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Swedish Companies Fall Behind Global Averages in Systematic Market Intelligence Activities

November 29, 2011. Swedish companies have often been among the more advanced market intelligence practitioners, but results from the 2011 Global Market Intelligence Survey show a changing picture. The prevalence of market intelligence programs is high in Sweden, with 82% of companies reporting to have a systematic market intelligence function in place. How do Swedish companies operate their market intelligence functions?

In the Global Market Intelligence Survey conducted in March 2011, GIA looked at the current state of market intelligence in 27 large and mid-sized Swedish companies, and compared the results with other European countries.

Market Intelligence Set Up

Consistent with other European countries, Swedish companies tend to establish their market intelligence teams within their strategic planning / business development or sales & marketing divisions.

Source: 2011 Global Market Intelligence Survey by GIA
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With regards to decision making efficiency, it is clear that companies that have a systematic market intelligence program are better off compared to companies without one. Executive decision making becomes more efficient when decisions are supported by intelligence. The most striking difference is that intelligence is always available for companies with structured market intelligence programs in place. Decision making can thus be made faster compared to companies without market intelligence programs.

Source: 2011 Global Market Intelligence Survey by GIA
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On average, 40% of market intelligence work in Swedish companies is done in a regular fashion and 78% of requests are fulfilled. Less than half of the deliverables (44%) are produced by centralized market intelligence resources. Based on these metrics, Swedish market intelligence teams are similar to their European and global peers.

Source: 2011 Global Market Intelligence Survey by GIA
*Click on image to enlarge

Market Intelligence Networks

The most striking feature of Swedish companies is the structure of the internal market intelligence networks, meaning all the people who contribute to collecting and sharing intelligence even without a formal mandate.

Swedish companies have less extensive networks of contributors than companies in other countries. In addition to the core team, an average of 38 people contribute to market intelligence. Whereas ideally market intelligence would be a collaborative, company-wide activity with two-way communications, Swedish companies tend to focus the work to a small core team. World class MI companies have 155 persons participating in intelligence networks and the global average is 95 persons.

On average, Swedish companies have about 151 internal clients for market intelligence. This figure is also exceptionally low and is likely to reflect focused intelligence efforts focusing on servicing specific groups or functions. The global average here is 727 internal customers and for companies with world class market intelligence, they reach 877 individuals.

Overall, it therefore seems challenging for Swedish companies to make market intelligence a concerted effort within the organization.

Source: 2011 Global Market Intelligence Survey by GIA
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Market Intelligence Value

Only 65% of Swedish companies agree that the investments in systematic market intelligence have paid off. Responses from other countries were in the +75% range. For example, 81% Finnish companies say they reap positive rewards from market intelligence.

Source: 2011 Global Market Intelligence Survey by GIA
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Swedish market intelligence professionals consequently also rated their companies as less advanced compared to global averages. They were on average at the “Intermediate level” for most of the key success factors and at the “Beginners level” when it comes to IT tools. Decision makers in Swedish companies, thus, need to make decisions based on intelligence deliverables that are not as sophisticated as their counterparts in other countries.

Source: 2011 Global Market Intelligence Survey by GIA
*Click on image to enlarge

These findings are in line with the lower profile of market intelligence overall in Sweden; from the limited number of books and articles published by Swedish authors on the topic, as well as the absence of large conferences and industry associations dedicated to market intelligence in Sweden. This is unfortunate when compared to the 1990s where the interest in intelligence was much higher.

Findings from the global survey are valuable in providing an overview of common issues such as budgets, size of market intelligence teams, working mode etc. Companies however, are advised to look at factors that are specific to them, by conducting an internal assessment. By doing so, it will become clear how internal users perceive the intelligence team and their output, and areas for improvement. Comparison to a peer group of industry rivals will also highlight gaps. Only then can it be possible to create a market intelligence development roadmap for a better future in decision making by individual Swedish companies.

For answers to how global companies run world class market intelligence functions, download the 2011 Global Market intelligence Survey white paper. Or request a presentation of the country results from the 2011 Global Market intelligence Survey by a GIA consultant today.

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