Industry Partner Conference
- May 2007
Intelligence
Gathering
and
Sense-making:
Coping With
Strategic Ambiguity
Intelligence Gathering &
Sense-making:
Coping With Strategic
Ambiguity
More
than 100 senior decision makers from industry and government attended our
partner event on "Intelligence Gathering &
Sense-making" on May 18, 2007. Speakers presented a wide range of insights
including: the relationship between intelligence
gathering and strategy, examples of intelligence
gathering successes and failures by government agencies, academic
perspectives on dealing with "predictable surprises" and other concepts, and
how IBM is developing high performance stream computing systems
to process large amounts of unstructured data.
Left
to right from top: Harbir Singh and George Day (not shown),
Co-directors of the Mack Center, welcomed attendees; Dr. Scott Snyder,
co-organizer of the event, discussed strategic radar and signals; attendees
participated in a "signal-sharing" exercise facilitated by Dr.
Snyder; author Michael Raynor presented concepts from his new book "The
Strategy Paradox"; Prof. Paul Schoemaker, co-organizer and Research
Director of the Mack Center, discussed "peripheral vision" from
his 2006 book (with George Day); Former Deputy Director of the CIA discussed
the government intelligence community is structured including recent
reforms; Arik Johnson discussed the relationship between information,
planning, strategy and other factors involved in the intelligence
process. Harvard Prof. Max Bazerman presented examples of intelligence
failures; Nagui Halim described how IBM is using high performance stream
computing to collect and analyze enormous amounts of unstructured data; Liam
Fahey discussed "why firms can't (seem to) do intelligence
work." (photos by Michael Tomczyk)
Conference Description
We live in an age of rapidly changing strategic
environments, saturated by constant waves of new information. In this
environment, corporations need to make sense of a vast array of intelligence
to compete, survive and succeed. In the government sector, critical mission
intelligence can be a life or death proposition. Both sectors—corporate and
government—can learn from each other about sensing and interpreting changes
in their strategic environments.
In less than a decade, we’ve seen dramatic
advances in processing, storage and visualization technologies—yet, many
organizations are still constrained by organizational blinders and broken
circuits that can impede the flow of new intelligence needed to support
better decisions. In the field of intelligence gathering, both corporate
and government organizations have had to adapt to new realities—providing
valuable lessons for both sectors.
Since the terrorist attacks in September 2001, the
intelligence community has dramatically changed its models and capabilities
to deal with a variety of unstructured, irregular and largely invisible
adversaries. The need to collect information from eno rmous pools of
information such as the Internet, media, public databases, etc. has created
a need for Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) systems.
Corporate intelligence gathering has also evolved
dramatically. The rise of the Internet has forced corporations to develop
novel techniques, such as contextual search tools, for gathering
intelligence in an era of blogs, wikis, podcasts, search engines and other
web media. Consumer product firms reach into communities of interest to
identify new fads and fashions, to guide product development. Companies are
using sophisticated search technologies to find patterns in the millions of
blogs and extemporaneous conversations found online. Best practice firms
also use structured scouting processes to anticipate disruptions in
industries and markets, and alert decision makers to new opportunities in
technological innovation.
Why are some companies so adept at anticipating
the next competitive move or emerging technology, while others struggle to
keep up with each new piece of information?
Conference Themes
This
conference will explore the following questions regarding to intelligence
gathering and sensemaking:
-
What are some of the most successful techniques
across government and industry for scanning and making sense of a changing
strategic environment?
-
How can technologies such as contextual search
and data mining be used to increase the effectiveness of intelligence
gathering?
-
What are the latest developments in intelligence
gathering and interpretation in government and industry? What improvements
in technology and practice can be expected in the next five years?
-
What are the behavioral and organizational limits
to effective learning from intelligence efforts?
-
How should firms organize to effectively scan,
interpret and act on the early signals of changes in their environment?
Conference Participants
Attendees will include senior executives from
large corporations involved in identifying new technologies and business
opportunities, including decision makers responsible for strategic planning,
R&D, market scanning, marketing and organization development.
Participants will discuss current academic work as well as
best practices for intelligence gathering and sense-making in such sectors
as government, research, financials services, IT etc.
Conference Agenda
8:30 - 8:45 Welcome and Conference
Introduction
George Day and Harbir
Singh
Co-Directors,
William & Phyllis Mack Center
for Technological Innovation; The Wharton School
8:45 – 9:30
A Framework for Intelligence Gathering:
Developing a Strategic Radar
Scott Snyder
Senior Fellow, Mack Center
Adjunct Associate Professor, Engineering School,
Penn
President and CEO, Decision Strategies International
9:30 - 10:15 Identifying
and Managing Strategic Risk
Michael E. Raynor –
Distinguished Fellow – Deloitte Consulting LLP; Author of The Strategy
Paradox (Doubleday, 2007); Co-Author (w. Clay Christensen) of The
Innovator’s Solution (2003)
10:15-10:30
Break
10:30-11:15
Predictable
Surprises: Cognitive, Organizational,
and Political Barriers to Action
Max H.
Bazerman -
Jesse
Isidor Straus Professor of Business
Administration,
Harvard
Business School
11:15-12:00 The Intelligence Community
Perspective
Larry
Kindsvater- Former Deputy
Director of Central Intelligence for Community Management
12:00 - 1:00
Lunch and Informal Discussion
1:00
– 1:45
Why Firms Can’t (Seem To) Do Real Intelligence Work
Liam Fahey –
Intelligence
Leadership Forum;
Adj.
Professor of Strategic Management, Babson College
1:45 - 2:30 Making Sense of the Clutter: The Promise
of High Performance Computing
Nagui Halim -
Director,
High Performance Stream Computing, IBM
IBM's
System-S is an exploratory prototype system being developed by
IBM Research to support highly dynamic applications that
extract information and knowledge by analyzing enormous
volumes of unstructured data. System-S is being designed
to react quickly to events, changing requirements and
priorities.
2:30 - 2:45
Break
2:45 -
3:30 Technology and the Evolution of
Competitive Intelligence
Arik R. Johnson –
Founder
and CEO, Aurora WDC and
Competitive Intelligence Professionals Foundation Board of Trustees
3:30 – 4:00
Organizing for Success: Developing Peripheral Vision
Paul Schoemaker –
Research
Director, William & Phyllis Mack
Center for Technological Innovation; Chairman, DSI and
Strategic Radar
4:00
Conference Adjourns
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