Published December 2010

1. Influencing
for Success
By KaSandra Husar, Intel and Rom Gayoso, Intel
Intelligence professionals strive to support key KNOW THE BUSINESS
stakeholders and decision-makers who directly impact the A good perceptual framework for intelligence analysts
bottom line. Our ability to deliver value to the organization to create is “I am the CEO of my area of responsibility.”
is intrinsically connected to our skill in influencing people Not only should you have a good understanding of your
and the amount of credibility we have. In fact, credibility is business environment but also become regarded as a resident
a very precious asset since it takes years to build and can be content expert by others. In order to achieve this, you need
lost in an instant. Especially in the business environment, a well-developed perspective of the micro- and macro-level
relationships take time to develop and require constant
maintenance in order to flourish and
support the intended collaborative results.
One might be tempted to believe that
a mere position or title ensures credibility.
But in reality if stakeholders have no trust
in the messenger, then the message itself
becomes lost. With low or no trust, your
ability to influence would be very limited.
Even though credibility might take time
to acquire, as competitive intelligence
professionals, we can increase our ability to
influence if we:
• Know the business fundamentals or
gain business acumen
• Have a good understanding of our
audience
• Utilize effective communication styles
Figure 1 graphical depicts the influencing
process.
Figure 1: Influencing elements
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2. influencing for success
market dynamics in your industry. Start by acquiring a deep objectives which guide the organization as a whole. Map your
understanding of the products or services the firm offers intelligence work to all levels of objectives, so that you can
along with a strong knowledge of your company’s branding easily explain how the intelligence process supports the firm’s
strategies and market positioning. A succinct knowledge strategies. If you cannot map intelligence collection to one of
of company financials and strategic direction can enable you those objectives, then it is not a value-added activity.
to effectively translate environmental dynamics into concrete Even though it might be interesting to account for
financial opportunities or threats. every move in the marketplace, you should only consider
Another important micro-level skill is an understanding information that ties to objectives. In today’s information
of your company’s operational profile, including both its explosion times, keeping track of that alone is a formidable
manufacturing process and the supply chain. Here’s one way challenge. Once information processing and objectives are
to view the value of this information: consider what would connected, you have a much easier job demonstrating value
happen to the supply chain if there is a swine flu pandemic in the information processing exercise and the value of this
in Central America and the Panama Canal closes. Sound job function as a key contributor to the organization’s success.
unlikely? The electronics industry had a brush with trouble
a few years ago when the Avian Flu epidemic spread across
China’s southeastern seaboard, slowing down or paralyzing BUSINESS acUMEN: KNOWINg THE
the flow of goods in and out of the country. ENvIrONMENT
Any serious issue disrupting a major transportation Alternatively, you can develop sophisticated business
route will affect the company. If it does occur, what kind of acumen skills if you approach the understanding of market
contingencies could be put in place to mitigate those risks? dynamics according to job scope. If one looks at the market
The ability to understand your company’s operational profile from the scope perspective we would find that the spectrum
can also be beneficial when developing a deep understanding runs from issues which matter at the departmental level
of key players in a marketplace, of the supply base, or of a all the way to broader socio-demographic trends which
competitor. impact the whole economy. When developing a complete
Another valuable expertise for intelligence professionals environmental picture so as to make optimal business
is developing a more comprehensive understanding of decisions, consider five steps or levels:
macro-level market dynamics. These dynamics encompass
elements that relate to the industry, and variables that affect 1. Understand the individual area of the business.
the broader economy. Start by building on the micro level 2. Understand the market dynamics for the strategic
skills you’ve previously developed. For example, a natural business unit at the group or division level.
extension of understanding an operational
profile would be to develop deeper
knowledge of the business climate of the
home country as well as where the company
operates. Further, consider the geographical
dispersion of the supply chain, as in the
Panama Canal example above.
