LIS 529 Competitive Intelligence
University of Washington iSchool

Instructor: Hilary McLellan Hilary McLellan, Ph.D, is a consultant and educator, as well as a media artist and storyteller. She has been involved with digital media for over 20 years. Her background encompasses business, science, technology, and the arts. She has extensive experience developing and teaching classes and workshops online. For several years she covered the virtual reality industry for Virtual Reality World and other publications. She has helped to implement conferences on emerging media in New York City, San Jose, and London. She has interviewed numerous scientists, engineers, and emerging media-virtual reality pioneers. Her clients have included General Motors, State Farm Insurance, and a range of other corporate, governmental, and nonprofit organizations. She is the editor of the book "Situated Learning Perspectives" which examines a paradigm of learning and knowledge transfer developed at Xerox PARC. In 2003 she was appointed by the mayor of Saratoga Springs to serve on the advisory board for the Saratoga Springs Heritage Area program. Web sites: http://www.tech-head.com/ http://www.saratogamedia.net/

Course Overview
This online course will examine competitive intelligence, the use of business intelligence to promote one's competitive position in the marketplace. Competitive intelligence can be used to detect competitive threats, to eliminate or lessen surprises in the marketplace, to enhance competitive advantage by lessening reaction time, and to find new opportunities. Competitive Intelligence (CI) is the process by which information is collected and transformed into valuable intelligence for use in tactical and strategic business decisions. CI is also the product of that process. This course will examine the basic issues involved in competitive intelligence, including how to gather CI, basic tools and strategies, strategic thinking for CI, and analyzing and building upon competitive intelligence once it has been gathered. Competitive intelligence is emerging with renewed importance in the digital age. It's a way to keep on top of trends and other useful information. It is a useful area of knowledge for information brokers and other information professionals. This online course will be implemented entirely via the Internet with a flexible, asynchronous schedule. There will be weekly discussions, online field trips, and 3 written assignments.

Readings
Michelle Cook and Curtis Cook (2000). Competitive Intelligence. London: Kogan Press.
John E. Prescott & Stephen H. Miller. (Editors). (2001). Proven Strategies in competitive intelligence: Lessons from the Trenches. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Selected articles from the World Wide Web.
Class lectures.

Key CI Resources
http://www.llrx.com/
http://www.scip.org/index.asp
http://www.scip.org/news/archive.asp
Journal of competitive Intelligence and Management. http://www.scip.org/jcim.asp
Lisa Krizan. (1999). Intelligence Essentials for Everyone. SCIP. (PDF document) http://www.scip.org/ci/intelessentials.asp.

Course Objectives
There are several learning objectives for students in this course. First, students should acquire a basic understanding of the theoretical material associated with competitive intelligence strategy as well as intelligence gathering functions and processes. Second, students should learn how theories are applied in the actual formulation of a competitive intelligence system within an organization. Third, students should improve their abilities to interpret and understand information and its conversion to useful intelligence. Fourth, students should become acquainted with the competitive intelligence manager's role within the organization and develop a more accurate perception of what is involved in the entire process of CI from collection to delivery to application.

Course Structure
This web-based course will be implemented entirely via the Internet with a flexible, asynchronous schedule. There will be weekly discussions, online field trips, and 3 written assignments. This course is designed to optimize discussion and community so that everyone can bootstrap on each other's knowledge, learning, and analytical abilities. For example, students will have an opportunity to get feedback from classmates concerning the two CI projects that are assigned, in order to improve the final work. This course will center upon regular readings and discussions of the readings, as well as discussions of assigned field trips and examples of CI. Discussions of readings are staggered so that they occur during the week following the week the readings are assigned. This will give everyone a full week to engage with the readings and prepare to discuss them. The book by Cook & Cook provides an overview of CI. The book by Prescott & Miller provides actual case studies and "lessons from the trenches" --- what various companies have learned about implementing a CI program.

Approaching CI
Rather than look for information to answer a question, think about how you will use the answer. If you won't be able to incorporate actions based on the answer you find in your business strategy then maybe the question you asked needs changing to something that will lead to meaningful actions.

Discussions - EPost Address
http://catalyst.washington.edu/webtools/epost/register.cgi?owner=hilarymc&id=5063

Examples of CI Reports (Password Required)
http://faculty.washington.edu/hilarymc/documents/Example1.pdf
http://faculty.washington.edu/hilarymc/documents/Example2.pdf
http://faculty.washington.edu/hilarymc/documents/Example3.pdf
http://faculty.washington.edu/hilarymc/documents/Example4.pdf
http://faculty.washington.edu/hilarymc/documents/Example5.pdf
http://faculty.washington.edu/hilarymc/documents/Example6.pdf
http://faculty.washington.edu/hilarymc/documents/Example7.pdf
http://faculty.washington.edu/hilarymc/documents/Example8.pdf
http://faculty.washington.edu/hilarymc/documents/Example9.pdf
http://faculty.washington.edu/hilarymc/documents/Example10.pdf
http://faculty.washington.edu/hilarymc/documents/Example11.pdf

