Key intelligence topics: A process to identify and define intelligence needs

Abstract

Defining an organization's actual intelligence needs, and doing so in a way that results in the production of intelligence that management feels compelled to act on, is one of our profession's most elusive goals. The use of a systematized or formal “management-needs identification process” is a proven way to accomplish this task. The objective is to create a cooperative environment between intelligence users and CI professionals that supports the two-way communication necessary for identifying and defining the company's real intelligence needs. To accomplish this, the private sector can learn from government intelligence models, such as the National Intelligence Topics (NIT) process for identifying national-level intelligence requirements. As adapted for the corporate world, the Key Intelligence Topics (KIT) process has been used by many companies to identify and prioritize senior management's key intelligence needs. At the heart of the KIT process is an interactive dialog with key decision makers in the company. The outcome of KIT interviews provides the focus needed to conduct effective intelligence operations, while permitting CI program designers and managers to determine the resources required to address the company's actual intelligence needs. Sample KIT protocols are provided: (1) strategic decisions and actions; (2) early-warning topics; and (3) descriptions of key marketplace players. These KITS are not mutually exclusive, as a strategy-focused KIT might also require a competitor profile and some form of early-warning intelligence to alert the user to a change in competitor activities, which, in turn, would signal a need to modify the new competitive strategy. The KIT process causes the CI unit to operate in a proactive mode, helping management to identify and define intelligence requirements. Competitive intelligence professionals' use of the KIT process should result not only in identifying the organization's key intelligence needs, but also in creating the critical communication channel's necessary to produce credible and actionable intelligence. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.