ABSTRACT
This chapter is divided into two sections. The first considers the results of two surveys which illuminate management attitudes towards competitor intelligence (CI) and how it is presently practised in European businesses. The second offers some reflections on the corporate philosophy that should inform CI activity if it is to yield the most benefit. A deeper understanding of the potential scope of CI and how it should be best conducted can be gained by looking at how it is presently carried on. Contributing to firm-wide CI should be part of every employee's job. They need to be made aware of the importance of intelligence and given guidance as to the sort of information that might constitute it. Mechanisms should be in place to encourage and facilitate the contribution of CI. Those specializing in CI will often be able to feed useful tactical intelligence information that might lead to changes in near-term marketing activities or pricing.
