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Using Open Source Data in Developing Competitive and Market

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Article  in  European Journal of Marketing · July 2008

DOI: 10.1108/03090560810877196

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EJM
42,7/8
852
Received January 2007
Revised September 2007
Accepted December 2007
European Journal of Marketing
Vol. 42 No. 7/8, 2008
pp. 852-866
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0309-0566
DOI 10.1108/03090560810877196
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0309-0566.htm
Using open source data in
developing competitive and
marketing intelligence
Craig S. Fleisher
Odette School of Business, University of Windsor, Windsor, Canada
Abstract
Purpose – The paper seeks to show how the increasingly popular use of data and information
acquired from open sources (OS) impacts competitive and marketing intelligence (C/MI). It describes
the current state of the art in analysis efforts of open source intelligence (OSINT) in
business/commercial enterprises, examines the planning and execution challenges organizations are
experiencing associated with effectively using and fusing OSINT in C/MI decision-making processes,
and provides guidelines associated with the successful use of OSINT.
Design/methodology/approach – This is a descriptive, conceptual paper that utilizes and
develops arguments based on the search of three unclassified bodies of literature in competitive and
marketing intelligence, intelligence processing and marketing analysis.
Findings – Open sources are useful in marketing analyses because they can be easily accessible,
inexpensive, quickly accessed and voluminous in availability. There are several conceptual and
practical challenges the analyst faces in employing them. These can be addressed through awareness
of these issues as well as a willingness to invest resources into studying how to improve the data
gathering/analysis interface.
Practical implications – Marketing analysts increasingly rely on open sources of data in
developing plans, strategy and tactics. This article provides a description of the challenges they face in
utilizing this data, as well as provides a discussion of the effective practices that some organizations
have demonstrated in applying and fusing open sources in their C/MI analysis process.
Originality/value – There are very few papers published focusing on applying OSINT in
enterprises for competitive and marketing intelligence purposes. More uniquely, this paper is written
from the perspective of the marketing analyst and how they use open source data in the competitive
and marketing sense-making process and not the perspective of individuals specialized in gathering
these data.
Keywords Marketing intelligence, Competitive strategy, Information research, Data analysis,
Open systems
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
The gathering of data and information from open sources (OS) has been an active focus
of both national and private-sector intelligence organizations for decades (Steele, 2002).
Business enterprises have long been reliant on open sources for intelligence purposes –
whether applied to marketing concerns, mergers and acquisitions, partnering due
diligence, or strategy development among other things; on the other hand, national
intelligence organizations have recently been encouraged to make better use of open
sources in their array of intelligence gathering functions (Commission on the
Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction,
2005). This paper highlights the experiences of businesses in incorporating and
utilizing OS for competitive and marketing analysis purposes. It focuses most Using open
specifically on the implications OS have for analysts and the analysis process within source data
business enterprises.

