CSSP reviews
Online Competitive Intelligence - Increase Your Profits Using Cyber-Intelligence
Let's not mince words: This is not a work of art! This is, from start to finish, a “how-to” book. Helen P. Burwell has assembled what appears to be the latest, best and most detailed book on using the internet to conduct competitive intelligence (CI). If you are the individual (or a member of the team) assigned to perform the market and competitive intelligence that will serve as the springboard for your strategic analysis and decision making, then you really must get this book!
Others have tackled the topic focusing more on organizational design and the philosophical motivation for pursuing CI. For example, Larry Kahaner's book, Competitive Intelligence is a more typical anecdote-laden discussion of the art and practice of this important management discipline. Similarly, Jerry P. Miller's Millenium Intelligence approaches the subject with a collection of articles from a dozen authors whom he dubs “The Business Intelligence Braintrust”. Additional highlights in Miller's book are essays on both the legal and ethical issues involved in conducting CI.
Although both offerings are informative and well-written CI primers, Kahaner and Miller do not match Burwell on the basis of unabashed, “hands-on” content. Neither author attempts to provide as many detailed, clearly categorized references as Burwell. This is exactly what you need if you must perform the research.
This recommendation does come with a warning for the reader: The visual presentation of the book gives the reader the impression that the book is self-published. The text is an unappealing cascade of continuously varying regular, bold and italicized fonts. This is punctuated by feeble graphics (e.g., flaming “Hot Tip” and radioactive “Warning” signs in the margins) and accompanied by poorly rendered screen shots of referenced web pages. Throw in too many distracting typos and one wonders how the manuscript ever made it to press in its existing format. Perhaps they were in a hurry?
Is it possible then, that in spite of these annoying flaws, the book is an effective tool for someone who needs to get the CI job done? Absolutely! So, if you are in a hurry to conduct CI for your own business planning, order this book today!
For more information or to order your copy of Online Competitive Intelligence from Amazon.com, click on the title.
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