Leveraging What Your Company Really Knows: A Process View of Strategic Intelligence

Abstract

Strategic intelligence is about having the right information in the hands of the right people at the right time so that those people are able to make informed business decisions about the future of the business. Thus, in order to improve a company’s strategic intelligence process, management must take a critical look at how effectively they manage information. Effective information management requires specific information-processing practices, employee behaviors and values, and technology. The information orientation (IO) framework is a tool that managers can use to determine the company’s level of effective information management and to identify areas where they can make improvements. By achieving IO maturity—aligning processes, people behaviors, and technology practices with business strategies—a company can derive a competitive advantage and future leadership. IO mature companies are most successful at collecting and openly sharing the strategic intelligence that their employees need in order to successfully monitor and proactively react to future market trends or events.