Qualitative Research in Intelligence and Marketing: The New Strategic Convergence phần 8 pptx

Although the specific forms ofthese methodologies which originally developed within the humanities mightnot be easily employed by competitive intelligence practitioners, advanceswithin t

Culture at a Distance: A Lesson from World War II 169organizations and/or where attempts are being made to influence these groups

in distinctive ways

In the field of marketing and consumer research, approaches influenced byexistentialism have been particularly prevalent The scholar who is most iden-tified with this method is Barbara Stern (although other scholars such as BarbaraHirschman and Morris Holbrook have also made notable contributions).One reason for the concern with individuals and circumscribed groups is thefact that the marketing profession tends to strategically cater to the needs ofspecific “target markets” and focus on how they are distinctive When catering

to target markets, it is important to understand how they are unique and todiscern specific ways in which they can be influenced Whenever intelligenceprofessionals and decision makers seek ways to influence specific target popu-lations, methods drawn from existentialism have an obvious applicability.Although orientations deriving from existentialism provide a useful avenuefor considering a number of vital issues, they also suffer from being so centeredaround one perspective (the distinctiveness of individuals and circumscribedgroups) that other valuable viewpoints and considerations tend to be ignored.Just as national character/corporate culture approaches can overlook the indi-vidual, classic existentialism (and perspectives that spring from it) is not de-signed to deal with unifying influences (such as national character or corporateculture)

Thus, studies of national character or corporate cultures may need to “fleshout” their collectively oriented perspectives by adding an individualistic com-ponent in order to more accurately account for empirical reality Existentialismand its analogues, in turn, tend to focus on the individual; advocates of thesemethods, however, may still need to embrace a more collective perspective inorder to adequately reflect what they observe Although the specific forms ofthese methodologies (which originally developed within the humanities) mightnot be easily employed by competitive intelligence practitioners, advanceswithin the marketing and consumer research literatures prepare the way for themand their clients to benefit from these paradigms In the contemporary world,dealing with national character/corporate culture is sometimes important while

in other circumstances evaluating individuals and circumscribed groups (as crete phenomena) is more relevant Competitive intelligence professionals musthave a toolkit that is capable of both alternatives

dis-SPECIALIZED OPTIONS: NOT RIVALS

In order to benefit from both (1) the cultural configuration/national character/corporate culture method and (2) existential philosophy/deconstructionism, it isimportant to view them as separate tools and not as rival or competing methods.Doing so may be difficult, however, because many of the scholars who embracethese methods have done so in polemical ways As a result, advocates oftenspeak in terms of deconstructionism going beyond the earlier structural method

and, thereby, providing an inherently more appropriate view of the world thatshould be universally embraced By speaking in terms of a universal advance,

of course, the continued value of older methods is discounted

The position taken here, in contrast, is that each of these methods is ideallysuited for a range of important questions As a result, the myth and symbolmethod and deconstructionism are not in direct competition with each other;instead, they are specialized tools designed for specific tasks By focusing onthe controversy surrounding them, unfortunately, practitioners risk losing im-portant options since it becomes necessary for the researchers to embrace onemethod and, in the process, abandon the other The intelligence profession mustforcefully reject this seductive temptation, view both methods as legitimate, andmake tactical decisions that are based on the particular problem being addressed.With this goal in mind, Table 10.1 is offered in order to clarify the benefitsand the limitations of both methods

So viewed, it becomes apparent that the humanities offer a varied toolkit thatcan serve the competitive intelligence analyst in a variety of ways On manyoccasions, for example, competitive intelligence professionals and their clientsare primarily concerned with similarities that unify all or most members of asociety or organization When this type of information is being sought, methodsrepresented by national character/corporate culture studies and the myth andsymbol method are most appropriate Using these techniques, the investigator

is able to discern recurring patterns and, thereby, predict behavior By olating these similarities, investigators and their clients are able to focus onoverarching aspects of the culture and how they can be strategically manipulated

extrap-On other occasions, competitive intelligence practitioners and their clients aremore interested in specific groups and how they differ from the larger organi-zation The methods of existentialism and deconstructionist analysis facilitate aninvestigation of these differences By focusing on their distinctiveness, it be-comes possible for the researcher or decision maker to envision tactics thatuniquely respond to the needs, hopes, and expectations of these circumscribedenclaves On many occasions, the competitive intelligence professional is inter-ested in analyzing or catering to distinct groups, not distilling the overarchingcorporate culture; deconstructionist methods, deriving from existentialist philos-ophy, provide a lens with which to discern these opportunities

