Pharmaceutical Competitive Intelligence Budgets Grow 62%
Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have increased their competitive intelligence (CI) budgets in the U.S. by an average 62% over the last four budget cycles according to a new study conducted by Cutting Edge Information.
“Competitive intelligence teams are often the first to get cut during a cost-cutting cycle,” said David Richardson, research team leader at Cutting Edge Information. “But during a tough economic period where we would have expected companies to cut funding for market research and competitive intelligence activities, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies actually increased their spending.”
The study, “Strategic Pharmaceutical Competitive Intelligence,” found that competitive intelligence budgets rose from just under $1.07 million in 2008 to an average $1.73 million per team this year. But even at these increased budget levels, the study found that most competitive intelligence teams are still undervalued and underutilized. Sufficient budget and staffing resources are essential for companies’ competitive intelligence efforts to excel.
“An underfunded competitive intelligence team cannot produce world-class results,” said Adam Bianchi, chief operating officer at Cutting Edge Information. “Competitive Intelligence teams struggle to add strategic value to the information they deliver without proper resources. Rather than anticipating internal clients’ needs and enabling them to make the most informed choices, underperforming CI teams can do little aside from providing competitor data. Even that is with an organizational voice too quiet to impact strategic decisions.”
In addition to analyzing the budget increases for competitive intelligence teams, Cutting Edge Information’s study also found that 72 percent of those dollars are now earmarked for outsourced activities. Few drug companies have a large enough CI team to design projects, execute them and analyze the resulting competitor data. Drug companies must work with competitive intelligence vendors on various activities, such as war gaming, opportunity analysis or regulatory intelligence.
“Strategic Pharmaceutical Competitive Intelligence” (http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/research/market-intelligence/pharmaceutical-competitive-intelligence) is designed to help biopharmaceutical competitive intelligence teams increase their effectiveness and better communicate their value. The study’s benchmarking metrics focus on key goals identified by research partners:
* Link dedicated competitive intelligence budgets to top-level corporate goals
* Create a thriving competitive intelligence culture
* Get competitive intelligence recommendations directly into the hands of key decision-makers
* Budget and staffing data for both the U.S. and Europe
Oct 12, 2011 | Read more
Competitive Intelligence Workflow: The Self-Service Continuum from Ad Hoc Research to Environmental
Ryan Jacobean has two missions in life as competitive intelligence (CI) director of a multinational financial services company. Monitor the competition for changes in direction. And fulfill the immediate needs of his superiors and customers when they ask for specific competitive data. The trouble he’s having is controlling the flow of competitive information through the organization - my suggestion is that, he shouldn’t try to “control” it, rather provide a guiding hand in how to use it more effectively. With many users demanding more immediate attention for simpler forms of CI, he’s begun migrating many of the “news” elements of competitive research (newsfeed, broadcast of key events in the industry, etc.) off of the paper he’s accustomed to and onto the intranet for delivery. “Moving to intranet delivery with our KM system gives users a customized, self-service CI feed buffet-style”, he says. “But we still provide competitive analysis on project requests.”
See Competitive Intelligence Workflow for more.
Oct 05, 2011 | Read more
Proposal Consultants: Delivering the Winning Blow—or Not
Companies that hire proposal consultants can waste much time and money—and put proposals at risk— if they do not adequately prepare for and effectively empower consultants for success. On the other hand, proposal consultants can put proposals (and their careers) at risk if they do not efficiently (and honestly) work respectfully with their clients to develop and deliver winning proposals.
Read more by Amy Jackson of Press on Proposal Consulting by downloading Proposal Consultants: Helping to Deliver the Winning Blow—or Not
Aug 11, 2011 | Read more
Central Procurement Directorate (Northern Ireland) - Framework Agreements June 2011
The Central Procurement Directorate (CPD), the Northern Ireland Public Sector’s lead Centre of Procurement Expertise, currently has in place (or about to be put in place) a number of Framework Agreements/Call-Off Arrangements.
These contracts are designed to facilitate the call-off of teams to undertake projects as the need arises by means of a secondary competition between the teams appointed to the framework agreement.
See e-sourcingni.bravosolution.co.uk for further details (registration is required).
Jun 24, 2011 | Read more
Minister Hayes launches standardised suite of procurement documents
Brian Hayes TD, Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) today launched a Standardised Suite of Procurement Documents.