You will find value in assuming
ownership of a firm-specific product
portfolio and developing market
profile knowledge, and then securing a
better understanding of the operating
environment. In general, develop stronger
business acumen whenever information
regarding the industry and the business
cycle is relevant to conduct business.
STraTEgIc OBjEcTIvES
In addition to understanding
departmental level and divisional level
operational objectives, also develop a
deep understanding of those strategic Figure 2: Scope approach to know your business
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3. influencing for success
3. Become aware of the product portfolio, knowledge objectives with sister organizations, with each group
of the market position of each of the offerings, and responsible for parts of the corporation’s overall strategy.
understanding of key financial metrics for the firm.
4. Develop industry level awareness. 3. Product portfolio, market position and key financial
5. Understand the macro-economic environment and its metrics
forces. The third step in this approach is to develop business
acumen based on an awareness of the company’s product
Figure 2 diagrams the steps to take in order to know your portfolio, an understanding of the market position of each
business using the scope approach. offering, and knowledge of the firm’s key financial metrics.
In this step, intelligence would support the implementation
1. Individual areas of corporate strategies in light of core competencies and
To follow the job scope approach, the first step is to perceived strengths.
develop an understanding of the individual area of the For example, consider Southwest Airlines’ expansion
business. Departmental level business objectives matter along through its acquisition of Frontier Airlines. Southwest can
with the individual objectives held by key stakeholders. You leverage its relatively lower operational costs, no frills attitude,
can easily identify those stakeholder objectives if you already and market position to justify the acquisition of assets in
understand the firm and divisional level’s strategic objectives. receivership. Southwest’s core competencies should be able
For instance, a commodity buyer conducts company to turn more airplanes, new routes, more employees and a
business according to specific standards and broad strategic broader portfolio of offerings into even higher profits and
cost objectives. An obvious one would be management’s better customer service.
direction to secure a certain level of discounts for a given
volume order and market conditions. He would also be 4. Industry level awareness
interested in maintaining good business relationships with the The fourth step on the scope approach requires industry
pool of suppliers and creating a comprehensive understanding level awareness. In this step, effectively applying analytical
of supplier health and solvency. tools to understand competitors becomes very important. For
For example, the recent economic crisis caused the most example, working through Porter’s Five Forces Model would
vulnerable members of the automobile parts’ supply chain force you to consider the level of rivalry in the industry, who
to collapse and share in the fate of both GM and Chrysler. would be potential market entrants, what is the nature of
Here it would have been useful to apply and interpret the product substitutes, and to what extent buyers and suppliers
Altman z-score statistic, a statistically derived tool designed to have relatively more (or less) power in the supply chain
estimate firm distress (Altman 1968). (Porter 1979).
Another way to illustrate the importance of Another way to approach this level of scope would be to
understanding the individual business area would be to look consider IBM’s acquisition of statistical software maker SPSS.
at the role of an iron ore buyer for a steel mill. Since steel With this acquisition IBM extended the reach of its software
itself is a sub-product, the commodity buyer must understand product portfolio into the statistical market, and SPSS users
the market dynamics associated with steel production, its gained the backing of IBM, a prestigious name in the high-
consumption, as well as the firm specific strategic objectives. tech industry. Although the end result of this transaction
is not yet clear, productivity software makers and statistical
2. group or division level software makers such as the SAS Institute now must pay
The next step on the job scope approach involves closer attention to adjacent areas of the business, as further
understanding the market dynamics for the strategic business market consolidation is still possible.
