Ben Gilad's book is for senior managers, and for all those with a direct interest in corporate information and in CI, the organisation and practice of competitive intelligence. Business Blindspots, the underlying cause of competitive sclerosis, fall into three broad categories: unchallenged assumptions, corporate myths and corporate taboos. The three are examined and illustrated by Professor Gilad in his usual hard-hitting, direct style. And along the way we are treated to an unrivalled display of analysis and wisdom.
The first edition of this book sold out within two years and became a cult book. Its major concept, eradicating competitive blinders that hamper the performance of executives and their companies, through the use of a sophisticated competitive intelligence process, put Professor Gilad in the forefront of managerial thinking in America. The description of the principles of building a competitive intelligence function that actually saves companies from disasters is based on Gilad's consulting practice and actual success stories. This second edition includes new insights by Ben Gilad, based on his travels in the past few years, and his meetings with CEOs of major corporations.
Ben Gilad worries about the central and vital role that intelligence should have in a corporation. He illustrates throughout the book what happens when intelligence is neglected and blindspots are allowed to persist, and what happens when corporate leaders either do not know what is happening, or choose to overlook vital facts.
Above all, Gilad concentrates on the human side of intelligent corporations, maintaining that the major weaknesses in corporations cannot be solved simply by hardware and software, but by the application of human-led systems and structures.
In over two hundred pages, Gilad imparts wisdom, humour, common sense, practicality and the message that in today's global, fast-moving, competitive environment, firms have both to pay attention to what is happening in their operational environments, and develop mechanisms and structures to ensure that the people who take the decisions receive the early intelligence.
Benjamin Gilad
Benjamin Gilad was elected 'man of the year' in 1996 by the Society for Competitive Intelligence Professionals (The Meritorious Award) for his influence on the development of competitive intelligence in the western world. He is a former Israeli intelligence officer turned management professor who shares his time between America and Israel. Fortune magazine selected him to lead its first CEO seminar on competitive intelligence for its Fortune 500 and Fortune Global 500 forums. The American Management Association selected his seminar for its Presidents' Forum, and Business Week chose him to lead its executive briefing on the subject. Ben Gilad is considered currently to be one of the most talented and provocative management speakers, and many other organisations from around the globe have asked him to teach managers about the right use of intelligence. He has designed and implemented intelligence functions in several of the leading American firms that are considered among the most effective units in the West.
Ben Gilad is the founder and President of the Academy of Competitive Intelligence, a first-of-its-kind institution that trains managers in competitive intelligence. He is the author of the definitive text in competitive intelligence, The Business Intelligence System (AMACOM, 1988), and the co-editor of The Art and Science of Business Intelligence Analysis (JAI Press, 1996). His articles on the subject have appeared in all major business periodicals.
Contents
Preface to the revised edition
Why giants fail
Part One: A theory of blindspots and bloodshed
The winner’s curse: competitive sclerosis
Business blindspots
Managing the competition
Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Scipio and Federal Express: blindspots as a competitive weapon
Part Two: Diagnosis
The tests
A case approach to flushing out blindspots
Part Three: Treatment
Competitive learning: the deciphering of weak signals
Organising intelligence activities: the American, Japanese, Korean, Israeli and Russian experience
Strategy, decisions and intelligence
The new old paradigm of competitive intelligence
The Five Rings model
China breaking and the Office of the President
Napoleon’s mistake
Is it good for our country? And what about ethics?
Just do it (before it’s too late)
Endnotes
Index
ISBN 1-873699-33-6. 270 pages. Published 1996 by Infonortics, Malmesbury, England
The PDF (downloadable) version is 172 pp plus 15 pp. (187 pp).
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