Speaking at the launch Minister Hayes said: “Today’s announcement is a significant initiative that helps business and buyers to cut down on costs. Standardised legal documents make it easier to untangle the red tape and get clarity for all concerned.”
The Minister continued:” I am launching a comprehensive suite of legal documentation for use by public service procurers when going to the market to purchase goods and services. This work was completed in conjunction with many players in the public and private sector. These documents are designed to bring maximum clarity and transparency to the procurement process.” “Business, both big and small, needs certainty. The documents that I am launching today make procurement easier. It’s a step in the right direction. In introducing standardised contracts, all elements of the public sector must follow a procurement path that is consistent and uniform. This is in everyone’s interests. It’s good for suppliers, particularly the SME sector, and it’s good for buyers to have this new contract certainty developed by the National Procurement Service.”
The Minister continued: “For a country that faces a budget deficit of 18bn euro this year we have to move in the direction of central purchasing. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of all officials embracing the opportunities afforded by central purchasing. The National Procurement Service has put in place in excess of 40 contracts and frameworks with a total value of €414 million since 2009. Aggregating public sector contracts delivers significant savings for the Irish taxpayer on all fronts.
However, this also raises a very serious issue for me as Minister. I would be aware that, despite the existence of central framework agreements and contracts, there are still some within the public service who do not avail of them. Despite the fact that these arrangements are, proven value for money, legally compliant and have removed all administrative costs, there appears to be those who have taken conscious decisions not to use centralised arrangements. I cannot understand this. If it is the case that these public service bodies are obtaining significantly better value elsewhere; that’s fine. But if they merely wish to retain control over purchasing for their own local interests, well then this is simply unacceptable. At a time when the country is borrowing money internationally at high interest rates in order to maintain our public services the concept that some officials persist in thinking ‘local’ is not something that can continue.
The Minister concluded: “In my role as Minister of State with responsibility for both Procurement and for Public Service Reform I want to clearly say that this situation cannot continue. I have asked my officials to report to me on the number of public bodies who are refusing to purchase centrally. I will be asking my colleagues in Government to ensure that where they have responsibility for such public bodies that they remove any such wayward practices.”
Jun 23, 2011 | Read more
Optimised Services for Procurement in 2011
Competition for business is increasing, with new market entrants and geography less of a boundary than ever before. The new rules on procurement have introduced transparency, a focus on value for money and importantly, less emphasis on prior relationships than ever before.
TenderScout has reorganised our service portfolio to help our customers rise to the challenge and to compete with laser focus for new business and the retention of existing business. See our Services page for more details.
May 18, 2011 | Read more
eTenders - The National Procurement Service (NPS) - Website
The National Procurement Service (NPS) has announced the launch of its official website http://www.procurement.ie. The site caters for both Buyers and Suppliers and aims to provide assistance and information on procurement activity across the public service. The site will provide information on the NPS and on public procurement generally to suppliers and the public.
Apr 15, 2011 | Read more
David Cameron’s Home Truths
David Cameron tells it like it is…..“When we came into government, we inherited a system of doing business that was wasteful, inefficient and inflexible. In his efficiency review last year, Sir Philip Green uncovered some shocking examples: departments paying anything between £8 and £73 for a box of paper, for example. One problem was secrecy – contracts being signed behind closed doors, with no opportunity for public scrutiny. Another was the lack of competition, with small and medium-sized businesses, charities and social enterprises being actively discouraged by the system from competing for government contracts….”
See: Dave Cameron speech on public sector waste
Mar 02, 2011 | Read more
Deloitte Ireland: Budget 2011 – Key Implications for the Technology Sector
Deloitte have issued a summary of the key measures announced during yesterday’s Budget, which will impact on the Technology sector.
For details, click on attached link
http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_IE/ie/industries/tmt/index.htm
Dec 09, 2010 | Read more
Smart Procurement, Smart Economy - A Seminar
The Irish Government’s “Smart Economy” recovery strategy heralds a new era of investment in Information and Communications Technology.
As government departments struggle to achieve productivity and efficiency in service delivery, SMEs are poised to benefit from new procurement rules that make it easier to win lucrative contracts. TenderScout have partnered with Tenderteam to deliver this ICT focussed seminar that will give you practical advice on how to win this business the smart way. Click here for further details and registration.
Nov 05, 2010 | Read more