unit at the group or division level. Here, pure department
level knowledge is no longer sufficient: you would need 5. Macro-environmental forces
product knowledge as well as substantial understanding of Finally the broadest perspective of the scope approach
the technological issues that revolve around the production involves developing knowledge concerning the macro-
process. economic environment and its forces. Analysts tend to talk
At the business unit objective levels, company about the macro-economic environment only in political,
competencies and weaknesses would matter. The specific economic, social and technological terms, but it is also
goals and strategies of this organization within the important to include the legal and regulatory perspective as
corporation would be based on the company’s place in well as that of environmental concerns (Gayoso & Husar,
the market and the division’s collaborative part to play in 2008). For example, consider the interest in lower carbon
the strategy. There could be a coordinated set of strategic footprint and lower emissions as a driver for the adoption of
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4. influencing for success
analysis, SWOT, scenario planning, and
war gaming. This encompasses different
types and methods of analysis which allows
you to piece together the various data
and information to form a environmental
picture of your company’s position in
the marketplace. Ultimately it sets the
knowledge base for the formation of
strategy to meet risk factors and develop
strategic objectives and plans.
KNOW YOUr aUdIENcE
Another important determinant of
your ability to influence your audience
relates to understanding what is important
to them. Often analysts are too concerned
with making a point or promoting ideas
that are important to their own department.
Instead we should concentrate on the needs
and priorities of our clients (higher level
Figure 3: Intelligence dossier elements managers) and understand how the way we
operate can help them meet their own goals
for the organization (Goldsmith, 2008).
renewable energy alternatives, such as that from solar, wind, Since we all work in an environment where we need
and geothermal sources. to deal with organization politics in one form or another
(Vigoda & Cohen, 2002), we should focus our energy on
INTEllIgENcE dOSSIEr understanding those key stakeholder’s needs, so we can be
One potential way of developing strong business acumen of greater value to them and ultimately survive longer as a
is to utilize a variation of the business dossier approach. function. A structured approach to knowing your audience
This systemic approach enables you to learn your company’s can be applied through stakeholder management, which is a
business in the same manner in which a true CEO level condensed process people use to organize thoughts and reflect
would through four pillars of knowledge: upon relationships in general.
Note that stakeholder management can also be
1. product or service successfully applied to help build a representative framework
2. supply for all our work relationships. Any effective program or
3. external markets project effort needs to design the process of organizational
4. analytical tools engagement in such a way that its very existence implies a
certain level of stakeholder management.
Product or service knowledge is knowing your business
in terms of what it offers to the marketplace. This includes
such elements as product or service description, knowledge Stakeholder management
of component contents, bill of materials breakdown, and One way to understand the audience is to map out the
more. Supply knowledge entails knowing your business from stakeholders inter-relationships, their roles, and the ways they
a supply chain, vendor and operational aspects perspective. interact, which will give us a way to chart our work place
This includes elements such as supplier revenue, supply chain environment. One useful tool for cataloging stakeholders is
structure, business segments and more. mind mapping.
External markets knowledge allows you to understand Modern mind maps generally take form in the way
the markets in which your company, its supply base, and Buzan and Buzan (1996) envisioned them. The main thesis
competition operates. This may include total market of mind maps is based on the way that computers ‘think’
capacity, industry cost structure drivers, pricing strategy which is linear – one concept after another – in a neatly
and more. The processing step includes use of analytical organized format since computing algorithms are mostly
tools and incorporates such constructs as Porters industry based on linear programming patterns (with the exception
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5. influencing for success
of artificial neural networks). On the other hand, our brains Intelligence Topics (KITs), comprised of Essential Elements
are known for their radiant thinking which is a system based of Information (EEI), is another fundamental building
thought process. Thus the brain can make sense of very block for understanding your audience. Herring (1999)
complex systems in a very short time. argued that the KIT process not only helps competitive
Mind maps are spider-web-style graphs where a key intelligence professionals identify their organization’s needs,
concept is in the center and a series of other topics or but the process is also fundamental to creating a viable
thoughts are distributed around the outer rings (Wu and
Wang, 2009). In practice, mind maps have
been applied in several higher education and
engineering environments, as well as being
a powerful knowledge management tool
on the hands of information professionals
(Lamont, 2009). Currently, computer
software such as Microsoft Vizio or Java-
based FreeMind help create maps of
complex tasks in a very cost effective and
expedient way. Svendsen and Laberge
(2005) took the mind map concept one
step further. They advocated taking a
systems view of relationship networks, as
stakeholders are better able to improve their
interaction with each other when their goal
is to make the organization more efficient
and meet higher level management’s needs.