Open sources, analysis and its place within competitive and marketing
intelligence (C/MI)
Many definitions exist of competitive intelligence (Fleisher, 2003), a process commonly 853
found in marketing departments or units (Competitive Intelligence Foundation, 2006;
Wright et al., 2002). C/MI is defined for the purposes of this paper as a systematic,
targeted, timely and ethical effort to collect, synthesize, and analyze competition,
markets and the external environment in order to produce actionable insights for
decision-makers. The practical value-adding concept underlying C/MI suggests that
effective C/MI should underlie more effective decisions, leading to more insightful
market-based actions that should eventually result in enhanced economic/financial
performance (Fahey, 2007; Frates and Sharp, 2005). Within this intelligence process,
data collection is an essential element can comprise a significant part of the resources
allocated toward developing insights (Prescott and Fleisher, 1991).
Open source intelligence, more commonly known as OSINT, is an information
processing discipline. More specifically for the purposes of this paper, it is defined as
the scanning, finding, gathering, exploitation, validation, analysis, and sharing with
intelligence-seeking clients of publicly available print and digital/electronic data from
unclassified, non-secret, and “grey literature” sources. Grey literature is published
material that is not indexed and often lacks data about the publisher. It is frequently
used by academics or researchers to share their earliest ideas about concepts or
experiments they are working on, unpublished papers in conference proceedings, and
is often found on personal web sites, by commercial corporations in the form of “white
papers”, or even in web logs (i.e. blogs). OSINT is the most frequently used form of
C/MI intelligence gathering in business enterprises, desirable because it is easy,
inexpensive and produces abundant raw material for further processing (Vibert, 2003).
It is usually engaged as a next step in the project plan after the data collector has
scoured existing information bases, particularly among the organization’s own human
intelligence (HUMINT) sources, thereby exhausting the organization’s reservoir of
internal knowledge (Blanco et al., 2003).
OSINT was traditionally characterized by the searching of publicly available
published sources (Burwell, 2004). This included books, journals, magazines, pamphlets,
reports and the like, so much so that some people originally referred to OSINT as
literature intelligence or LITINT (Clark, 2004); nevertheless, the growth of digital media
and sources such as those proliferating over the worldwide web and public
communication airwaves has enlarged the scope of OS activity (Boncella, 2003). These
media and sources were usually identified and scoured first by corporate library and
information specialists. These special librarians are professionals with expertise in
quickly locating required information sources. The grid in Table I shows the broad range
of both internal and external channels utilized for open source intelligence purposes.
Special librarians have now greatly expanded the range of open sources examined
as well as the nature of querying utilized (Berkien, 2006; Carr, 2003). Contemporary
corporate information specialists apply a variety of methods for organizing open
sources including but not limited to web-link analysis (Reid, 2003), webometrics
EJM
42,7/8
Human sources providing
data that can be archived in
various public media
854
Documents and captured
media
Table I. Mixed channels providing
Sample open source data that can be archived in
information target grid various public media
Internal (channels and sources) External (channels and sources)
Boundary spanners (public affairs, Academics
public relations) Competitors
Customers Consultants/experts
Customer service data Customers
Employees Government officials
Managers Interest groups
Marketing researchers Media members
Networks (professional, social) Policy developers
Sales associates Suppliers
Building diagrams Advertisements
Business plans Blogs/wikis
CRM databases/reports Broadcasts (TV, radio)
Databases Company home pages
Information resource library Government publications
Intranet (text, A&V) Images/maps (e.g. satellite)
Photographs Marketing communications
Policies Patents/legal filings
Product catalogs Product brochures/catalogs
Reports/statistics (market share, Reports
sales, trends) Statistics (e.g. demographics)
Observations Seminars
Meetings Site visits
Site visits Trade events

(Bouthillier and Jin, 2005), scanning methods (Decker et al., 2005), source mapping
(Vriens and Achterbergh, 2003), text mining (Leong et al., 2004), ontology creation
(Golden, 2007), blog analysis (Pikas, 2005), scientometrics (Courtial et al., 1997), and a
blossoming variety of different patent analysis (Dou et al., 2005) and pattern
recognition methods (Rosenkrans, 2003).
OSINT is often the basis of information utilized in planning and targeting other
high-value collection activities (Steele, 2002). This is done, at least in part, because it is
so convenient to access open sources, as well as the availability of target-rich material
(Mah, 2005). In national intelligence, open source data provide a key supplement and
archival ability to other classified or custom-developed collection means, like those
performed within traditional corporate marketing research. By combining the data
gathered from multiple sources, marketing analysts can better understand the
diversity of viewpoints on important issues (Clark, 2004; Patzer, 1995).
Analysts regularly use open source data to help them generate insights (Vibert,
2004). Indeed, they are used to integrating open source data with other forms of
information, and particularly HUMINT (Clark, 2004; Le Meunier-FitzHugh and Piercy,
2006; Steele, 2002); nevertheless, there are some issues that analysts have encountered
that are somewhat unique to OSINT.
Analysts maintain an important role in the overall C/MI process and can be even
more prominent in a heavily OS-based environment. Steele (2002, p. 171) notes that
“analysis is the key enabling skill that is essential to the successful integration of
OSINT into an all-around intelligence capability”. Even though there is no universal Using open
job description for C/MI analysts, outcomes that analysts typically seek to achieve are: source data
.
predict future developments – analysts explain implications of developments,
both current and prospective, to decision makers (Fahey, 2007);
.
help decision- and policymakers to avoid surprises – analysts seek to provide
warnings of major developments, events, trends and assessments (Gilad, 2004);
855
.
make data more meaningful and sensible – analysts give guidance to decision
makers, as well as offering alternative means for attaining objectives (Fleisher
and Bensoussan, 2003, 2007); and
. keep decision makers informed – they offer pieces of current information on
specialized topics of concern to decision makers (Service, 2006).

