Our Ongoing
Feature – True Adventures in Competitive Intelligence Research
He called it "an important
invitation." To me, it sounded like a routine client meeting. The client,
CEO of a major worldwide manufacturer (who has given permission for this article), often
contacted me to brainstorm on trends in his industry. I certainly detected no tone
of unusual concern or alarm in his voice that day.
Upon walking into the client's
office, I began to sense that all was not right in his world. This high-powered
executive, generally brimming with confidence and displaying his best power smile most of
the time, seemed distracted. We quickly dispensed with the small-talk and got down
to business.
He handed me a document.
"This is my letter of resignation," he said. "Unless I can get out of
this mess, I'm submitting it to the board." Then he began to choke up, and I
saw some tears form and begin to run down his cheeks. "I've been with this
company for twelve years, four as CEO, and I've never made a mistake like this."
He blew his nose, wiped away
the tears, and managed to compose himself. Just as suddenly as he had let down the
veil, the air of easy confidence and the power smile returned. He began to tell me
everything.
To make a long story short,
this CEO, our client, was PERSONALLY to blame for a major leak to the competition.
It seems that about three months earlier he had attended a trade seminar. During a
coffee break, he had schmoozed with a friend, a "good old boy" who happened to
be Marketing VP at an important competitor.
"I guess I wanted to
impress him," our client mused. For some reason, he let slip that his company
planned to introduce an important enhancement for a best-selling product. "The
guy didn't let on at the time, didn't even seem interested," the CEO recalled.
Three months pass and a big
announcement comes from the competitor: The competitor is launching the very same
product enhancement discussed at the seminar — but doing it first and at a lower
price than planned by my client.
Preliminary analyses from my
client's marketing staff point to a missed opportunity valued in the range of $14 million.
"I did it to myself,"
said the CEO. "It was so stupid." He asked me, "Where do
I go from here?"
Our client certainly knew
better. He and others at the company had read and heard our advice about protecting
trade secrets. His instincts as a smart executive should also have told him to watch
what he said to competitors, even to friendly members of the "good old boy"
network working at the competition.
I did not believe our client
was serious about resigning, but I knew from the tears that he wanted to accept
responsibility for the leak. I was there as his sounding board. This was his
dress rehearsal for a meeting with the board and with his staff.
He probably could have gotten
by without saying a word, but he resolved that his $14 million mistake was going to serve
as a powerful object lesson for the entire company.
He picked up the telephone and
asked his assistant to schedule a staff meeting for the next day. "I'm gonna
tell them everything," he said. "Now I know what they meant in World War
II when they said 'Loose Lips Sink Ships.'"
He added, "What a wake-up
call!"
E-mail is fast, efficient, and
doesn't require a stamp. You can forward it, file it, delete it, prioritize it
— the perfect business tool. Or is it?
We do not have to tell you
about e-mail's impressive growth as a worldwide business tool. In our perception, it
seems to be growing faster than voice mail in the 1980's. In this crowded e-mail
environment, we remind readers that most e-mail is not secure.
What's a prudent executive to
do? We suggest that you issue a set of e-mail security guidelines for your company,
perhaps including these points:
We have seen signs that the
increasingly popular e-mail filters are giving some e-mail users a false sense of
security. Time for a reminder: Most filters work one-way only. They
might protect your company from being flooded with junk e-mail but do nothing to stop
outward flows of trade secrets.
To enhance e-mail security, we
suggest you investigate "gatekeeper" systems that automatically filter outbound
e-mail, scanning for key words and phrases. Install specialized software to encrypt
e-mail messages (such as sales leads or customer orders) coming from your Internet site.
Make sure that someone in your
company is responsible for keeping abreast of developments in the fast-changing fields of
electronic communications and data security. Finally, train your people periodically
on protection of trade secrets, and include e-mail basics in the course.
Think of e-mail as a business tool capable
of hurting as well as helping your company. It can be a marvelous tool
to enhance productivity — or an effective weapon against you. [with
thanks to "Virtual Update," publication of E-Fax Communications]
-
Aviation
-
Electric Utilities
We are pleased to announce that
one of the leading Internet directories has given CIS a big boost. Yahoo! recently listed our web
site in its directory as the first company citation (and second citation overall) under key words
"competitive intelligence." We are the first citation overall under key
words "competitive intelligence services." Thanks to of this Yahoo!
directory exposure, we are receiving many more inquiries from companies worldwide.
CIS has recently conducted consultations with companies involved in
pharmaceuticals, chemicals, insurance, electronics, telecommunications, etc. on the topic
of "What Every CEO Should Know About the Economic Espionage Act."
If
you are interested in arranging such a consultation or presentation, contact
CIS for a
brief preliminary conversation. Simply telephone (239) 594-8003.
Many competitive intelligence
professionals are bookmarking our web site (www.compintel.net).
For our recommended listing of
excellent
online research sources,
click
here.