Network maps are flexible instruments.
They can be used to describe a wedding
much the same way they could be applied to
describe the relationships between the heads
of manufacturing (“bride”) and research
Figure 4: Family network example
(“groom”), along with their auxiliary
organizations such as Finance, Marketing
or Human Resources. (See Figure 4, which
depicts a stakeholder map/network of a
family wedding.)
Network maps can also be utilized
for a new product introduction. One
example would be when a finance company
tries to launch a new socially responsible
mutual fund. In this case key nodes would
represent the fund manager, most important
customers (such as pension funds) and a
few other key social actors or stakeholders.
Network and mind maps can also be drawn
to represent key intelligence topics and
their relationships, instead of customers or
people.
Key intelligence topics
Understanding your client’s (or if an
internal client, your organization’s) Key
Figure 5: Network mapping example
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6. influencing for success
communications structure built around their elements of EFFEcTIvE cOMMUNIcaTIONS
information. Even though KITs are often used within the The third building block for your ability to influence
military context, competitive intelligence professionals resides in the communications process. In addition to
can derive great benefit from applying them in a corporate understanding the business and knowing your stake holders
environment. well, you must also have a communication’s framework in
Once you have identified your KITs, you can also place to allow the dialogue to be as effective as possible. For
organize them in a mapping format. In this format you can communications to be truly effective, competitive intelligence
evaluate the relationships among them, as well as understand professionals must be able to translate their analysis into a
the type of infrastructure needed to support the investigation format that matches the organization’s culture, and in a way
and additional situations where those KITs or the that the customer wants it.
information they yield align with the organization’s strategic In order to achieve this effective communication
objectives. Nevertheless, the intelligence process does not goal, you need to invest time in building relationships and
exist in a vacuum – it too requires the existence of structure learning to speak the language of the corporation as well as
in order to function properly. its sub-groups. In the process of building and maintaining
relationships, you must develop the soft skills foundation
Infrastructure Needs necessary to help you navigate the organization.
Another important building block in the process of
understanding your audience is to develop the infrastructure relationship Management
sub-components needed to help intelligence analysts work To ensure effective communications, it is not only
through the KIT process and meet stakeholder’s needs. important to build relationships, but also to dedicate
Within the broad infrastructure category, such infrastructure enough time to maintain those relationships in good
building blocks are typically referred to as sub-components standing. Relationships need to be managed just like you
or network systems. There are three main such networks: would manage any other important business process. You
people, information, and tools. could argue that it is even more important to invest time
Understanding the people networks means identifying in relationship management, as it is either an enabler or a
the players in the intelligence network strategy. This necessary condition for other key business processes. In fact
would include head count information, as well as the Svendsen and Laberge (2005) remind us that to increase
amount of resources consumed to support the network. collaboration, it is important to both engage stakeholders
The information network consists of the components that and to ensure sustainability of the relationship. Building
support the intelligence sources strategy. Knowing what data sustainability in the relationship process is key. Since
and information is available can be essential to creating an those relationships do not exist in a contextual vacuum,
effective intelligence function. The tools network relates to it is important to take a system’s approach to relationship
analytical techniques and strategy. management.
Consider stakeholder management as engaging with a
• What kind of information technology system is in series of different networks, as opposed to the singular and
place? impersonal view of “engaging management.” Working from
• Which types of analytical models can be used (such as this perspective you not only seek to understand how these
Porter’s Five Forces)? networks operate, but also work to become an integral value-
• What types of techniques (such as econometric added part of them. If competitive intelligence professionals
modeling) are available in-house to support analysis? add value at their network level, those relationships will
mature as stakeholders’ needs become better understood and
In essence, knowing your audience requires a good more easily met. As these relationship networks grow stronger
deal of stakeholder management, key intelligence topics and as managers are more comfortable familiar with your
definition, strategic objectives alignment, infrastructure analysis capability, you develop an established reputation,
needs and availability, and mind maps application. However, allowing stakeholders to develop greater trust in the work of
knowing your business and knowing your audience alone their competitive intelligence professionals.