Analysts employ part art, science and craft to their organizational tasks (Fleisher and
Bensoussan, 2007). The art facets often centre on the need for creativity, right-brain
utilization, and original thinking. This is one reason why there are no software
programs that an organization can just plug in that will routinely produce the kind of
C/MI analysis products that demanding intelligence clients seek (Bouthillier and
Shearer, 2003a). The science component is present in the accepted use of routinized
methods, established training programs, and continuing “R&D” conducted in/of
analysis (Clark, 2004; Fleisher and Bensoussan, 2007; Heuer, 1999). The tradecraft of
intelligence analysis has a rich tradition in national intelligence agencies across the
globe, but also has tradition with business and commercial enterprises (Sawka, 2005).
C/MI analysis has many of the hallmarks of the true professions and C/MI analysis
practitioners often conduct themselves in a highly professional manner (Fleisher and
Are, 2003).
Analysts and the implications of data gathered from open sources
Analysts in business enterprises have been seeking, processing and applying open
source data to their tasks for decades. Only in recent years, as the volume of digital
information has grown so rapidly, have problems surfaced associated with using the
mass of data (Vibert, 2003). Managers have been known to spend several hours a day
searching for information, later realizing that much of the information they acquired
has little relevance or value toward meeting their needs. Companies typically spend far
more resources, and particularly in the form of time, gathering information than they
do processing, analyzing and exploiting it. Studies in the C/MI field have shown that
practitioners would like to reverse this equation, and spend more time processing,
analyzing and exploiting data as opposed to just gathering it (Competitive Intelligence
Foundation, 2006).
In reality, there is much value-adding activity that an analyst can do to the collected
data going far beyond just forwarding gathered information (Marin and Poulter, 2004).
What does the analyst do with validated open source data? The analyst would perform
any sort of the following operations upon gathered data, including but not limited to:
conceptualize, confirm, describe, explain, extend, forecast, hypothesize, identify,
illustrate, model, predict, re-organize, research, re-task collection, synthesize, text,
and/or visualize (Johnston, 2005). Effective analysts know both the methods and the
appropriate sequences of technique applications that enable them to make better sense
of the raw information (Fleisher and Bensoussan, 2007). This is a result of their
EJM knowledge, skills, abilities and experiences (KSAEs) or competencies in doing C/MI
42,7/8 analysis (Moore et al., 2005).
C/MI analysts need to be able to employ a wide range of methods in order to first
task information specialists and second to make sense of the data once gathered.
Analytical methods must drive the open source collection plan/task; nevertheless,
many practitioners allow their analysis processes to be driven by the data they can
856 most easily access. Others do not go beyond employing a very limited range of tools
that they try to employ for purposes beyond those which the tools were designed
(Fleisher and Bensoussan, 2007). Finally, many practitioners lack proper training in
C/MI analysis processes and do not recognize the need to match methods, either
existing ones or uniquely conceptualized ones designed for the task, in order to best
address their clients’ critical intelligence needs.
There are a variety of issues appearing in the C/MI scholarship associated with
performing C/MI effectively. Some are unique to using open sources, and the ones
associated with the nature and structure of open sources and channels themselves are
elaborated in the section that follows.

