Areas That An International Business Requires The Services Of International Business Intelligence Service Providers

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.

In nearly all multinational markets, the firm is not the only firm offering the market with certain types of solutions, there are of course many others offering similar goods and competing for the same customers. To succeed the enterprise must serve the customers better than its competition. This requires the company to be ahead of competition in innovation and adopting the latest technologies that assist it lower costs while producing better products. Using intelligence, it is able to know what is about to be introduced in the market and what new ideas the rivals are implementing.

Crisis response and management is also a big challenge that confronts multinationals. Since the firm is operating in different social-economic and political regions, it may face several challenges that are a threat to its survival. These challenges include errors of judgment, blackmail attempts, attacks from political, and business rivals among others. Using intelligence, the firm may identify the necessary authorities to lobby, counteract local business and political rivals, and deal with crisis in production or marketing departments.

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.

Serving a large market exposes the firm to bigger risks. The risks may be damage done to assets, energy issues, damage to its reputation or brands and inability to get enough raw materials, and lack of the required expertise among others. To mitigate such risks, the firm can work with market intelligence firms in coming up with credible risk management plans and developing backups to vital processes.

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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