cannot guarantee success in our ability to influence key This trust building process takes time to mature – it is
stakeholders. These efforts need to be crowned by effective not an overnight process. Your job title alone does not build
communications. immediate trust. Be aware that your most valuable assets are
the reputation you develop and the faith stakeholders have on
your ability to consistently deliver value.
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7. influencing for success
Trust is a very fluid form of wealth given or entrusted to say things in a way very specific to our workplace. These
to us by our key stakeholders. Give serious consideration to expected behaviors and norms are true for individual firms
investing more time and resources into building trust and as well as for many industries. Those codes of conduct are
forming stronger networks, for without them you cannot the basis of the organization culture which also exists in the
achieve effective influencing. Also, networks exist within the manufacturing environment, such as in the semiconductors
framework of the firm and those of broader social networks, industry (Gayoso 2007). Professionals in scientific areas who
so invest time to understand the particularities of your key leverage technology and quantitative methods in their work
stakeholders. need to make an even greater effort to navigate the corporate
Currently corporate cultures emphasize the advantage philosophy (Hitt 2009).
of management diversity. Although it may initially appear Those important soft skills involve not only gaining a
to be more difficult to develop connections and rapport good understanding of the corporate culture (which can be
with people of dissimilar backgrounds and life experiences, translated into organizational awareness) but also require
technology has provided several channels to help us better some understanding of non-verbal communications, and
engage through social networks. even developing some degree of political savvy.
One way to deepen relationships is to become an active For example, in some parts of India shaking one’s head
member of professional associations such as SCIP. Active from side to side does not mean ‘no’ but rather is a positive
members not only read the website (which has much valuable sign. In other cultures, individuals do not look directly
content) but also participate in regional meetings and annual into another’s eyes. They do this not because they are
events. Another way to be an active member is to share your untrustworthy, but rather because it is considered rude. Non-
experience in publications such as this one, where others can verbal communications are based on local cultural constructs
relate to you, help you solve a problem, or educate us about and we need to be aware of that, else we will risk some
the best way to tackle a situation. In any event, sharing will miscommunication, or far worse, develop an ethnocentric
certainly help you grow as a professional and will add value to view of the world.
the field.
Another approach to developing trust and building Speak the language
stronger networks is to leverage our commonalities across Effective communication cannot occur without a deeper
the life spectrum, and to value the different communities we understanding of the verbal communication patterns specific
share. For example, attend a meeting of the next management networks develop over time. All forms of communications
level up in your company. It is truly amazing to see how are socially co-constructed, circumstantial, and contextual.
complete strangers can relate to each other and form bonding So you must understand the communications styles, group
relationships once we understand that we share common values, norms, and expected behaviors of the members of the
interests or face similar challenges. Even though it is easier different stakeholder networks.
to associate with those with whom you share common Typically you find at least three different languages
experiences, it can be even more enriching to associate with in the workplace. First is “My” language, which is the
others who do not necessarily exhibit these commonalities. communications style of your immediate associates. As
One way to approach this is to join your local Toast Masters’ competitive intelligence professionals we tend to talk in codes
club: its diversity can generate differing perspectives and and use specific jargon. Certainly KITs and EEIs would have
often a lively discussion. different meanings – if any at all – to other professionals.
