Careers in Competitive Intelligence

Author: Ivan Radulovic
TFPL Intelligent Resources, Consultant

Professional Effectiveness and Personal Improvement as a CI Practitioner Panel Debate - Tuesday 9th March from 5pm - 8pm

Have you ever wondered what will happen next to you and your CI career?  Have you ever wondered how you can make that next move?  Have you ever thought about how you can prepare yourself so that when that opportunity comes, you are confident enough to say “yes, I’m ready”?  Just as a business has to set out a plan for the future, work out its objectives and then craft a strategy which will enable it to achieve its objectives.  We have to do exactly the same thing if we want to make things happen for us rather than have things happen to us.

CI practitioners are a distinct breed of expert, frequently working across boundaries and outside of any normal understanding of functional structures.  They are typically self motivated, particularly good at keeping balls in the air and usually revelling in the erratic and sporadic nature of daily tasks.  This can all bring its own problems of course, in that the lack of routine sometimes means they begin to neglect their own development needs and there is a danger that they could stagnate. Trouble is, nobody else really understands them so they don’t know what to suggest either?  As with many other speciality roles, it is up to them to make their future happen.

TFPL Intelligent Resources is a proud sponsor of the UK Competitive Intelligence Forum which is to host an event which will address some of the above issues and hopefully get people thinking about their careers and how to put yourself in the driving seat to manage their progress.  We have four excellent panellists who will present their perspective on four different areas of the CI role.  They are:

• Martin Ainsworth has worked in both the public and private sectors including strategic management consultancy, investment banking and specialised financial services. He has managed and delivered services across a range of disciplines including Business Information, Knowledge Management, Information Technology and Market Data.  He contends that CI builds on the foundations of KIM to deliver analytical tools that are fast, factual and actionable.  He also delivers training in the UK on behalf of the Institute for Competitive Intelligence in Germany.

• Mary Banks has been a successful independent HR consultant for 6 years, specialising in leadership development, performance management, cultural differences and change management.  Her client list includes: GE, Royal & Sun Alliance, Aljazeera, Louis Dreyfus, Astra Zeneca, and Genworth.  She is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

• Andrew Cosgrove is an alumni of the Fuld-Gilad-Herring Academy of Competitive Intelligence. Currently an independent consultant, Andrew has 12 years experience using CI to improve senior level decision making at Mars, Incorporated and McKinsey & Company in Europe, Asia and the U.S. He has an MBA from London Business School.

• Andrew Beurschgens is practitioner at Orange and one of the Committee Members of the recently formed SCIP UK Affiliate, the UK Competitive Intelligence Forum.  He is a recipient of the Catalyst Award for his volunteer services to the profession.

The event will be chaired by Sheila Wright, a Reader of Competitive Intelligence and Marketing Strategy at De Montfort University, Leicester.  She is by far one of the most qualified authorities on the discipline’s application reinforced by her past elected role on SCIP’s Board, her numerous articles and workshops on CI as well as front-line practitioner experience.

To register for the event, please click here. The event is priced at £20 for SCIP (Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals) members and £30 for non-members.