate spying (CNN). An outside firm hired by P&G had engaged in spying on Unilever, P&G’s main competitor in the hair care industry. According to Jordan and Finkelstein “the spying operation gathered about eighty documents detailing Unilever’s plans for its U.S. hair care business over the next three years, including information on its launch-plans, prices, and margins (Tuck School, p. 1).” In April 1999 John Pepper was the keynote speaker at an SCIP CEO Roundtable, held in Montreal. In his address Mr. Pepper...
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...Introduction VII. Definition and Examples a. Case I b. Case II c. Case III VIII. Origin of Competitive Intelligence IX. Why Collect Intelligence? X. What is Ethical? XI. Methods of Intelligence Collection XII. What Resources Are Used to Collect Information XIII. How Companies Utilized Collected Information XIV. Keeping Companies Secrets Secret a. Buildings b. Communication Systems c. Administrative XV. Conclusion I. ABSTRACT Intelligence gathering is considered commonplace in corporate America. Companies struggle to maintain the high ground within a competitive marketplace. One source for maintaining an elevated position is through information gathering on competitors, better known as Competitive Intelligence (CI). Collection of this information can be accomplished through numerous means. History has shown that the collection of CI is not a new practice, only that the methods used to collect the information have evolved over the past century. Intense pressure for turning profits, winning contracts, and avoiding expensive research and development costs drive the methods used in CI collection. With an increase in CI collection, companies are required to protect themselves from inside and outside intruders. II. PROBLEM STATEMENT Corporate America has become oblivious to the information being divulged concerning company trade secrets. Corporate intelligence or company espionage has become an all to commonplace art form. Due to increase pressure to...
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...Competitive Intelligence Term Paper Dr. Ahmed Nassar Prepared by Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed El Mizayen 1. What is CI? he process of collecting and analyzing information about competitors’ strengths and weaknesses in a legal and ethical manner to enhance business decision-making. Competitive intelligence activities can be basically grouped into two main types – 1) Tactical, which is shorter-term and seeks to provide input into issues such as capturing market share or increasing revenues; and 2) Strategic, which focuses on longer-term issues such as key risks and opportunities facing the enterprise. Competitive intelligence is different from corporate or industrial espionage, which use illegal and unethical methods to gain an unfair competitive advantage. Competitive intelligence means different things to different people within an organization. For example, to a sales representative, it may mean tactical advice on how best to bid for a lucrative contract. To top management, it may mean unique marketing insights to gain market share against a formidable competitor. The ultimate end goal of competitive intelligence is to help make better decisions and enhance organizational performance. While most companies can find substantial information about their competitors online, competitive intelligence goes way beyond merely trawling the Internet, on the premise that the most valuable information is seldom – if ever – easily accessible online. A typical competitive intelligence...
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...fine bakery products, meats and seafood, produce, cheese and dairy, and wines. The company wants to expand with a new location. With the expansion, Kudler needs to focus on the marketing strategy and incorporate additional marketing research. Competitive intelligence and analysis helps Kudler redefine the marketing strategy. Importance of Marketing Research According Kerin, et. al. (2009), “Marketing research is the process of defining a marketing problem and opportunity, systemically collecting and analyzing information and recommending actions” (Marketing, 2009, p. 199). Marketing research helps create long-term business plans, launch new products or services, and expand into new markets. Market research determines what the consumer desires in the store and the ranking against competitors. Kudler identifies the market share through research. Marketing research involves five steps. The five steps are defining the problem, develop the research plan, collect relevant information by specifying, develop findings, and take marketing actions (Longmeyer, 2011). Using the five steps of market research identifies the weaknesses and strengths in the expansion development. Additional Market Research For Kudler to remain competitive, they need additional market research in business trend research. Business trend research shows the growth rate and trends in the food industry. Although surveys help determine satisfied customers with the store, customers are not satisfied with...
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...management. 3) The aim of an external audit is to develop an exhaustive list of every possible factor that could influence the business. 4) External audits attempt to identify key variables that offer actionable responses. 5) Five major categories of external variables are: 1) economic forces, 2) social and cultural forces, 3) political, governmental and legal forces, 4) technological forces and 5) demographic forces. 6) As many managers and employees as possible should be involved in the process of performing an external audit. 7) To perform an external audit, a company first must gather competitive intelligence and information about social, cultural, demographic, environmental, economic, political, legal, governmental and technological trends. 8) Freund argues that key external factors must not be hierarchical. 9) The I/O approach to competitive advantage advocates that internal factors are more important than external factors in a firm achieving competitive advantage. 10) An economic trend in America is the increasing numbers of two-income households. 11) Economic factors do not have much impact on the attractiveness of strategies. 12) An increase in interest rates is directly related to an increase in discretionary income and an increase in the demand for discretionary goods. 13) Motor vehicle firms in the United States are vulnerable when the value of the dollar falls. 14) A low value of the dollar means lower...
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...Mariam Diab ID:10931041 Sec: C Date: 19-4-2014 Dr.Ali Dirani IMGT497 Entrepreneurship 1- Competitive intelligence is the action of defining, gathering, analyzing, and distributing intelligence about products, customers, competitors, and any aspect of the environment needed to support executives and managers making strategic decisions for an organization Competitive intelligence is an ethical and legal business practice, as opposed to industrial espionage, which is illegal Competitive intelligence essentially means understanding and learning what's happening in the world outside your business so you can be as competitive as possible. It means learning as much as possible as soon as possible about your industry in general, your competitors, or even your county's particular zoning rules. Ethics has been a long-held issue of discussion among CI practitioners. Essentially, the questions revolve around what is and is not allowable in terms of CI practitioners' activity. A number of very excellent scholarly treatments have been generated on this topic, most prominently addressed through Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals publications. The book Competitive Intelligence Ethics: Navigating the Gray Zone provides nearly twenty separate views about ethics in CI, as well as another 10 codes used by various individuals or organizations. Combining that with the over two dozen scholarly articles or studies found within the various CI bibliographic entries, it is clear...
