Learn Competitive Intelligence
Competitive intelligence (CI) is the act of gathering actionable information about an entity's competitive environment (Entrepreneur.com).
Competitive intelligence is an important technique for establishing competitive advantage in
- business planning
- new product or service development
- market discovery, and
- career research.
This tutorial series demonstrates search tools and techniques for competitive intelligence-gathering.
Tip! Login with your @psu.edu credentials for access to University Libraries subscription databases. For best functionality, or if you don't see content in the main tutorial screen, click the Open in a new window button.
- Exfiltration! A Competitive Intelligence Virtual Escape RoomApply competitive intelligence strategies to conduct (mock) industrial espionage and exfiltrate valuable company data! (Note: No actual hacking or exfiltration of trade secrets, intellectual property, other protected data occurs in this virtual escape room.)
Exfiltration! is open-licensed for reuse and modification under a CC BY-NC-SA license with credit to Sarah Hartman-Caverly. - Exfiltration! FeedbackSend anonymous feedback about your Exfiltration! virtual escape room experience - or optionally include your email for personal follow-up!
- Entrepreneurship and Intellectual Property: A PrimerA brief introduction to intellectual property considerations for entrepreneurs. Informational only; does not constitute legal advice.
- Send Sarah FeedbackSend anonymous feedback about the tutorials listed below - or optionally include your email for personal follow-up!
Company Research for CI
- Competitive Intelligence: Public v Private CompaniesThis activity demonstrates the US SEC EDGAR and Yahoo! Finance search tools to determine whether a company is publicly traded or privately held.
- Competitive Intelligence: MergentOnlineThis activity demonstrates MergentOnline for researching public companies. PSU login required.
- Competitive Intelligence: Mergent IntellectThis activity demonstrates Mergent Intellect for researching private companies. PSU login required.
Market Discovery Research for CI
- Competitive Intelligence: Demographic info from Census.govPractice finding demographic information from Census.gov, and email the results to yourself for future reference (optional).
- Competitive Intelligence: Trend Analysis with TrendHunter.comExplore emerging consumer trends and marketing techniques with TrendHunter.com, and email the results to yourself for future reference (optional).
Industry Research for CI
- Competitive Intelligence: Industry Research with IBISWorldThis activity demonstrates IBISWorld for industry research. PSU login required.
- Competitive Intelligence: Industry Research with Value LineThis activity demonstrates Value Line for generating brief industry investment advisory reports. PSU login required.
- Competitive Intelligence: CIA World Factbook for International Business ResearchThis activity uses CIA Factbook data to assess the business climate in another country.
- Competitive Intelligence: Political Risk Yearbook for International Business ResearchThis activity uses Political Risk Yearbook reporting to assess the business climate in another country. PSU login required.
- Competitive Intelligence: Business Source Premier for International Business ResearchThis activity uses Business Source Premier to find business news from another country. PSU login required.
Intellectual Property Research for CI
- Patent Searching with Google Patents - IntroductionLearn the basics of patents as a form of intellectual property protection, review patent sections and their associated metadata, and practice patent searching using Google Patents.
- Patent DissectionDeconstruct and examine the parts of a patent, including the abstract, background and description of prior art, summary and claims, figures, references, and owner and assignee.
Databases and Search Tools Featured in the CI Series
Company Research
- EDGAR Company Search PageCovers all publicly-traded companies, foreign and domestic. Contains all reports required by the SEC.
- Yahoo! FinanceUseful for determining whether a company is publicly traded (shows stock ticker) or privately held (labeled private).
- MergentOnline (company information) This link opens in a new windowConduct research on publicly traded companies. PSU login required.
- Mergent Intellect This link opens in a new windowConduct research on privately held companies. PSU login required.
Market Discovery
- Data.Census.GovData portal from the US Census. Retrieve and analyze local demographic profiles.
- TrendHunter.comAccess free market analysis reports on emerging trends worldwide.
Industry Research
- IBISWorld This link opens in a new windowUse IBISWorld for industry research, including understanding key drivers, competitive landscape, market share analysis, and major companies. PSU login required.
- Value Line This link opens in a new windowUse Value Line to locate industry analysis reports. Can also be used for company research. PSU login required.
- CIA World FactbookBrief, factual reports and statistics about countries around the world.
- Political Risk Yearbook This link opens in a new windowRetrieve country reports detailing geopolitical, economic, environmental, and other risk factors.
- Business Source Premier This link opens in a new windowFind business research, reports, news, including by country or geographic location.
Intellectual Property Research
- USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image DatabaseLocate the version of record for a US patent with the basic patent search interface from the US Patent and Trademark Office.
- Google PatentsDeveloping a new product or process? Try a patent search to identify similar previous inventions ('prior art')! Google Patents is a more user-friendly patent search tool than USPTO - but, be sure to locate the version of record with the USPTO!
