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Competitive Intelligence: A
Powerful Tool for Biotech Business Planning by Rebecca J. Kuprowicz, President, Business Success
Strategists ™ , p 2. |
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The following scenario
exemplifies how CI adds value to the strategic planning process when utilized effectively.
SmallBiotechCo contract manufactures specialty proteins for use by the pharmaceutical
industry in screening new drug compounds. Its business success is dependent upon its
ability to choose the "hot" proteins, e.g., drug target proteins that are or
will be important to the pharmaceutical research community and which will likely be in
great demand during the drug screening and development process. It is imperative for
SmallBiotechCo to utilize many sources of CI to make the right decision as to which
proteins the company should concentrate its own R & D efforts. Some questions the
leaders of SmallBiotechCo may ask are: Which newly discovered or reported drug target
proteins appear to have generated keen interest in the Pharmaceutical research community?
How has that interest been manifested? Is there an increased recruiting effort on behalf
of the involved companies, which indicates new research initiatives? Have any domestic or
foreign patents been issued or published on these proteins? If yes, do any of the issued
patents include claims for a particular therapeutic use for the protein or
agonists/antagonists to the protein?
Assume that in my hypothetical example, SmallBiotechCo discovered a flurry of published
scientific articles highlighting a new protein found only in Alzheimer’s patients, as
well as several foreign patent applications relating to the protein. In addition, several
BigPharmCos had begun aggressive recruiting efforts focused on utilizing the new protein
in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (This was extrapolated from the skill set
identified in advertisements). All of these findings indicate an impending market need for
the protein.
As you can see from this scenario, valuable insight transfers to the outcome when you
analyze available information for its relevance in answering the questions at hand. The CI
process thereby enables you to make sound judgements and draw actionable conclusions.
Forces of Influence
Consider what forces are influencing your competitors, and what influences your
competitors (or potential competitors) can exert upon the market. "For many
businesses, the competitive landscape is undergoing profound change as new entrants
transform established industries and industries themselves converge to meet customer needs
in new ways. In this environment, firms face a constantly changing struggle in profitably
managing their interactions with competitors, making competitive analysis even more
important than in the past." ( "Managing
Competitive Interactions"; Fall/Winter 1998 Marketing Management)
For every action there is a reaction. When you change a factor in the market, will your
competitor react? If so, how? By changing one factor in this market, will it alter the
environment so that new competitors emerge? If so, from where will new competition come?
Competitive conjecturing will help you to think through a competitive analysis and
anticipate possible outcomes. Ultimately, you will arrive at more confident decisions, as
optimal decision making is the goal of integrating CI into the strategic planning process.
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