Thus, a diverse toolkit from the social sciences and humanities exists Boththe national character or corporate culture and circumscribed groups can beanalyzed Competitive intelligence professionals need to be aware of the fullrange of research opportunities at their disposal and how to mate them to specificresearch projects in appropriate ways

Culture at a Distance: A Lesson from World War II 171

CULTURE AT A DISTANCE: THE GREAT QUALITATIVE

SYNTHESIS

During World War II, the culture at a distance method embraced the tative social sciences and humanities in a profound and robust way In addition,the method was especially geared toward the use of secondary, “open source”information Various other forms of information (although, perhaps, compro-mised) were used in a “catch-as-catch-can” way The whole agenda of the 1940sculture at a distance research stream parallels the tactics that are being embraced

quali-by today’s competitive intelligence professionals

Table 10.1

Myth and Symbol Method and Deconstructionism Compared

The example of the culture at a distance method is particularly relevant tocontemporary competitive intelligence analysts because it provides relevantclues regarding strategies and tactics when conducting research and analysis.Although the culture at a distance method focused primarily on broad cultures/societies while competitive intelligence typically centers on more circumscribedorganizations, similar analytic strategies unite them both By understanding theissues involved in the culture at a distance method, we can better understandthe situation that currently faces competitive intelligence.

Here, key aspects of the culture at a distance method are briefly examinedand competitive intelligence with reference to them is discussed It is hoped that,

by doing so, the reader will be able to better perceive the options that areavailable to and the challenges faced by the field Specifically, five separateissues will be discussed:

1 Research Often Takes Place at a Distance

2 Competitive Intelligence Must Often Rely upon Open Source Information

3 Cultures/Organizations Can Often Be Viewed as Systems

4 Systems Often Exhibit Uniform and Patterned Responses

5 Individual Responses Still Can Occur in Cultural/Organizational Systems

Each of these issues will be discussed separately before a general analysis unitesthem

Research Often Takes Place at a Distance

For a variety of reasons, the research projects of competitive intelligenceanalysts must often take place at a distance When analysts are researching aclient or competitor, for example, they do not have full access to proprietaryinformation and they must infer probable patterns of response using whateverinformation is available

Increasingly rigid legal and ethical guidelines are limiting the tools that petitive intelligence analysts can legitimately employ when researching organi-zations As a result, many of the techniques that are centered around infiltratingorganizations are no longer practiced As a result, the competitive intelligenceanalyst must increasingly conduct research at a distance

com-The current situation faced by competitive intelligence professionals parallelsthe situation faced during World War II when intelligence analysts were unable

to conduct primary research involving their enemies During that period, orate methods of viewing cultures at a distance and extrapolating actionableinformation from afar were developed The problems facing World War II in-telligence analysts and those of modern competitive intelligence professionalsare directly parallel By embracing and updating the techniques that served sowell in World War II, competitive intelligence professionals can significantlyaugment their toolkits

elab-Culture at a Distance: A Lesson from World War II 173

Competitive Intelligence Must Often Rely upon Open Source

Information

In view of the fact that much primary research is either too consuming and/or unethical/illegal, secondary and open source information (typ-ically available over the Internet) must often be substituted As with any otheruses of secondary information, when competitive intelligence analysts use sec-ondary/open source data, they are, typically, putting it to uses for which it wasnot intended As a result, the data must be massaged and interpreted usingintuition and insight

costly/time-The established tools of competitive intelligence can be usefully combinedwith methods of literary analysis (such as the “myth and symbol method” and