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..............................................................................6 Key Employee Biographies..................................................................................7 Major Products and Services..............................................................................9 Top Competitors.................................................................................................10 Locations and Subsidiaries...............................................................................11 Rowan Technology Group Page 2 © MarketLine Rowan Technology Group TABLE OF CONTENTS COMPANY OVERVIEW Rowan Technology Group (Rowan) is a consulting firm. It provides market analysis, strategic marketing and competitive technical intelligence for the advanced technology, advanced materials and coatings industry. The company primarily operates in the US, where it is headquartered in Libertyville, Illinois. As a privately held company, Rowan Technology Group is not obligated to release its financial results. KEY FACTS Head Office Rowan Technology Group 1590 South Milwaukee Avenue...
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...management. 3) The aim of an external audit is to develop an exhaustive list of every possible factor that could influence the business. 4) External audits attempt to identify key variables that offer actionable responses. 5) Five major categories of external variables are: 1) economic forces, 2) social and cultural forces, 3) political, governmental and legal forces, 4) technological forces and 5) demographic forces. 6) As many managers and employees as possible should be involved in the process of performing an external audit. 7) To perform an external audit, a company first must gather competitive intelligence and information about social, cultural, demographic, environmental, economic, political, legal, governmental and technological trends. 8) Freund argues that key external factors must not be hierarchical. 9) The I/O approach to competitive advantage advocates that internal factors are more important than external factors in a firm achieving competitive advantage. 10) An economic trend in America is the increasing numbers of two-income households. 11) Economic factors do not have much impact on the attractiveness of strategies. 12) An increase in interest rates is directly related to an increase in discretionary income and an increase in the demand for discretionary goods. 13) Motor vehicle firms in the United States are vulnerable when the value of the dollar falls. 14) A low value of the dollar means lower...
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...CRISIS MANAGEMENT Competitive intelligence: It’s the process of ethically, collecting, analyzing, and disseminating accurate, relevant, specific, timely, foresighted and actionable intelligence regarding the implications of business environment, competitors and the organization itself. SCIP – Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals 3 main axes: 1. An ability to procure accurate and validates information to decision makers, project managers and even project team members 2. A capacity to produce specific studies and assessment describing a situation, the effect/cause of an event, the action/strategy of an actor 3. A mission consisting in delivering alerts and warnings to decision makers CI and crisis “ Lack of transparency can mean the management doesn’t see or doesn’t want to see important, vital competitive information. At time, this can lead to crisis.” Leonard M. FULD The secret language of competitive intelligence DEFINITION * BRUTAL,SUDDEN AND TRAUMATIC EVENT * Effect of surprise * Low probability (which make prevention difficult) * Considerable stakes (even the survival of the organization) * COMPLEX SITUATIONS WITH UNCERTAIN OUTCOMES * AN EXCEPTIONAL SITUATION REQUIRING “EXTRA-ORDINARY” MEASURES * Major impact * Fast reaction is imperative GOALS * You have to preserve your company’s activity, employees and assets, but not by any means * Laws...
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...their reach of planning. Companies need to set goals that generate pressure and enthusiasm for competitive innovation and this cannotbe done by setting goals which are too conservative (Hamel and Prahalad, 1989:76). The Process of Surrender: * Unseen strategic intent * Underestimated resourcefulness of smaller rivals * Unconventional entry tactics made by new entrants to the markets (Hamel and Prahalad, 1989:72). To achieve strategic intent, organizations must take in larger, better financed competitors and carefully manage their competitive engagements so that scarce resources are conserved. Four approaches to competitive innovation: building layers of advantage, changing the terms of engagement, searching for loose bricks and competing through collaboration (Hamel and Prahalad, 1989:69). Establish clear milestones and review mechanisms: this is done to keep track of progress and make sure the challenge is inescapable to every person in the company (Hamel and Prahalad, 1989:68). Give the organization time to digest one challenge before launching another: (Hamel and Prahalad, 1989:67). Provide employees with the skills they need to work effectively: e.g. training them in areas like statistical tools and team building exercises and so on (Hamel and Prahalad, 1989:67). Strategic Intent Companies like IBM and Ford that set corporate challenges to create new competitive advantages soon find out that in order to engage the entire organization, top managers need to...
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...By knowing our Competitors we may be able to predict their next moves, exploit their weaknesses and undermine their strengths. There are four stages in monitoring competitors - the four "C"s: * Collecting the information (with a first stage - deciding what to collect) * Converting information into intelligence (with three steps: CIA -Collate and catalogue it, Integrate it with other pieces of information and Analyse and interpret it) * Communicating the intelligence. * Countering any adverse competitor actions - i.e. using the intelligence. One mistake a lot of people make is to start by collecting information without thinking how the information will be used. There is no value in information that will just sit on a shelf. If it cannot be used to inform the business's strategic or tactical decisions then the time, money, and effort spent collecting it is wasted. * The business may be planning a new product - so information on what competitors are doing in the same area will help in the decision processes and plans for this new product. * Alternatively, the business may be looking at how the industry will develop over the next 5 or 10 years. * Or perhaps the board is looking at a potential merger, acquisition or business partnership. The information requirements for each of these business decisions will be completely different and so the information that should be sought will also be different. Thus before starting to search for information...
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