KITS Revisited:

Their Use and Problems

By Jan P. Herring, Herring & Associates

The use of the key intelligence topics (KITs) needs

identification process has been growing since I first described
it in the Competitor Intelligence Review in 1999 (10(2), pp.
414). It has become the basic tool professionals use to
define their organizations primary intelligence requirements
and plan the operations to produce the business intelligence
to meet those needs. From discussions I have had with
competitive intelligence managers who use the KIT process,
it is clear that those who have mastered it have also benefited
from its appeal to senior management and other intelligence
users.
But KITs are not simple to implement or use. They
require a professional understanding of the intelligence
process and the various types of intelligence operations
necessary to address identified needs. The competitive
intelligence manager must plan and execute on an ongoing
basis the intelligence operations (ranging from basic
collection and analysis to early warning and forecasting
processes, plus counterintelligence operations) to meet all the
organizations KIT needs.

KIT basic uses

Those who have read the Competitor Intelligence Review
articles on KITs or have firsthand experience using the KIT
process know it has three basic uses:
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KITs facilitate the identification and definition of

legitimate intelligence needs.
When properly defined, the initial set of KITs for a
company or organization provides critical inputs into the
design and planning of the new intelligence program.
It determines the number of competitive intelligence
professionals, their skills, and the funding needed to
address the organizations intelligence needs.
A user-needs identification process (collection, analysis,
and production of the appropriate intelligence) provides
the basis for operational planning to meet the users and
organizations constantly changing intelligence needs.

All three applications are critical to the development

and operation of a modern business intelligence program
and underscore the importance of a well-executed needs
identification process.

Some problems
After talking with competitive intelligence professionals
and reading articles that refer to the KIT process, I
have noted several operational problems and apparent
misunderstandings of the process. I would like to address the
most common ones:

Competitive Intelligence Magazine

KITS revisited: their use and problems

Some competitive intelligence managers just do not

have the discipline to carry out the proactive interviews
required to define KITs. They do not have the access
or aggressiveness needed to identify and define a senior
managers true intelligence needs (which raises the
question whether they should be competitive intelligence
managers in the first place).
It is also clear that some who write about KITs have little
firsthand experience managing a companys intelligence
program. They have not endured the frustration of
producing great competitive intelligence for senior
executives who could not care less about a classroom
solution presented for a need they havent expressed.

These two situations aside, there are several real-world

problems that I believe need some attention.

KITs are not questions with simple

answers
The first problem is one of basic misunderstanding.
Developing key intelligence topics is not a simple question
and answer process. If all a competitive intelligence manager
does is answer managements questions when it has a need for
explicit information, the competitive intelligence manager is
completely missing the point of KITs: they are an ongoing
intelligence needs identification process.
Equally important, a KIT is seldom satisfied by a
simple answer. It usually requires some planned mix of
collection and analysis, often combining various analysis
techniques in addition to both primary and secondary
collection operations. The ultimate test, however, is whether
the prepared response to the KIT is something that the user
actually applies to an intended business activity.

KITs are not KIQs

The second problem relates to the use of an intelligence
managers tool called the key intelligence question (KIQ).
KIQs are used both to analyze the KIT and determine the
types of intelligence operations that are required to develop
understanding and insights regarding the critical elements of
a KIT issue.
For example, if the KIT focuses on a competitors future
product plans, a related KIQ might ask What will it cost?
An intelligence collection plan would be developed to find
out the products cost of goods product parts and
makeup. It would also require an estimate of the products
manufacturing costs and overhead, both usually requiring an
analytical as well as a collection plan.
I have found the use of KIQs very instrumental
in preparing the overall KIT action plan. But some
inexperienced competitive intelligence managers have tried
Volume 9 Number 5 September-October 2006

to use KIQs as a way of interacting with the KIT user.

The managers may only end up with a long laundry list of
interesting questions that do not significantly contribute to
the KITs solution.
I caution those competitive intelligence managers who
take this approach to be very analytical, limiting the selection
of user KIQs to those few that are directly linked to the
KIT solution and can be directly translated into relevant
intelligence operations.

KITs require action plans

The third problem deals with the individual KIT and
its use. Identifying the users intelligence needs is only
the beginning of the intelligence task. Analyzing the KIT,
understanding how the manager intends to use the resulting
intelligence, and determining the types of collection, analysis,
and products required to meet the expressed needs are all
part of the competitive intelligence professionals planning
responsibility.
Before initiating any intelligence activity, the competitive
intelligence professional must be sure that he has the KIT
issues right and that the end-user manager understands what
will be done and what final results can be expected. The
competitive intelligence professional should develop the KIT
action plan through interactive discussions with the manager
to ensure that the intelligence being produced is what the
manager needs. Properly developed and executed, such
KIT action plans are tantamount to successful intelligence
operations and long-term program success.

The number of KITS must be managed

The fourth problem is basic to the use of the KIT needs
identification process: determining the number of KITs that
can be handled efficiently by an intelligence organization.
This number will depend on the size of the intelligence
organization, but the real issue is competitive intelligence
management: both managing the users expectations and
addressing the variety of KITs that the company might have.
Even small programs with two or three competitive
intelligence professionals can handle a relatively large number
of KITs over a six to twelvemonth period. (The single
competitive intelligence professional is a special case, but
depending on the organizational model used, even one
competitive intelligence professional can handle several
different KITs at the same time.)
The KIT process is the competitive intelligence
managers tool to identify, plan, and carry out simultaneously
a variety of intelligence operations in a professional and
concerted fashion. Some collection operations can easily be
planned to satisfy more than one KIT. Analysis is generally
tailored to specific KITs, but the KITs themselves are not
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KITS revisited: their use and problems

mutually exclusive. For example, a strategic management

decision or action KIT often requires assessment of one
or more key marketplace players and has an early warning
KIT linked to it that might trigger the decision earlier than
originally intended.
The number of KITs that an organization usually
depends on the nature of the business and its management
agenda. Thirty KITs might sound like a large number for
a small competitive intelligence unit, but if ten KITs are
of the management decision and action variety, fifteen are
early warning, and five are competitor or customer KITs,
they could all easily be addressed over a year, given adequate
external resources.
The experienced competitive intelligence professional,
working with the programs users, must not only identify the
organizations ongoing intelligence needs but plan execution
on both a time-based and management priority basis.
When this is done well, the number of KITs and ongoing
intelligence operations often exceeds the expectations of
both the intelligence users and the competitive intelligence
manager, producing significant and timely results for both.

Jan P. Herring developed and managed Motorolas highly

acclaimed intelligence program, co-founded the Academy of
Competitive Intelligence, and in his earlier career, set up the
U.S. governments first business intelligence program. He is
a charter member of SCIP, and has received SCIPs Fellow,
Meritorious, and Faye Brill Service Awards for his many
years of direct and extraordinary support. Jan now has his
own consulting firm, Herring & Associates, which assists
intelligence professionals to set up and manage their own
business intelligence programs, as well as improve existing
intelligence operations. He can be reached at 01.860.232.9080
or [email protected].

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