Concerns that emanate from the nature of open sources

Open sources cannot provide all of an analyst’s needs for collected data;
correspondingly, most C/MI analysts will help shape a collection plan that goes
beyond relying only on these sources. Indeed, there are several structural problems
associated with open source data that make too heavy reliance on it a risky proposition.
Seven of them show up commonly in the literature, listed in alphabetical order as
follows:
.
Form – Most open source items are free text format, causing difficulties for the
analyst to extract relevant portions or segments and to fuse it with other
gathered data (Gould, n.d.).
.
Indexing – Open sources are abundant but accessibility is highly variable. Much
content on the web is not linked (Golden, 2007) and only a fraction of the internet
is indexed. This fraction can even be lower when it comes to different open
source formats like images, legal policies, maps, or patents (Steele, 2002). Open
source data gathering specialists within enterprises have to be able to deep-dive
or dig into the “invisible web”, know how to access commercial databases, be
comfortable with patent databases, and draw from map or other imagery sites to
maximize returns from open sources (Vibert, 2004).
.
Internet volatility – Pages and sites are “here today and gone tomorrow” and
frequently exhibit short life spans (Boncella, 2003). A single site can be modified
many times a day. Information readily available at one point in the day may be
unavailable later. This means that organizations need the ability to archive
targeted data for subsequent processing. This can be taxing to them in terms of
analyst’s time, applications, or the cost of additional memory resources (Burwell,
2004).
. Languages – Open sources are available in nearly every spoken language,
therefore totaling over a couple of thousand active languages. Open source
intelligence targets monitored for a typical multinational enterprise can number
in scores of languages (Steele, 2002). This multilingual source environment
 creates a strong multinational organizational intelligence need for translation Using open
skills, among other things (Annett, 2005). Many organizations lack this within source data
their own workforces, are unwilling to provide resources to outsource the skills,
or have parochial (e.g. “not-invented-here”) attitudes that prevent them from
taking advantage of sources and data that exist outside of a few designated
languages (Blenkhorn and Fleisher, 2005). Additionally, some groups have only
recently started to publish information in their native languages on the web, 857
creating data scarcities in many languages.
.
Sources – Even if the data gathering specialist can locate desired information,
they may have difficulty in determining the origin, nature or timing of the source.
Much data available on the internet, for example, lacks tagging information. This
is data about the data file that would allow the analyst to understand where or
when it originated in order to validate it (Steele, 2002). Privacy concerns further
exacerbate problems of communication over open sources (Ehrlich, 2006).
Additionally, some sourcing data may be manipulated, whereby an individual
can change the file source property parameters, opening up the possibilities of
denial and deception. This challenges the analyst in validating the information,
determining the source, understanding when the data was made available,
building networks of information around the originator, and so on.
.
Volume – Arguably the biggest problem facing analysts is the sheer amount of
open source data (Windle, 2003). For many analysts, there is just too much
material to process. It explains, in part at least, why enterprises are spending
enormous resources on data and information storage resources, hoping to collect
as much data as they think they may need; nevertheless, much of this data goes
unexploited, unused, or is difficult to access (Sawka, 2007). Making this item
more daunting is that intelligence by its very nature has a short shelf-life, or the
amount of time between when it is first uncovered and the developments it
portends occurs. As such, much collected data that is historical in nature, dated,
or is entirely composed of backward looking indicators will not be of much
assistance to a C/NI analyst in providing early warning (Gilad, 2004).
.
Web 2.0 developments – This refers to a second generation of web-based
communities and hosted services, including, but not limited to, blogs, podcasts,
RSS feeds, social networking services. In some industries, like biotech and
pharmaceuticals, these developments are increasingly generating early signals
from scientists and researchers who are no longer as isolated as they previously
were. As such, they have become critical to OSINT efforts (Golden, 2007).

Each of these items creates difficulties in the C/MI process. They have also limited the
effectiveness of C/MI functions within many companies and have been observed to
render more than a few enterprises without direction or a clear sense of strategy
(Sawka, 2007). Although technology and solutions are helping C/MI practitioners, there
are still many limitations that need to be addressed to improve the intelligence value
generated by open sources.