Class Schedule

Module One: Introduction to Competitive Intelligence June 21-June 27, 2004
	Readings: Cook & Cook, Ch. 1-2; Prescott & Miller, pp. 1-68. Lecture One: Introduction to Competitive Intelligence. Corporate Sleuths. http://www.discover.pitt.edu/pittmag/june2002/feature3.html. Your Say: Competitive Intelligence & Knowledge Management. http://www.kmmagazine.com/xq/asp/sid.0/articleid.5F8EF7B9-702B-4837-9474-E6E82C801DCC/qx/display.htm. Multimedia (Flash) Introduction. http://www.va-interactive.com/missourisbdc/competition2/analyzeyourcompetition.swf Discussion This week, by way of introductions, share a story about an occasion when you found information that made a big difference in your life. Field Trip/Case Study http://www.combsinc.com/projects.htm
Module Two: Sources of Information/Finding Information June 28-July 4, 2004
	Readings: Cook & Cook, Ch. 3-4; Prescott & Miller, pp. 69-108. Lecture Two: Basic tools and Strategies. Gina Imperato. (1998). Competitive Intelligence - Get Smart! Fast Company. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/14/intelligence.html. Gina Imperato. (1998). Intelligence Tips. Fast Company. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/14/intelligencetips.html. CI Success Stories. http://www.scip.org/ci/article2.asp. Cynthia Cheng Correia. (2003). How Competitive is Your Law Firm? Competitive Intelligence for the Legal Industry. Discussion Let's discuss the readings from the past week (Cook & Cook, Ch. 1-2; Prescott & Miller, pp. 1-68). Just what is competitive intelligence? How do you think you can apply it? Field Trip/Case Study Ihttp://www.iexecutus.com/
Module Three: Electronic Tools and Sources of Information July 5-July 11, 2004
	Readings: Cook & Cook, Ch. 5, 9; Prescott & Miller, pp. 109-132. Lecture Three: Gathering Intelligence, Pt.I. Competitive Intelligence for Your Career. http://technology.monster.com/articles/competitive/ Discussion Let's talk about finding information on the Internet and via other sources. Do you have any tips to share? Any cautionary tales about misleading web resources? Also, let's discuss the readings (Cook & Cook, Ch. 3-4; Prescott & Miller, pp. 69-108) Field Trip/Case Study http://www.fuld.com/ Assignments First CI Project Description/Outline due July 8, 2004. Submit to the entire class on the specified discussion thread.
Module Four Analysis and Benchmarking July 12-July 18, 2004
	Readings: Cook & Cook, Ch. 6-7; Prescott & Miller, pp. 133-167. Lecture Four: Gathering Intelligence, Pt.2. Discussion Let's discuss the readings from the past week (Cook & Cook, Ch. 5, 9; Prescott & Miller, pp. 109-132). Feedback on First CI Project Outlines. Field Trip/Case Study http://www.sisinternational.com/
Module Five: Presenting and Using Your Findings July 19-July 25, 2004
	Readings: Cook & Cook, Ch. 8; Prescott & Miller, pp. 168-215. Lecture Five: Presenting Your Findings. Discussion Let's discuss the readings from the past week (Cook & Cook, Ch. 6-7; Prescott & Miller, pp. 133-167). Field Trip/Case Study SeeBeyond. http://www.currentanalysis.com/cirview_public.cfm?ReportID=9379 Assignments First CI Project due July 22, 2004.
Module Six: Legal and Ethical Considerations July 26-August 1, 2004
	Readings: Cook & Cook, Ch. 10, 13; Prescott & Miller, pp. 216-258. Lecture Six: Building Upon Competitive Intelligence. Competitive Intelligence: What are the Ethical Limits? Ethics in Economics. http://www.businessethics.org/eth9834.pdf Discussion Let's discuss the readings from the past week (Cook & Cook, Ch. 8; Prescott & Miller, pp. 168-215). Field Trip/Case Study Food & Hotel Asia 2002 CI Report. http://atn-riae.agr.ca/events/e3368.htm. This is a useful case study to discuss because of the unforseen effects of the recent SARS epidemic, centered in Asia. Assignments Second CI Project Description/Outline due 28, 2004. Submit to the entire class on the specified discussion thread.
Module Seven: Competitive Intelligence in Action-Strategies August 2-August 8, 2004
	Readings: Cook & Cook, Ch. 14; Prescott & Miller, pp. 259-285. Lecture Seven: Strategic Thinking. Discussion Let's discuss the readings from the past week (Cook & Cook, Ch. 10, 13; Prescott & Miller, pp. 216-258). Field Trip/Case Study Tourism Case studies/resources http://www.tourism-intelligence.com/links.htm and http://www.tourism-intelligence.com/casestudies.htm
Module Eight: Competitive Intelligence in the Future August 9-August 15, 2004
	Readings: Cook & Cook, Ch. 11, 12; Prescott & Miller, pp. 286-318. Lecture Eight: Competitive Intelligence in a global Communication Age. Christina K. Pikas. (2004). Trends in Blog Searching. http://www.llrx.com/features/trendsblogs.htm Blogs refine enterprise focus. http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/01/10/030113apblogs_1.html Discussion Let's discuss the readings from the past week (Cook & Cook, Ch. 14; Prescott & Miller, pp. 259-285), Field Trip/Case Study Handheld Librarian --- let's discuss this and other blogs and their emerging impact on information availability and CI. Do you have a favorite blog? Assignments Second CI Project due August 12, 2004.
Module Nine: Conclusion August 16-August 20, 2004
	Discussion Let's sum up our understanding of competitive intelligence. What are the (10-15) main things you have learned? What is CI? How can information professionals play a role in CI? Assignments Final Paper due August 17, 2004.