“deconstructionism”) These techniques offer suggestions regarding how to terpret communications in ways that tease out information about the commu-nicator and/or the intended audience Since competitive intelligence analystsroutinely examine and interpret secondary/open source information, they requireorganized and systematic methods when interpreting what they analyze Hu-manistic tools that build upon (and/or offer alternatives to) the culture at adistance method are particularly useful in this regard

in-Cultures/Organizations Can Often Be Viewed as Systems

The responses of cultures/organizations are not random Instead, they are (to

a large degree) artifacts of systematic cultural/organizational patterns that derlie behavior If the competitive intelligence professional can isolate relevantpatterns of response that are exhibited by the culture/organization, future be-haviors can be more effectively predicted

un-Existing secondary/open source data provides examples of how the zation has responded If these responses can be abstracted into routines or pat-terns of response, the underlying system that impacts decision making can beinferred By viewing cultures/organizations as patterned systems, this kind ofgeneralized analysis can best be pursued Competitive intelligence professionalshave long employed this technique They, however, have typically not utilizedstate-of-the-art techniques from the humanities when doing so By embracingthese techniques, competitive intelligence professionals can more effectivelypursue one of their traditional analytic tasks and do so in ways that mesh withother researchers, in and outside of the business community

organi-Systems Often Exhibit Uniform and Patterned Responses

Competitive intelligence professionals are often interested in isolating systemsthat underlie behavior because by doing so it becomes possible to see how thesepatterns will continue to impact future behaviors Systems lead to patterns of

response, and patterns of response can be used to predict future behavior; quate predictions of future behavior is the information that the client wants.Although much competitive intelligence work is geared toward answeringparticular ad hoc questions, attention can (and should) also be centered aroundmore general considerations Understanding the underlying structure of organi-zations and how it impacts future behavior is one such general body of valuableinformation Competitive intelligence professionals need to negotiate with cli-ents so they will have the resources to deal with broad, systematic issues, notmerely ad hoc concerns By pursuing this general work, competitive intelligenceanalysts will be in a position to provide information and predictions that havelong-term value to their clients.

ade-Individual Responses Still Can Occur in Cultural/

Organizational Systems

While organizations have “corporate cultures” that lead to patterned sponses, different segments, divisions, and vested interest groups within organ-izations may have their own patterns of response On some occasions,understanding variations, not merely similarities, is most useful to the client.When these variations occur, they also tend to exhibit patterns Thus, bothsimilarities and differences in behavior can be viewed as structured and pre-dictable behavior, and these patterns can often be extrapolated by analyzingsecondary/open source information

re-Competitive intelligence analysts need to master both (1) the techniques ofrecognizing homogeneous patterns and (2) isolating distinctive responses byspecific subgroups By compiling both sets of information, competitive intelli-gence analysts will provide decision makers with a complex and robust analysis.Table 10.2 presents these issues

The example of the culture at a distance method, therefore, has much tocontribute to contemporary competitive intelligence Although there are, orcourse, differences between the intelligence efforts of World War II and thework of contemporary competitive intelligence professionals, there are also pro-found similarities These similarities provide suggestive clues regarding how theprofession can best adjust to current needs

Furthermore, currently there are a large number of skilled professionals whoare capable of providing these research services The field of literary criticism,for example, has a high rate of unemployment/underemployment and many ofthese professionals would be strong candidates for the types of research positionssuggested here These professionals tend to possess Ph.D.’s and they have both

a methodological speciality and an advanced knowledge of a specific culturalarea Combined, their skills provide these candidates with exactly the tools thatare required to conduct sophisticated analysis and to work with a minimum ofsupervision