Proven C/MI operating practices in an OSINT-dominant context

One of the biggest challenges faced by C/MI analysts in employing open sources within
the larger intelligence process is in making the data gathered there usable and helpful.
EJM The following guidelines have been demonstrated to be important in making effective
use of OS:
42,7/8
. Reliability and authority – Information on which analysts base their insights
should ideally come from authoritative, edited, and reviewed sources (Clark,
2004). C/MI functions that employ OSINT more capably and avoid “garbage in,
garbage out” problems build protocols into their data collection process that
858 impose some requirements to keep source tagging of digital information or for
collectors to provide this information to allow for cross-checking and verification
(Steele, 2002).
.
Updated and archived – Systems used to gather OS data should provide timely
access to the most updated information as well as extensive archiving ability
(Vriens, 2003b).
.
Aggregated information – Analysts need ready, centralized access to their
sources; therefore, sources should ideally be aggregated and searchable within a
single interface. This is becoming an easier task with solution suites that are
designed expressly for intelligence purposes (Gould, n.d.).
.
Easily accessible – Today’s analysts are nearly always “on the go” and need to be
able to access their data from anywhere via any devices – including mobile
phones, Blackberry, laptop, via telephone, the internet, and so on (Tan et al.,
2004). They also need this access to be available 24 £ 7 £ 365, since their decision
makers’ needs, as well as the ongoing movements that affect their organizations,
happen around the clock and calendar (Sawka, 2007).
.
Full selection of information – Today’s analysts need access to a vast array of
open sources, e.g. newswires, industry newsletters, specialty publications, daily
business press, trade journals, industry analysts’ reports, and so forth (Patzer,
1995). Many of these are “free”, but better intelligence sources are frequently
commercial ones and nearly always require some expenditure. Additionally, a lot
of “free” data are untrustworthy, hard to organize, difficult to validate, and/or the
processor requires much time to manipulate them to make them suitable for
intelligence analysis purposes (Steele, 2002).
.
Ready-to-download information – Analysts work better with information in
integrative formats that are easy to download, e-mail or print. This is not only an
information technology issue but one of needing to educate and inform
intelligence network participants of appropriate protocols for sharing
information as well (Azvine et al., 2005).
.
Updating features – Analysts are best served when their open source systems
provide them the use of electronic clipping services, “alerts” and other
automated/automatic updating capabilities. This keeps them aware of
potentially important changes (Bouthillier and Shearer, 2003a).
A good example of a multinational organization that makes effective use of OSINT in
its C/MI and marketing activities is Shell Services International (SSI) (Bell and
Breeding, 2003; Breeding, 2000, 2003; Flowers, 2003). Business intelligence is the
overall “umbrella” that contains several different types of intelligence such as market
intelligence, partner intelligence (i.e. collaborations between SSI and other
organizations at every link along its value chain), competitor intelligence, technical
intelligence, and customer/prospect intelligence. Each of these intelligence areas has its Using open
own “knowledge house” within the larger BI portal, driven by systems that integrate source data
and make available all sources of information. Shell employs its gathered knowledge
using a range of analytical techniques, particularly ones focused on forecasting or
predicting future developments such as war games, win-loss analysis, scenario
development, and related methods. The company’s ability in using C/MI has led to
influencing an array of important executive-level decisions made through the years. 859
SSI’s C/MI capabilities are considered by executives at the company to generate
competitive advantage to SSI in its marketplace (Breeding, 2000).

