“Get me whatever you can.” We’ve all heard these five words. But beware: They are certain to set up a project for failure. Even though stakeholders love to give this direction…they don’t really mean it! A project can’t be completed successfully if its scope is not well organized, and if there is no clear alignment…

Author Victor Hugo wrote, “An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.” With global online retail sales projected to exceed $1.9 trillion by the end of 2016 and $4.1 trillion by 2020, e-commerce is clearly here to stay. Walmart’s acquisition of Jet.com highlights this changing landscape, and portends…

Systematic Evolution of Data “Analysis frameworks” are created in order to help a researcher collect, sort, prioritize and interpret a variety of existing data and information about the subject or context that has to be analyzed. The purpose of an analysis framework is to provide a disciplined methodology allowing a systematic evaluation of the data…

Proactive’s War Game offering increases the probability of success in the face of market and competitive uncertainties, because your team has already considered them and is better prepared to act. Case in Point: A client in the nutrition space faced a significant decision on non-GMO food – should they make a significant investment in marketing,…

There were several valuable presentations on day one of the Society of Insurance Research (SIR) conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. Keynote speaker Bill Harnett of Harnett Advisors discussed how every business is now subject to technology disruptions, Moore’s Law and the exponential change it brings. Bill asserted that “every industry is becoming a tech company,” and…

Over the past several years we have been collecting information and data points from interviews we held with top executives from dozens of companies. We found out that the top intelligence capability issues that are cited from business leadership as impediments to a highly valued intelligence function are universally consistent across industries and firms. Check…

We all love success, don’t we? For 23 years we have dedicated our careers to the competitive intelligence (CI) field. During that time we have observed CI professionals around the world. We’ve seen some who have advanced, and others who have failed. The same holds true for the CI function itself, whether it operates in…

Walmart, the world’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer, recently purchased e-commerce site Jet.com for $3.3 billion. The deal expands Walmart’s online presence and marks the largest e-commerce acquisition in U.S. history. Both Walmart and Jet have struggled to compete with Amazon, even as retailers’ online sales continue to grow exponentially. By acquiring Jet, Walmart gains access to…

It’s our final post of the series! If you haven’t already, be sure to read our first, second, third and fourth posts post in the series for more tips. Tip #5: PROFILE KEY CLIENTS TO ADAPT TO THEIR COMMUNICATION STYLES It’s important to get to know your clients, particularly their communication styles. There are four…