Table 10.2

Culture at a Distance: Key Considerations

During World War II, acclaimed social scientists helped the intelligence munity to develop an array of techniques that analyzed cultures/organizations inorder to make their responses more predictable The “culture at a distance”method that these scholars developed largely depended upon open source in-formation; combined with “catch-as-catch-can” information that happened tobecome available The method was able to provide decision makers with a usefulmeans of predicting probable responses of the culture/organization being studied.After the war, the innovative scholars involved in this project returned to theiruniversities and the methods they had developed were abandoned by the intel-ligence community Nonetheless, post–World War II humanists folded the es-sence of these techniques with their own research agendas and developedanalytic tools such as the myth and symbol method

com-While the myth and symbol method deals with cultures/organizations as lective entities, other scholars using methods stemming from existentialism anddeconstructionism came to focus on individuals and circumscribed groups As

col-a result, this combined resecol-arch trcol-adition provides useful wcol-ays of decol-aling witheither the homogeneous nature of cultures/organizations or the distinctiveness

of their various parts Both of these approaches have invaluable contributions

to make to competitive intelligence

KEY TERMS

Corporate Culture Management theorists have developed methods for dealing with ganizations that treat them as cultures These theorists observe that organizations possesscertain unifying beliefs and patterns of behavior that resemble those of cultures andsocieties Drawing this analogy, the corporate culture model is able to apply a wealth ofsocial theory to the study of specific organizations

or-Cultural Configuration Approach Based on the historical particularism approach thatviewed cultures as unique responses to historical circumstances, the cultural configurationapproach theorizes that cultures possess an overarching configuration of attitudes andbeliefs that run through all aspects of the culture As a result, if the configuration can

be grasped, a wide range of behaviors can be readily predicted

Culture and Personality The historical particularism school that dealt with cultures/societies as unique responses to historical pressures concentrated primarily on materialculture As a result, the psychological or emotional component of life was largely ig-nored The culture and personality movement linked psychological perspectives with theessence of historical particularism

Culture at a Distance Method The culture at a distance method is a means of conductingcultural configuration research using open source and “catch-as-catch-can” information

It was developed for intelligence purposes during World War II by internationally claimed social scientists After the war, the method fell into disuse

ac-Deconstructionism Deconstructionism is a form of philosophy and literary criticism that

Culture at a Distance: A Lesson from World War II 177stems from existential thought It focuses on the individual, not the collective culture.

As a result, it provides an alternative to models that focus on the culture as a collectiveentity

Existentialism A philosophical school that concentrates on the dilemmas and choicesmade by individual people Influencing deconstructionism, it centers upon specific peo-ple, their opinions, and the choices they make

Historical Particularism Historical particularism deals with cultures as unique responses

to historical pressures It is an alternative to general evolutionary theories that focus onbroad cultural transformations through time that impact all (or many) cultures Thismethod is especially useful for those who want to predict the unique responses of specificpeople As a result, the method has much to contribute to competitive intelligence

Individualist Approaches While cultural approaches deal with the society as a collectiveentity, individualist approaches concentrate on the individual or circumscribed group,and how it and its responses differ from that of the collective culture This researchagenda became increasingly popular in the 1960s and thereafter it gave rise to methodssuch as deconstructionism

Myth and Symbol Method The myth and symbol method adopts the basic model of thecultural configuration/culture at a distance method and applies it to literary and culturalcriticism Popular immediately after World War II, it became less fashionable as “indi-vidualist” research agendas came into vogue Nonetheless, the method continues to berespectable and legitimate

National Character Study Anthropologists using the culture at a distance method pared profiles of the national characters of different cultures National character studiescan be seen as practitioner-oriented applications of the historical particularism method

Psychol-Benedict, Ruth (1934, 1959) Patterns of Culture Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Benedict, Ruth (1946) The Chrysanthemum and the Sword Boston: Houghton Mifflin Marks, Barry (1963) “A Concept of Myth in Virgin Land.” American Quarterly 15,

pp 15–17

Marx, Leo (1964) The Machine in the Garden New York: Oxford University Press Mead, Margaret (1935) Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies New York:

Morrow

Mead, Margaret (1942, 1965) And Keep Your Powder Dry: A New Expanded Edition

of the Classic Work of the American Character New York: Morrow

Sklar, Robert (1975) “The Problem of an American Studies Philosophy.” American Quarterly27, pp 245–262

Slotkin, Richard (1986) “Myth and the Production of History.” In Ideology and Classic

American Literature, edited by Sacvan Bercovitsch and Myra Jehlen New York:Cambridge University Press, pp 70–90.

