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Qualitative Research in I ntelligence and Marketin g: The New Strategic Convergence ALF H. WALLE III QUORUM BOOKS Qualitative Research in Intelligence and Marketing Qualitative Research in Intelligence and Marketing The New Strategic Convergence ALF H. WALLE III QUORUM BOOKS Westport, Connecticut • London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Walle, Alf H. Qualitative research in intelligence and marketing : the new strategic convergence / Alf H. Walle III. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1–56720–366–3 (alk. paper) 1. Business intelligence. 2. Marketing research. I. Title. HD38.7.W35 2001 658.4'7—dc21 00–025250 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright ᭧ 2001 by Alf H. Walle III All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 00–025250 ISBN: 1–56720–366–3 First published in 2001 Quorum Books, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.quorumbooks.com Printed in the United States of America TM The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10987654321 To Marcy, Ben, and Sarah, my family Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xi 1. Introduction 1 I. Parallels, Agendas, and Options 7 2. Competitive Intelligence as Qualitative Alternative 9 3. Marketing Research: Merging with Another Qualitative Tradition 27 II. Competitive Intelligence and Cross-Disciplinary Tools 47 4. Justifying Qualitative Methods 49 5. The Qualitative Espionage Model 73 6. Competitive Intelligence, the Planning Process, and Marketing 91 7. The Process of Intelligence 101 8. The Qualitative Social Sciences and Competitive Intelligence 113 9. The Humanities and Competitive Intelligence 137 10. Culture at a Distance: A Lesson from World War II 157 viii Contents III. Operationalizing the Social Sciences and the Humanities 179 11. Competitive Intelligence at a Distance: Learning from World War II 181 12. The Qualitative Audit 199 Epilogue: The 10 Percent Edge 225 Appendix 1: The Use and Abuse of Warfare and Sports Analogies 227 Appendix 2: The ‘‘Care and Feeding’’ of Humanists 231 Index 241 Preface The purpose of this book is to consciously deal with the fact that, most essen- tially, the field of competitive intelligence embraces techniques of analysis that rely upon intuition, subjective analysis, and qualitative (as juxtaposed to sci- entific or quantitative) data. The fact that competitive intelligence often relies upon scientific techniques and state-of-the-art technology, however, has tended to cloud this crucial issue. Furthermore, since many of the clients of competitive intelligence profes- sionals are predisposed in favor of scientific/quantitative methods, there is often a seductive tendency to embrace those methods. Doing so, however, can un- dercut the essence of competitive intelligence by denying and ignoring the unique and distinctive contribution that our field has to offer. This book responds to the significant threat that the vital role of qualitative methods within com- petitive intelligence (and within business strategy) may be ignored. It discusses how the field of competitive intelligence brings powerful qualitative tools to business research. In an era when many business scholars and practitioners have come to depend upon scientific and quantitative techniques, competitive intel- ligence professionals have long embraced a qualitative, subjective, and intuitive toolkit that, on many occasions, has provided timely and vital information. For the past 30 years, this specialized niche has given competitive intelligence a distinctive role within the private sector. The rapid growth of competitive intelligence as a profession demonstrates that the qualitative approaches it uses and the kinds of intuitive information it provides are gaining the respect of practitioners. Today, competitive intelligence professionals apply qualitative insights within a wide array of in-house as well as consulting capacities. The field has been especially useful when decision makers became frustrated that scientific and quantitative methods have proved [...]... can gain access to qualitative information in an age when the methods of science and statistics continue to be fashionable In recent years, the status of competitive intelligence as a qualitative research tool has begun to share the stage with new qualitative research initiatives that have arisen within various business disciplines (such as in marketing) Both competitive intelligence and the emerging... competitive intelligence will be able to reassert a leadership role in qualitative research within business This book breaks new ground by demonstrating how and why competitive intelligence can benefit by integrating itself with parallel qualitative methods in business on the one hand while drawing upon its distinctiveness on the other The book begins with a cluster of introductory chapters that point to the. .. distinctive group with unique methods and traditions It was not until the 19 60s that competitive intelligence emerged as a distinct discipline in its own right The work of William T Kelley can be used to suggest the origins of competitive intelligence as a distinct entity In specific, Kelley’s book Marketing Intelligence (19 65) introduced the field of intelligence, while his in uential article in the. .. other qualitative research within business will benefit from cooperation and collaboration; this book is the first sustained analysis of such a potential Since it is a pioneering effort, large sections of this writing are primarily exploratory; they are intended to be built upon as the qualitative methods of intelligence and other business disciplines become increasingly linked These efforts are not intended... forms of information to be gathered and analyzed on a “catch-as-catch-can” basis Members of the marketing profession have long been interested in understanding the strategies, capabilities, and options of their rivals Gaining the insight required to do so is the essence of competitive intelligence, and much of this analysis, by its very nature, is qualitative and intuitive Indeed, by carefully and systematically... nature Today, other forms of business research are following the lead of competitive intelligence by developing their own qualitative toolkits and using them to supplement and, when appropriate, to transcend scientific and quantitative analysis By combining the qualitative orientation of competitive intelligence with parallel techniques that derive from other business disciplines, such as marketing, a powerful... competitive intelligence and qualitative marketing research, and discusses how the two can and should be merged Chapter 2, “Competitive Intelligence as Qualitative Alternative,” points out that although espionage is often associated with illegal activities, the discipline more generally uses intuition to infer information from weak, compromised, and/ or incomplete data The origin of the data being analyzed... and today it provides information to a wide variety of business disciplines and competitors Parallels between competitive intelligence and marketing research, however, remain; the real trick for both marketing researchers and competitive intelligence practitioners is to appropriately envision how and why competitive intelligence has expanded beyond its original roots and missions A good first step in. .. in marketing and marketing research Historically, marketers (like other business scholars) have been closely allied with scientific and qualitative analysis; as time has gone on, however, many prominent marketing scholars have consciously embraced various qualitative methodologies and smuggled them back into business research I am dedicated to expanding marketing research in more eclectic ways and in. .. lessons learned and suggests specific ways in which they can be incorporated into the professional life of competitive intelligence analysts By combining relevant aspects of the social sciences and humanities with the basic approach of the “Culture at a Distance” method (discussed in Chapter 10 ), Chapter 11 provides hints on how competitive intelligence professionals can enhance their toolkits in relevant . Qualitative Research in I ntelligence and Marketin g: The New Strategic Convergence ALF H. WALLE III QUORUM BOOKS Qualitative Research in Intelligence and Marketing Qualitative Research in Intelligence. Sciences and the Humanities 17 9 11 . Competitive Intelligence at a Distance: Learning from World War II 18 1 12 . The Qualitative Audit 19 9 Epilogue: The 10 Percent Edge 225 Appendix 1: The Use and Abuse. 47 4. Justifying Qualitative Methods 49 5. The Qualitative Espionage Model 73 6. Competitive Intelligence, the Planning Process, and Marketing 91 7. The Process of Intelligence 10 1 8. The Qualitative