The intelligence process is based on the assumption that managers seek to become better informed about critical issues on a formal and systematic basis.
Intelligence is distilled information.
Note that the intelligence process generates insightful recommendations regarding future events for decision makers rather than generates reports for justifying past decisions. The process offers critical choices regarding future decisions that provide a desired competitive advantage. Executives are increasingly using intelligence professionals to help them make better decisions in an era of networking technology and globalization, to provide them insights that aren't immediately obvious. Businesses have expressed a growing need for intelligence professionals who have been rigorously trained through a formal education program. The Competitive Intelligence Center at Simmons is the first master's degree program in the Western Hemisphere.