What information can you get from competitive intelligence?

The ethical issues surrounding competitive intelligence (CI) can be understood by looking at some of the activities that practitioners of CI claim they can undertake. The following list comes from an article profiling a CI professional in the USA and lists some of the things they claim they can undertake, the likelihood of success and how long it will take to gather the information:

• Cell-phone number of your competitor’s main contact with Walmart:
• 80% chance; five minutes.

• The names and contact information of the people suing your biggest rival:
• 80% chance; 30 minutes.

• Stake out your competitor’s booth at a trade show to see what people are saying about your product:

• 95 % chance; four hours.

• The market segmentation your competitor is using in its advertising:
• 95% chance; one to three days.

• Stake out your competitor’s manufacturing facility to see how much stuff it’s making:
• 95% chance; three days to three weeks.

• The names of your competitor’s top five salespeople and their salaries:
• 80% chance; margin of error +/− 10%; three days.

• Identify which of your competitor’s former executives are most likely to come to work for you:
• 80% chance; one week.

• Profit margin of your competitor:
• 50–50 chance; margin of error +/− 10%; five to ten days.

Rosabella Restaurants is a popular Italian restaurant chain located in the southwestern United States. Typical Italian food such as ravioli, lasagne, and fettuccine Alfredo can be purchased at a reasonable price at these family-friendly restaurants. All of the restaurants are owned and operated by Rosabella Restaurants, Inc. Ms. Jennifer Churchman, a regional controller for Rosabella Restaurants, has seen decreasing profits from one of the properties in her region and is in the process cause of this problem. Ms. Churchman requested financial information from the property, including a food menu abstract, to get the entire picture of the restaurant’s operations. The restaurant general manager provided all of the requested information. Below is the food menu abstract for dinner entrees over the last three months. Ms. Churchman has asked you to analyze the food menu abstract and given you the following questions to answer: Q UESTIONS 1. Do there appear to be any abnormalities with the report? Look for any items that seem unusual, such as item food cost. 2. Analyze the report. Which items have the highest contribution margin? Which items have the lowest contribution margin? 3. What advice can you provide to the restaurant manager for improving the restaurant’s sales mix?