Streamline Training & Documentation: Business Acumen XII: Collecting Business Intelligence

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Business Acumen XII: Collecting Business Intelligence

With so much information available for mining in today's Internet-enabled world, it's good to have a routine for staying up-to-date.

The sorts of information you want to keep track of would generally include:

Annual reports of companies of interest, including your own. You can go to individual company websites, or use the Securities and Exchange Commission's edgar.sec.gov site.

Current financial results and the factors that are driving these results. Company websites and Edgar can provide data on financial results, while the driving forces can be found in analytical pieces published in the general and trade press (online and offline). For example, it doesn't take long to find a report on weak earnings in the newspaper industry that points the finger at "the rising cost of newsprint, flat or falling circulation and sluggish advertising growth."

External forces, such as rising energy costs, that impinge on the prospects for your company and other companies of interest.

Strategies and actions of competitors, along with whatever intelligence you can pick up concerning the underlying rationales.

In addition to tapping the sources of information already mentioned, you can keep up with business affairs by looking regularly at:

Business magazines such as Business Week and Fortune

Government publications, many of which are online. For print copies of Federal government documents, you can go to the nearest depository library or purchase from the Government Printing Office's online store.

Network and cable TV websites, such as www.cnnfn.com.

Research reports and industry newsletters.

Your company's internal documents (some or all of which may be accessible via intranet) — strategic plans, business plans, marketing plans, newsletters, monthly and quarterly reports, etc.

Discussions in company meetings you attend.

Informal conversations with colleagues.

The key, as in most areas of business performance, is consistency. By staying on top of relevant economic, industry, and company information, you equip yourself to identify issues in need of attention, to plan the best way to reach your goals, and to adjust your goals as opportunities evolve.

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Labels: Business acumen

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