Smith, Henry Nash (1950) Virgin Land: The American Land as Myth and Symbol.

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press

Smith, Henry Nash (1957) “Can American Studies Develop a Method?” American terly9, pp 197–208

Quar-Trachtenberg, Alan (1977) “Myth, History, and American Literature in Virgin Land.”

Prospects3, pp 127–129

Walle, Alf H (1998) “Evolving Structures and Consumer Response: Dynamics

Trans-formations of The Fugitive and Mission Impossible Management Decision 30,

pp 185–196

Walle, Alf H (2000) The Cowboy Hero and Its Audience: Popular Culture as Market Derived Art Bowling Green, OH: The Popular Press

Part III

Operationalizing the Social

Sciences and the Humanities

The social sciences and the humanities offer exciting possibilities During WorldWar II, these disciplines were of profound use to the intelligence community.Throughout this book, it has been argued that the kinds of thought represented

by the humanities, social sciences, and the culture at a distance method have asignificant contribution to make to competitive intelligence Even though thefocus has been on practitioner issues, these discussions have largely involvedgeneral and theoretic analyses

The final discussions, however, are increasingly practitioner-oriented Chapter

11 provides a keystone that adapts the culture at a distance method into the

“competitive intelligence at a distance” method that is geared toward the uniqueneeds of the private sector This transformation is designed to encourage com-petitive intelligence professionals to employ the social sciences and humanities

in appropriate and useful ways

The book concludes with a discussion of what the author calls the “qualitativeaudit.” Analogous to the marketing and management audits, the qualitative auditanalyses the degree to which an organization is in a position to benefit fromqualitative methods To assess this ability, it is necessary to consider both thequalitative skills of competitive intelligence analysts and the degree to whichqualitative methods are respected by clients

An epilogue considers the fact that although qualitative methods may neverdominate in the world of private sector research and analysis, qualitative insightsmay provide the competitive edge that set dominant organizations apart fromthe pack Various appendixes provide relevant, albeit specialized, discussions

In providing these commentaries, the practitioner value of qualitative methods

is reviewed in a number of relevant discussions

Chapter 11

Competitive Intelligence

at a Distance: Learning from

World War II

A USEFUL BUT DATED METHOD

The last chapter provided an introduction to the World War II era “culture at adistance” method which combined the techniques of the social sciences and thehumanities with the orientations of the intelligence community This linking ofdiverse disciplines provided decision makers with an invaluable array of infor-mation that could not be produced in other ways During that era, skilled socialscientists joined with intelligence professionals in order to create strategies bywhich valuable intelligence information concerning rival organizations could beextrapolated from a diverse set of open sources of data A key constraint faced

by these analysts was the fact that, due to circumstances, they were unable toperform their research at a close range; countries at war, of course, do not allowenemy intelligence professionals free access to the regions and cultures that theycontrol Rival organizations actively strive to keep their key strengths, vulner-abilities, and decision-making processes hidden from sight As a result, the ar-chitects of the culture at a distance method developed ways to analyze culturesand organizations using diverse forms of open source data (combined with otherforms of “catch-as-catch-can” facts and insights) Using this conveniently avail-able data, sophisticated cultural and organizational analyses were inferred Theresults of this merging of the social sciences and the humanities with the needs

of the intelligence community were profoundly effective

Not only is the intelligence community generally oblivious to these ments, intellectual progress in the humanities and social sciences has continuedunabated Thus, the intelligence community turned its back on the culture at adistance method (and its use of the social sciences and humanities), on the onehand, while the techniques that were borrowed in the 1940s have been super-