Scouting for Knowledge

image:passion4fm.com
culled from:leader-values.com

"The visible competitor is a known quantity...Invisible competitors, on the other hand, are unfamiliar and unknown. They are companies from outside the industry that posses a technological capability that could be threatening if turned to new markets."
Fumio Kodama, "technological Fusion and the New R&D".
"Scouting for new business was a major lesson Sam Walton taught his people by example...He's constantly looking...wherever he goes. He's doing it today. He's a close observer of people, that's all what they are talking about, looking at, wearing...He's always looking for a quality item and things that people would be interested in buying and would be pleased to purchase."
Is your organization scanning for invisible competitors ? Is it a company of Sam Walton's ? Do executives really understand customers ? Or, do they think they do because of reading marketing studies ? Are they seeking to develop non customer intelligence ? Do executives, managers and associates possess a good intelligence of work place practices and technologies that will improve operations, productivity and profits ?
Does this intelligence result in action and productive change ? Is the organization focusing on discovering and enacting discontinuous improvements ? Do executive and other organizational members have the knowledge to transform their existing industry and/or create a new one ?
If the answer to any of these questions is in the negative, scouting maybe is a requisite for your organization.