Purpose of the Award

"As the economy shakes and rumbles, competitive intelligence becomes even more of a management tool for corporate leaders."

As the economy shakes and rumbles, competitive intelligence becomes even more of a management tool for corporate leaders. Not only do companies need to be competitive, both for their stockholders and for their own business success, but they also need to forecast competitive threats and opportunities some months and years into the future. For these reasons, responsibility for astute use of business or competitive intelligence begins at the top. While every corporate executive typically states his or her company's need to understand its competition, few act on such statements. This award will acknowledge how some executives take this role very seriously indeed and, by doing so, help their companies maintain competitive advantage.

Award Criteria

This award defines "intelligence" as actionable information that has been analyzed to the point where management can make timely decisions. We asked everyone we approached about the award to select his/her intelligence-savvy CEO candidate based on three criteria. The candidate:

• Openly supports competitive intelligence in the company
• Has earmarked monies for speeding the flow of critical competitive information
• Encourages the establishment of "intelligence standards," such as staff training, ethical and legal guidelines, and introducing intelligence findings at company and staff meetings

Why Most Nominees Failed to Make the Final Cut

Whether on the official nomination form or by a telephone interview, each person nominating a CEO answered these two sets of qualifying questions:

1. Have you witnessed or been part of events at the company that demonstrated the above criteria of an intelligence-savvy CEO? What was the event? Can you describe the event and how the CEO used or promoted intelligence in order to achieve a victory?

2. Can you list up to three characteristics which this CEO demonstrates that describe the intelligence savvy of this candidate?

Most nominees apparently made open statements about the need for intelligence, but far fewer had earmarked monies for the effort. Even fewer had established intelligence standards and maintained those standards for more than a few years.

We also discovered that pronouncements about a CEO's support for competitive or business intelligence was nothing more than a euphemism for marketing research or strategic planning. Most CEOs have truly heard of the concept, but few have tried to learn, develop and incorporate it within their organizations. Of those who do, only a very small number have achieved the level of excellence proclaimed by this award.

Award Background

In July 2000, Fuld & Company launched a nomination process to identify nominees for America's most intelligence-savvy CEO. For 22 years, Fuld & Company has served the competitive intelligence market and more than half of the Fortune 500. In that time, numerous companies have emerged as leaders in competitive intelligence. Certain CEOs also emerged as champions of competitive or business intelligence. We felt it was time to recognize those CEOs that have supported the development and use of competitive intelligence in their organizations.

The Selection Process

In September 2000, the Award Advisory Board nominated and began to review a group of approximately a dozen candidates from around the globe. Following four more months of investigation, including numerous meetings and telephone conversations, the Advisory Board eliminated all but three candidates.

During the September through December qualification period, our Advisory Board reviewed each of the nominees and added others that likely met the award criteria. The Advisory Board was led by three experts in the field of competitive intelligence: Ben Gilad (former Rutgers professor of strategy, designer of a number of corporate intelligence programs worldwide, and a leading competitive intelligence consultant), Jan Herring (a leading innovator and speaker in the field), and Leonard Fuld, author of three books on competitive intelligence and president of Fuld & Company. (Biographies attached at the end of this report.)

The Advisory Board reviewed each of the remaining candidates, comparing what it knew with the criteria. In addition, Board members conducted additional interviews to gather more information or to confirm statements made by the nominators. As a result of this effort, we were able to reduce the list to a single candidate.

For further information about the Award, contact:

Patti Kane
Gumpert Communications
Tel. (781) 444-5543
Fax (781) 449-2128
pkane@gumpertcom.com