Demonstrated and proven practices at the junction of OSINT and analysis

There are a number of features of demonstrated effective or proven C/MI practices that
revolve around the interface of OSINT and analysis. Ones that are portrayed in the
C/MI body of knowledge include the following:
.
Active internal networks feeding and interacting with the C/MI function (Kragten,
2007) – Since much of the open source information required by analysts likely
already exists somewhere and with somebody already in their organization
(Murphy, 2006), the C/MI manager and analysts’ ability to organize, cultivate and
keep internal networks energized can be highly beneficial for the C/MI function
(Duncan, 2006). Companies that have figured out how to perform
“network-centric” intelligence on a multi-location global basis have
round-the-clock ability to address intelligence needs (Proian, 2007). The
challenge is in establishing the networks, providing feedback, incentives and
recognition for people to actively participate in them. Analysts can best exploit
the rich amount of data that an active network can generate when provided the
resources for employing modern intelligence communication and information
applications or solutions (Vriens, 2003a).
.
Sensitivity to ethical issues (Fehringer and Hohhof, 2006) – There is a need to
clearly distinguish the ethical gathering of open source data from unethical or
illegal collection methods. This can keep employees from either violating laws
from one country to another or from crossing ethical thresholds that might
otherwise endanger their own or their company’s ability to operate.
.
Well-established C/MI gathering and communication protocols (Johnston, 2005) –
Data collectors, information brokers, network participants, analysts, and C/MI
managers should have well-established and well-understood protocols for
gathering and disseminating data (Murphy, 2005; Rajaniemi, 2005). The need to
train C/MI participants in understanding what is needed and relevant remains
challenging for C/MI managers. This task is increasingly being addressed
through IT-enabled instructional methods (Du Toit and Muller, 2005).
.
Commonly employs a wide range of analytical methods (Fleisher and Bensoussan,
2003, 2007) – Effective C/MI analysts rely on an impressive array of analysis
methods in order to address the increasingly wide range of client demands that
come out today. Generalist analysts will need to be comfortable with wider
arrays of analysis methods, since these will both guide data collection planning
as well as serve as the fulcrum upon which their analyses are balanced.
EJM .
Knowledge management systems to acquire, store & disseminate validated
42,7/8 intelligence (Rothberg and Erickson, 2004) – There is a growing array of
purpose-specific intelligence and knowledge management software and
applications that provides greater functionality than prior versions (Parker
and Nitse, 2005). Combined with sufficient memory storage, as well as finely
honed policies that guide intelligence practice, these systems can allow for more
860 efficient and effective scanning and exploitation of gathered data (Decker et al.,
2005), not to mention the ability to deliver outputs in real-time (Azvine et al.,
2005).
.
Counter-intelligence processes widely understood and employed around firm –
Open sources are a two-edged sword for most enterprises, and security of the
organization’s information is a constant challenge in an OS world (Fitzpatrick
and Burke, 2003). They can be useful to answer their own intelligence needs, but
also can be a source of information for their competitors looking to position
themselves in the marketplace (Nakra, 2003). As such, higher performing C/MI
functions take counter-intelligence requirements very seriously, and have
policies and protocols in place to prevent the accidental leakage out of sensitive
or proprietary information via open sources.

Companies continue to experiment with different proposals to help them address

OSINT challenges (Steele, 2002). Some of their potential solutions involve employing
technological solutions, while others require them to re-examine the human elements of
their processes. Table II provides an overview of the concerns that emanate from open
sources, and offers practices that organizations employ in order to address them.

