• May 7, 2008 Global Intelligence Alliance Releases Global Market Intelligence Survey 2008, the Most Extensive MI Study Conducted To Date
• April 14, 2008 American Automobile Association Chooses Global Intelligence Alliance as Market Intelligence Software Partner
• April 14, 2008 Growing Demand for International Market Intelligence among U.S. Companies to Support Market Entry and Expansion
• March 25, 2008 Global Intelligence Alliance Expands in the Netherlands
• March 18, 2008 World-Class Market Intelligence Practices Presented in New York at the Global Intelligence Alliance Customer Seminar
• March 12, 2008 Global Intelligence Alliance and Toronto Region Research Alliance Start Collaboration to Attract Investment in Ontario
• February 29, 2008 GatewayBaltic Joins the Global Intelligence Alliance Network
• January 24, 2008 Strategic Intelligence Processes at Five Large Companies Featured in GIA White Paper 1/2008 on MI for Strategic Planning

Global Intelligence Alliance Releases Global Market Intelligence Survey 2008, the Most Extensive MI Study Conducted To Date

Global Intelligence Alliance (www.globalintelligence.com) is proud to release the new report “Global Market Intelligence Survey 2008” that is the most extensive global Market Intelligence study conducted to date. Responses were collected from 439 participants on five continents by the Member companies in the Global Intelligence Alliance network. The survey has been published under the GIA White Paper series, and it uncovers linkages between organizational decision-making and Market Intelligence operations. Differences in MI by industries and regions were also measured along with key success factors of MI.

“MI infrastructure” in place, investments expected to increase
In the researched organizations, the average age of the MI operation was 7 years, and an average MI team consisted of 10 people. As many as 60% of the respondents expected the investment in MI in their organizations to increase over the next 2 years. The MI budget of an average organization amounts to 0,1% of annual revenue. The survey results suggest that many companies may have a relatively sophisticated MI “infrastructure” existing already, but improving its impact on strategic planning, sales, marketing, and product development could easily increase the return on the MI investment significantly.

Investing in MI increases the quality of decision-making
Companies without an MI system in place are significantly more often concerned about making wrong decisions than those with organized MI activities: 45% of the respondents without MI operations doubted the quality of decision-making in their organizations, whereas only 30% felt the same in companies with systematic MI activities. This clearly indicates that investing in MI facilitates confident decision-making that is justified by analyzed facts.

Increasing need for Market Intelligence during weakening global economy
75 percent of the respondents saw the need for MI to increase during a global economic downturn. The challenge is to carefully balance the MI efforts and their cost, and justifying any budget increases will require highly targeted Market Intelligence that ties in to decision-making processes in a very concrete manner.

Outsourcing of Market Intelligence growing rapidly
Partial outsourcing is viewed as a viable option in organizing MI operations in the future. Nearly 50 percent of the participants in this study expect that the efficiency and quality of their MI operation will be improved in the future by outsourcing parts of the process to external partners.

Survey Release webinar on May 7 at 9.30am EST
The Global Market Intelligence Survey 2008 will be released to the public in a webinar where the results will be presented and discussed. After the webinar, the survey and the webinar presentation will be available for free downloading on the GIA website.

For more information, visit www.globalintelligence.com.

About Global Intelligence Alliance
Global Intelligence Alliance (GIA) provides clients with a single source for customized Market Intelligence services: market monitoring, business research projects, the Intelligence Plaza™ software, consulting and training. Through its full-range service offering, GIA helps customers set up and conduct Market Intelligence activities that serve both strategic and operative decision-making. The GIA network consists of GIA Group companies and independent Member and Research Partner organizations that operate in more than 100 countries.