In any event engaging people who have different The second language is the communications style of your
backgrounds and who hold different views can only benefit organization or company. The expression “FASB #157” has
us in the long run, as we acquire the ability to understand meaning for the finance community and in an accounting
multiple perspectives and learn to value others on their firm, but it would likely have little meaning outside those
own terms. When you develop a heightened capability to communities as others are not aware of its context. Another
understand different perspectives and you invest in trust- example would be a discussion between environmentalists
building activities, the end result is forming stronger market and energy producers, where “mtoe” and “kw” would
intelligence networks. certainly find their way into the conversation. Although
metric tons of oil equivalent and kilowatts have meaning, out
Soft Skills of the context of discussions like this they would not have the
Building stronger relationship networks is not based same importance.
on how many models you can generate or how well you can Finally, you must also learn to understand and speak
create spreadsheets, but requires more sophisticated soft skills. in the same style as your customers. Often our customers’
Your business environment operates with unwritten rules communications style is dependent on their position in the
about how to behave, when to engage others, and even how supply chain. For example procurement people communicate
Volume 13 • Number 2 • April/June 2010 www.scip.org 13

8. influencing for success
in a special way. Key stakeholders’ communication styles Hitt, E. (2009). “Corporate culture in current times: Seeking
also vary according to their value set – look at what metrics the right fit.” Science 324 (5928), p821-828.
those people pay attention to. For example, revenue miles Lamont, J. (2009). “Managing critical knowledge in higher
per passenger flown would have meaning to an airline education.” Knowledge Management World. v18n5, May
executive, but would not be import to those in other 20-25.
industries. Intelligence professionals need to be able to carry Porter, M. (1979). “How competitive forces shape strategy.”
on a conversation with diverse people who value different Harvard Business Review, March/April.
things, who come from different backgrounds, and who Svendsen, A.; Laberge, M. (2005). “Convening stakeholder
communicate in contextual-rich ways. networks: A new way of thinking, being and engaging.”
Journal of Corporate Citizenship v19, p91-104.
Vigoda, E.; Cohen, A. (2002). “Influence tactics and
SUMMarY perceptions of organizational politics: A longitudinal
This article highlighted the importance of knowing study.” Journal of Business Research 55, p311-324.
your business and your audience. When you combine this Wu, Z.; Wang, X. (2009). “E-Government system demand
with effective communications, it will result in your creating analysis based on mind map.” In: Proceedings of the
a stronger ability to influence them. All the intelligence 2009 International Conference on Networking and Digital
function can guarantee you is a seat at the table. It is up Society.
to us to understand which information is the right one to
leverage, what time is right for the stakeholder, and what
communication form we should use with our customers, so
that we can do a better job at meeting their needs.
KaSandra Husar is the supply chain market intelligence
program manager with Intel. She is also responsible for driving
rEFErENcES the design and development of the buy-side Intel Intelligence
Altman, E. (1968). “Financial ratios, discriminant analysis solution, including the spearheading of a company-wide
and the prediction of corporate bankruptcy.” Journal of endeavor to bring together strategic planning and intelligence
Finance, September, p189–209. professionals across the corporation to address competitive
Buzan, T.; Buzan, B. (1996). The mind map book: How to and market challenges in the industry. Prior to joining Intel,
use radiant thinking to maximize your brain’s untapped KaSandra was in Supply Chain Management with Philip
potential. London: Plume Publications. Morris Companies in Northern California. She holds an
Gayoso, R. (2007). “Organization cultural characteristics International Masters from the Universitat Wien and an MBA
applied to semiconductor manufacturing.” The Business from the University of South Carolina.
Review, Cambridge v9n1, p29-36.
Gayoso, R.; Husar, K. (2008). “Buy side market intelligence
practice: Reflections from high tech manufacturing.”
Competitive Intelligence v11n2, p26-33.
Goldsmith, M. (2008). “Influencing Up: You make a Rom Gayoso is an economist and an Intel Technologist. His
difference.” Leadership Excellence v25n1, January p5-6. research interests are on Competitive Intelligence and Market
Herring, J. (1999). “Key intelligence topics: A process to Research. Rom is also a futurist and works with scenario
identify and define intelligence needs.” Competitive planning.
Intelligence Review v10n2, January p4-14.
14 www.scip.org Competitive Intelligence