Competitive intelligence the key to survival

Competitive Intelligence: Piranti Strategis Memenangkan Persaingan Global (Competitive Intelligence: strategic instrument to win global competition), Taryanto, et al., Multi Utama Indojasa, 2003, 106 pp

Rarely has there been a book that deals with intelligence operations in Indonesia. This book therefore earns a special place on the shelf in view of the great difficulty in finding publications on competitive intelligence here. It is the original work of four writers daily engaged in this field rather than a product of translation.

Competitive intelligence is often seen as something new and dreadful, a dark and dismal world with practices of bribery, industrial espionage, information theft and so forth. The negative image originates in the word intelligence itself, which has various definitions and is widely interpreted. Each nation defines intelligence in terms of the ethical standards it applies.

The first few chapters of this book explain how one should regard intelligence, especially competitive intelligence. By quoting the views of experts on this subject, Jim Underwood (2002) and Larry Kahener (1996), the authors emphasize the crucial difference between competitive intelligence and industrial espionage, which lies in ethical and legal considerations.

In practice, however, several firms are known to have violated corporate law when seeking access to information on rivals' activities. Information theft, tapping, office burglary and bribery have basically transformed the principles of intelligence into industrial espionage.

In comparison with other countries, such as Japan, the U.S., France, members of the European Union, Australia and even Malaysia, the Indonesian government's appreciation of competitive intelligence remains very low.

There has been growing awareness of the need for strong intelligence but its application is still limited to military and security areas, such as the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) and the Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS) (p.86). A gap in information management involving the majority's necessities of life has thus emerged.

With this government policy and other nations' economic advancements, the book suggests the Indonesian business community to proactively promote and create synergy from military intelligence, economic intelligence and other competitive intelligence to turn their companies into an instrument of force in building the national economy. Indonesia's leading position as a country with the largest Muslim population has its strategic value economically and sociopolitically in Southeast Asia, even in the Asia-Pacific region.

Japan is a nation with a high appreciation of competitive intelligence. The country, despite its limited resources, is capable of supplying 18 percent of the world's gross product, turning out one-third of the automobiles and computer chips throughout the globe. One of the keys to Japan's success is intelligence. This gives weight to some experts' statement that the success and strength of a country are directly proportional to its command of competitive intelligence.

Japan's success in this field has even served as the motto and motivation for economic intelligence in Europe, especially France, which maintains that the necessity for economic intelligence is based on the absolute demand for innovation and the evidence of Japan's advancement.

Apart from the advantages for a country, the book also describes how an organization or company can benefit from competitive intelligence. Through competitive intelligence, a decisionmaker can at least better understand his or her business environment.

Each practitioner of competitive intelligence has an individual differentiation in securing data and information. Technological developments, notably information technology (IT) frequently abbreviated to "e", is one of the standards applied, and has even turned out a new method called (cyber) e-competitive intelligence.

Cyber competitive intelligence has typical features, particularly in the processing of data and information transfers. It includes the general packet radio system (GPRS) and wireless application protocol (WAP) access in mobile phone instruments, personal digital assistance (PDA) and the personal computer (PC) tablet. This book also helps readers acquire data by giving several website reference addresses relevant to businesses, such as market information and census information.

However, this book has some weaknesses, such as the title in English, which is counterproductive to the spirit of finding the proper equivalent in the national language. Although it may be considered original in its terminology, the writers consistently use intelejen kompetitif instead of competitive intelligence.

Similarly, the use of margin icons for easier reading and mapping of the matters discussed is in fact redundant because the book has small-sized type, so it is easy to understand without the presence of icons.

As a whole, this book is interesting to read. Despite its serious theme, the simplicity and eloquence of its language makes the substance flow like fiction, allowing readers to finish it in a short time. If anyone wishes to follow up some of the suggestions it offers, as indicated in its introduction, this book serves as a customized and special guide for the application of competitive intelligence in an organization.

--Doni Riadi