The backbone of strategic decision support is a company’s knowledge of its competitive threats, potential brand scenarios and alternative futures. Competitive intelligence (CI) encompasses these basic concepts and provides the strategic information necessary to grow brand dominance in, as well as position pharmaceutical companies for future success. CI teams face numerous challenges regarding resources and organizational acceptance. Cutting Edge Information examined these challenges and developed this study to provide solutions for pharmaceutical competitive intelligence professionals.
Top competitive intelligence groups work hand-in-hand with key functions throughout development, commercialization and lifecycle management. While brand teams continue crafting compelling product messages and R&D groups ensure strong product efficacy, competitive intelligence teams shape the strategies that deliver pharmaceutical products to market with the most competitive position.
Companies possessing strong competitive intelligence teams structure their decision support function to establish immediate credibility with key decision makers. Centralized CI teams closely aligned to top executives receive continued support for their efforts. Furthermore, Cutting Edge Information found that CI teams display considerable strategic impact in business development, assisting in identifying and conducting due diligence for new deals.
Companies that have built robust competitive intelligence competencies in their organizations have several key attributes in common:
1) Structure - The most strategically-focused CI teams are often centrally located to support key decisions in R&D, business development, marketing, and brand and lifecycle management.
2) Brand Support - Competitive intelligence teams work with brand managers to develop potential market scenarios and alternative futures, then create contingency strategies to react quickly when the first market indicator appears.
3) Strategic Activities - The most effective competitive intelligence activities are those designed specifically to impact strategic decisions. Pharmaceutical companies must avoid using CI teams to merely maintain knowledge databases or conduct additional market research.
