The Handbook of Market Intelligence: Understand, Compete and Grow in Global Markets, 2nd Edition

Chapter 9Intelligence Culture – Engaging the Organization in Market Intelligence

Case: Promoting Intelligence Software in a Financial Services Company

When a US-based financial services company decided to adopt a software tool to serve as the concrete nodal point of their intelligence program, they took its internal marketing seriously from the very beginning. The various brochures, T-shirts, mugs, pens, mouse pads, and other promotional items that were distributed made sure that there were no people in the organization who would not have known what MI was and how it could be accessed in the company. While the promotional campaign only lasted a couple of months, it provided a significant boost to the company’s intelligence culture: oftentimes, active and bold internal marketing of the intelligence activities is the single most important bottleneck in creating an intelligence culture in the organization. People simply cannot adopt things that they are not aware of.

INTRODUCTION: BUSINESS IMPACT THROUGH AN INTELLIGENCE CULTURE

In the long run, “intelligence culture” is the force that keeps the entire intelligence program together, and by the very definition of “culture”, it is born and nurtured inside the organization. Perhaps the most important element in gradually generating an intelligence culture in any organization is senior management’s voiced support for the activity. Other important building blocks are demonstrated benefits of the activity, and successful internal ...