Assignments

1.	CI Project I --- Identify a competitive intelligence project, something of interest to you, concerning a strategic challenge for a company or program. Develop a short plan for implementing it (to be submitted to the class as the first stage in the project, in order to get feedback), and try to implement it. (Try to find information, but if you do encounter difficulties, discuss them, and try to problem-solve how you would overcome them with more time and resources. Identify (1) the goal of your project; (2) your information sources; (3) the result --- and the strategic implications; and (4) discussion of what you learned from this project, problems you encountered (and overcame --- or did not overcome). First CI Project Description/Outline due July 8, 2004. First CI Project due July 22, 2004.
2.	CI Project II --- Identify a competitive intelligence project, something of interest to you, concerning a strategic challenge for a company or program. Develop a short plan for implementing it (to be submitted to the class as the first stage in the project, in order to get feedback), and try to implement it. (Try to find information, but if you do encounter difficulties, discuss them, and try to problem-solve how you would overcome them with more time and resources. Identify (1) the goal of your project; (2) your information sources; (3) the result --- and the strategic implications; and (4) discussion of what you learned from this project, problems you encountered (and overcame --- or did not overcome). Second CI Project Description/Outline due 28, 2004. Second CI Project due August 12, 2004.
3.	Short final paper. Present a personal response to the readings and the class learning activities. Discuss how competitive intelligence can be applied in your work/planned work. This assignment provides an opportunity for reflection. Final Paper due August 17, 2004.
4.	Participation in class discussions.

Evaluation of Student Work

Exceptional Achievement (A): The student produces convincingly argued evaluation or proposal; identifies a subject, describes it appropriately, and asserts a judgment of it; gives reasons and specific evidence to support the argument; engages the reader immediately, moves along logically and coherently and provides closure; reflects awareness of reader's questions or alternative evaluations. Assignment demonstrates extensive mastery of facts, skills, and concepts, including concepts from different readings and authorities whose ideas are examined. Writing quality in terms of grammar, punctuation, usage, structure, etc., as well as reader engagement (Make it interesting!). Evidence of originality, creative thinking. Evidence of mastery of course content --- including readings, World Wide Web and other Internet resources. Design projects such as the creation of web pages demonstrate exceptional design qualities such as alignment, proximity, cohesiveness, effective use of color, images, text and other design elements, organization, efficiency, and usability as well as mastery of the technology tools. Keep in mind that people with less technical background may demonstrate exceptional progress in terms of mastering technology tools.
Commendable Achievement (B): The student produces well-argued evaluation; identifies, describes, and judges its subject; gives reasons and evidence to support the argument; is engaging, logical, attentive to the reader's concerns; is more conventional or predictable than the writer of an A assignment. Evidence of mastery of course content. Design projects such as the creation of web pages demonstrate commendable design, with less mastery of the technology tools.
Adequate Achievement (C): The student produces adequately argued evaluation; identifies and judges its subject; gives at least one moderately developed reason to support the argument; lacks the authority and polish of the writer of an exceptional or commendable assignment; produces writing that, although focused and coherent, may be uneven; usually describes the subject more than necessary and argues a judgment less than necessary. Less evidence of mastery of course content. Weak in terms of analysis, dealing conceptually and critically with ideas. Design projects such as the creation of web pages demonstrate less adequate design and less mastery of the technology.

General notes on expectations in classes
(Borrowed from Joe Janes, 1991)

What I value
Learning and fun. I hope that when you finish a class with me, I've made you think about something you hadn't thought of before, learned something you'll find valuable, and had a good time doing it.

In general, I value creativity, originality, insight, synthesis, and an open, questioning attitude. I am at these in the ways in which I conduct individual sessions of classes as well as courses overall, assignments, projects, etc. To me, these are the characteristics that distinguish professionals, and thus I try to foster them in my students. My assignments, for example, thus tend to be somewhat free-form, allowing people to take many paths, demonstrating their creativity and originality, and trying things I never would have thought of. So I usually don't tell people things like how many pages to write or other instructions. (Of course, some assignments are more constrained, but they should be easy to spot.)

I also value strong writing and presentation of ideas in a clear, professional manner. That means I care about (and evaluate assignments based on) things like grammar, organization, the mechanics of sentence structure, spelling, wording, and so on. I also care about design, layout, presentation, graphics, organization of hyperlinks, etc., when appropriate in, for example, Web-based projects or work. I assume everything you will submit to me is of the same quality and caliber as professional work you would submit to your supervisor or colleagues. However, content always wins over presentation and organization, so a flashy, well-designed and well-written paper that has nothing original or insightful to say won't score all that well. Both are important, but the message is the key.