FAQ
What is Strix?
Is market intelligence relevant for a small business or small to medium size enterprise (SME)?
What is the outcome of competitive intelligence (CI)?
Our company is successful and growing. How can market intelligence benefit our business?
Isn’t competitive intelligence like corporate espionage?
How is competitive intelligence different from market research?
Can market intelligence benefit large corporations?
What’s the point of studying a business environment that’s constantly changing?
Isn’t competitive intelligence time-consuming and costly?
Strix Insights was named for Strix nebulosa, the Great Gray Owl. Owls were one inspiration for Strix because they embody the characteristics of competitive businesses to carefully observe signals within challenging environments, interpret the signals and then, with little wasted effort – take action.
Is market intelligence relevant for a small business or small to medium size enterprise (SME)?
Yes. In fact, SMEs and small businesses may be ideally positioned to take advantage of market intelligence. Because of their smaller size, they are better equipped to capitalize on opportunities revealed by competitive intelligence.
Conversely, without market intelligence, small businesses are the most vulnerable to unforeseen risks and market shifts. Big players, such as Microsoft and Kodak, have recovered from market intelligence failures simply as the result of their sheer size and strong market position. Small businesses would not likely survive similar scenarios.
What is the outcome of competitive intelligence (CI)?
Our competitive intelligence services are tailored to your unique needs. Starting with a thorough needs analysis, we work with you to determine the specific intelligence you need to move your business forward and define project success metrics. From market segment analysis to risk mitigation, our focus is on creating the actionable information you need to move forward with confidence.
Our company is successful and growing. How can market intelligence benefit our business?
Market intelligence is even more important for a growing business as growth can strain valuable resources. Intelligence can help you focus on the most profitable opportunities and stay ahead of the competition that will be looking to take your hard earned market share.
For successful and growing companies who wish to adopt competitive intelligence as a source of competitive advantage, Strix Insights will perform CI audits and offer customized training to grow your internal capabilities.
Isn’t competitive intelligence like corporate espionage?
No, competitive intelligence is governed by the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) Code of Ethics which outlines the legal and ethical requirements for performing CI. At Strix Insights, we’ve adopted SCIP’s guidelines and commit that we never misrepresent ourselves during our work, we honour all requests for confidentiality and we will not collect information that is safeguarded as confidential.
How is competitive intelligence different from market research?
Competitive intelligence and market research share many similarities, but differ in scope and intention. Competitive and market intelligence encompasses a broader scope than traditional market research as it addresses the full breadth of a company’s business environment while market research is often customer-focused.
Competitive intelligence is a process to turn data and information into actionable insights for decision-making. Many other research disciplines stop at the level of data and information without attempting to ‘read between the lines’ and provide insights that companies can act upon. This is the real value proposition of competitive intelligence; that it is a process for companies to turn their knowledge about the past and present into intelligence about future actions.
Can market intelligence benefit large corporations?
Most Fortune 500 companies routinely engage in competitive intelligence and continue to invest in improving their CI capabilities. These corporations realize that in the face of turbulent markets and globalization, winning strategy requires an intimate understanding of the changing competitive landscape.
Strix Insights can work with your strategic planning, business development, marketing or research team to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your activities. Our knowledge of industry best practices and the cutting edge techniques being leveraged by Fortune 500 companies will help you to turn competitive intelligence into a distinct advantage over your competition. Strix offers customized training to internalize the competitive advantage of market intelligence.
What’s the point of studying a business environment that’s constantly changing?
Yes, the business environment is constantly changing (and changing rapidly). Competitive intelligence gives you the tools to effectively manage the risks and opportunities associated with a changing business environment. Companies that invest in CI can respond proactively to future developments, instead of being blindsided after the fact.
Isn’t competitive intelligence time-consuming and costly?
Competitive intelligence succeeds because of its ability to break down complicated issues about your external environment into manageable chunks. Using CI industry best practices to move forward quickly and efficiently, our focus is to minimize time spent on data collection and maximize the actionable insights you need to address your key business issues.