The Role of Competitor Information Systems Available to Purchase

Considers the nature and scope of a competitor in‐formation system(CIS) and the contribution to strategic planning decisions. Investigates the process of operationalizing a CIS as an “intelligence cycle” with discrete organizational activities of identifying needs, collecting, processing, disseminating and using intelligence. Gives a detailed case study of setting up a CIS in a life assurance company, the practical problems met and the solutions adopted. These include the identification of key strategic issues, strategic groupings of competitors, user analysis, and the final collection, evaluation and processing of the data using a hyper‐media software called Guidex. Draws conclusions to guide other system users and designers.