The information specialist is thus collaborating with the domain experts during the most critical phases of the product development, in the building up of the business case and in defining the features and functionality of the new product. Patel, Bibi, Karen Hlady, and Jane Stewart. Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science 22, no. At the Information Resource Centre of Bell Northern Research 's Ottawa laboratory, information services are provided at three levels. At Level III, information professionals collaborate with users, sharing strategic goals and in-depth knowledge of the competitive environment.
Customers are decision makers and executives who demand timely and focused information.
Gib, Andre and Eileen Walraven. An Approach that Provides a Competitive Advantage. At McDonnell Douglas , corporate librarians and competitor intelligence analysts teamed successfully to analyze the advanced manufacturing capability of a competitor in order to present to management an assessment of the competitor's probability of launching a certain product within a time frame and attaining a set of design and technology objectives. The participants concluded that the multidisciplinary approach multiplied the respective strengths of both the information specialists and the intelligence analysts and provided the firm with a competitive advantage. Linder, Jane C. 1992.