Introduction to Intelligence Studies in Business

In this introductory chapter, we present the reasons for Intelligence Studies in Business and provide a brief outline and scope of the content. While this book emphasizes what many know simply as Business Intelligence (BI), which is intelligence in private companies, the fundamental principles apply to state and Military Intelligence as well. Effective intelligence functions help organizations stay competitive by continuously scanning the environment for relevant information and providing actionable insights to managers and top leaders regardless of the types of organizations they work in.