Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals

Introduction

The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) is a global nonprofit membership organization designed to enhance the skills of knowledge professionals in order to help their companies. Its mission is to enhance the success of its members through leadership, education, advocacy, and networking [(www.scip.org)] or "lean." It is one of the only global membership organizations in the field of competitive intelligence, and provides the field's only regularly published academic journal ("Journal of Competitive Intelligence and Management", previously the "Competitive Intelligence Review") amongst its publications as well as a large single annual gathering of CI stakeholders at its annual international meeting and exposition.

SCIP provides education and networking opportunities for business professionals working in the field of competitive intelligence (the legal and ethical collection and analysis of information regarding the capabilities, vulnerabilities, and intentions of business competitors). Members are made up of four primary constituencies, including but not limited to corporate practitioners, consultants, vendor/suppliers, and academics. Corporate practitioners make up the largest percentage of the four groups [(SCIP, 2006)]

It is governed by a member-elected board of directors who serve three year terms. Joe Goldberg of Motorola is the 2008 President of the SCIP Board and Martha Gleason is the 2008 Vice President [(www.scip.org)] . It also has a staff of approximately ten association professionals, led by an executive director, who provide membership services, educational and networking administration, communication management, meetings services, among other services. The organization hosts a CI career board on its web site, as well as sponsors three regular publications, including the "Competitive Intelligence Magazine" (monthly, paper publication), "SCIP Online" (24x/yr via e-mailed distribution), and "Journal of Competitive Intelligence and Management" [http://www.scip.org/08_jcim_ls.php] (quarterly, digital publication, edited by Sheila Wright [http://www.dmu.ac.uk/faculties/business_and_law/business/marketing/mk_staff_sheilawright.jsp] and Roberta Brody) [(www.scip.org)] .

SCIP currently has over two-dozen chapters in the United States and Canada, affiliates in the Czech Republic and Germany, active international groups in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Israel, and UK, among others, and individual members in more than 50 nations. SCIP has alliance partnerships with independent affiliate organizations in many countries. SCIP's membership has grown to more than 3,000 worldwide as of late 2007 [(www.scip.org)] .

SCIP has been holding an annual meeting for over twenty years, as well as European summit meetings for over ten. Its 2008 annual conference and exhibition is being held in San Diego from April 14-17 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel. Mark Penn, the author of "Microtrends: The small forces behind tomorrow's big changes" [(Penn & Zalesne, 2007)] , is this year's keynote speaker. SCIP offers a number of awards that recognize outstanding contributions across the field of competitive intelligence.

The association also annually honors individuals who provide outstanding contributions to the competitive intelligence community and field through four awards programs, namely the Meritorious Award, Fellows Award, Catalyst Award, and Faye Brill Service Award. The Society is currently working on developing a competitive intelligence body of knowledge, under the direction of Dr. John Prescott at the University of Pittsburgh,with intended completion early in 2009 [((CI Magazine, Jan/Feb 2008)] .

Historical Development

In 1986 the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals was founded in the Washington, DC area through the efforts of a number of local and national intelligence practitioners. The earliest members of the association derived from the corporate community, academe, and public sector. It is currently headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. In December 2005, through the efforts of Dr. Craig Fleisher and the Society's then Executive Director Alexander Graham, SCIP founded the Competitive Intelligence Foundation (CIF) [(www.scip.org)] . The CI Foundation conducts and supports research on emerging issues and key trends that affect the practice of competitive intelligence and its ability to support key decision-makers and their organizations. The CI Foundation also makes existing and developing competitive intelligence knowledge visible, available, and relevant to the competitive intelligence practitioner through targeted publications including handbooks, studies, and survey reports. Dr. Fleisher served as the inaugural chair of the CIF, and has since been followed by Dr. Martha Matteo and Joe Goldberg. Martha Gleason chairs the CIF in 2008 [ [http://www.scip.org/cifoundation/ CI Foundation - SCIP ] ] .

References

External links

* [http://www.scip.org/ scip.org] Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals
* [http://www.scip.org/cifoundation/ http://www.scip.org/cifoundation/] Competitive Intelligence Foundation