27 August 2015

International Business Intelligence For Multinationals

By Ruthie Livingston


International business is more than just producing and selling goods and services. A business needs to be informed on what the customers need and what its rivals are up to. This prevents the erosion of a business competitive advantage to its rivals together with its profits. Business intelligence keeps a firm on top of its game. A competent international business intelligence service provider can be of help in assisting the firm in several areas.

The intelligence firms collect and analyze data to come up with statistics that accurately portray a firms position when compared against several industry-wide factors. They also extract facts by which the firm can improve its ratings in the industry. The business uses the report to plan for its future, serve its customers better, and compete effectively against the competition.

The business is not serving the market alone. Other similar businesses out there in the global scene are looking for a piece of pie in the same market. For the firm to succeed, it must serve the customers better than the competition is doing. It must also keep abreast with the innovations and technologies in the industry so that it can remain relevant in the marketplace. Intelligence information helps it know what is in the market or about to be introduced.

Crisis management is very vital to prevent the firm from going down. A multinational company is threatened by several elements in the market due to the facts it deals with different political and socio-economic landscapes. It may make judgment errors and cause damage to its production or marketing systems, may be blackmailed by its rivals and suffer from political upheavals. The intelligence assists identifying vulnerable areas, authorities that the enterprise can lobby, and strategies for dealing with damaged goods or reputation.

In getting to new market, companies enter unfamiliar grounds. The customer needs and tastes may be different from what it is used to. To serve the market with the right products it needs to hire a market intelligence firm that conducts a survey to determine needs that the company can serve profitably, best market entry strategies and assistance in developing effective marketing strategies. These not only ensure that the enterprise gets a good share of the market; but also helps improve on its offering.

There are several risks that a company has to deal with in different international markets. Such risks include risk of brand or reputation damage, energy issues in its production plants, damage to a plant or other assets, lack of qualified personnel or even lack of raw materials. With the intelligence collected in the market, the company can come up with credible risk mitigation strategies and set up backups for critical enterprise areas.

Businesses have to cope with legal challenges at some point in their existence. Some may be with their own clients, rival firms, or authorities. For example, a customer may sue for a defective good, or some government official may ask for a bribe to release some license. These cases require the firm to do thorough private research to defends its interests. A business intelligence consultant can help unravel the truth to save the company at the floor of the court.

If the business worked like human beings, the CEO would be its eyes, the workers its hands and shareholders its legs. Business intelligence would be the brain. Doing entrepreneurship without the right information is like being without the brain and may lead serious errors, loss of customers and eventual closing down of the company.




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