Conclusion
An enterprise’s competitive/market intelligence capability remains important in an
increasingly globalized, information-driven, knowledge-based global market place
(Herzog, 2007; Liebowitz, 2006). The development of C/MI will continue to require
analysts to smartly utilize all data and information sources that might help them piece
together intelligence that allows their organizations to achieve marketplace advantage
(Rajaniemi, 2007). Although traditional marketing research methods will remain an
important part of the C/MI arsenal, exploitation of open sources will likely gain in
prominence as more and more competitive, customer, supplier and market-related data
are networked and made available over the web and in other digital broadcasting
modes (Steele, 2002). Companies that can figure out how and where to effectively and
efficiently gather, organize, exploit and act upon C/MI stand to lessen their degree of
decision-making ambiguity and lower their knowledge risk relative to taking
important, market-defining actions (Golden, 2007).
C/MI analysts suffer their own share of challenges in fully employing open source
data for marketing analysis purposes. This paper has sought to examine those in
greater depth, as well as provide some insights in to how some organizations can
improve their practices of C/MI at the OSINT/analysis junction. Generating these
insights is not an easy task, for many of the same reasons that limit the use of open
source data in general. Although the literature has plentiful evidence about OSINT in a
generic sense, and in particular generalities about its use in national intelligence
organizations, there remains a dearth of information about specific business or
 Using open
Concern Possible solutions
source data
Form Solutions that allow for conversion of different media formats into usable
forms (Gould, n.d.)
Willingness to enlarge range of analytical methods used to better account
for different formats (Fleisher and Bensoussan, 2007)
Improved document discovery (Golden, 2007) 861
Indexing Better C/MI data collection protocols (Breeding, 2003; Johnston, 2005)
Enhanced deep-diving skills (Golden, 2007)
Improve semantic web type capabilities (Steele, 2002)
Internet volatility Investing in human networks to supplement IT solutions (Marteniuk, 2003;
Shumadine, 2003)
IT applications that monitor and provide capture of changes in sources
(Vriens, 2003a, b)
Solutions with pre-established filters that separate critical from
non-essential changes (Bouthillier and Shearer, 2003a)
Languages Build in translation to solutions (Annett, 2005)
Use company’s own internal networks and multi-lingual personnel for
translation (Marteniuk, 2003)
Outsource translation skills (Steele, 2002)
Sources Enhanced knowledge management systems (Rothberg and Erickson, 2004)
Triangulation of untagged data with known information (Clark, 2004)
Willingness to invest in reputable information brokers and for-fee
commercial database vendors (Steele, 2002)
Volume Better specification of user/client needs (Sawka, 2007)
Drive data gathering tactics by up-front establishment of appropriate
analysis methods (Fleisher and Bensoussan, 2007)
Evaluate and control intelligence process (Blenkhorn and Fleisher, 2007)
Institutionalize key intelligence topic (KIT) driven C/MI tasking (Herring,
2006a, b)
Web 2.0 developments Establishing enterprise-wide Web 2.0 forums for acclimating and educating
and building competencies of employees (Du Toit and Muller, 2005;
Fleisher, 2004; Golden, 2007; Lapstra and Knip, 2005) Table II.
Investing in solutions and systems that account for Web 2.0 developments Possible solutions to
(Bouthillier and Shearer, 2003a) concerns that emanate
Using internal networks to interact in Web 2.0 forums (Shumadine, 2003) from open sources

commercial applications that have led to competitive advantage or other positive

outcomes.
There is room for a wide array of academic research projects into the many
processes related with developing successful C/MI capabilities. This will not be easy to
conduct or disseminate because of the long-held sensitivity of organizations to opening
up their intelligence processes to examination by outsiders, even well-meaning and
objective ones pursuing ostensibly beneficial scholarly aims. Results of this kind of
research are rarely available themselves amongst open sources (Dishman et al., 2003;
Fleisher et al., 2003; Knip et al., 2003; Fleisher et al., 2007) and will likely require the
development of multi-organizational benchmarking comparisons, case studies, as well
as longitudinal study of successful OSINT process evolution.
EJM There remains a need for library and information specialists to closely collaborate
42,7/8 with analysts. These two groups must increasingly share dialogue and assist one
another in understanding what can and cannot be accomplished (Carr, 2003).
Collaboration as a whole will continue to increase in the production of C/MI intelligence
(Bouthillier and Shearer, 2003b). The future of OSINT in organizational intelligence
appears as bright as ever, but not every organization will perform OSINT to its highest
862 potential, creating opportunities for generating intelligence-based advantages in both
the current and future marketplace.

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About the author

Craig S. Fleisher holds the Windsor Research Leadership Chair and is Professor of Management
(Strategy and Entrepreneurship) at the Odette School of Business, University of Windsor,
Ontario, Canada. He is the immediate past-president and a Fellow of the global Society of
Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP), inaugural chair of the Competitive Intelligence
Foundation (Washington, DC), and was founding Editor of the Journal of Competitive Intelligence
and Management. An active researcher of topics in the business intelligence field, he has
authored many articles and popular books including Business and Competitive Analysis (FT
Press, 2007), Strategic and Competitive Analysis (Pearson, 2003), and Controversies in Competitive
Intelligence (Praeger, 2003). Craig S. Fleisher can be contacted at: fleisher@uwindsor.ca

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