Coping with fair or unfair competition all entails collection and examination of information about the competition. You might be hoodwinked and not be able to take the initiative if you do not understand more than what you see. Ancient Chinese war strategist Sun Ztu said that "all warfare is based on deception", which is applicable to the business world as well. "Direction confrontation" and "ambush and shielding" are logic and part of competition strategies.
Competition intelligence includes but is not limited to the following:


Company profile	Sales
◎ Basic facts ◎ Shareholders and shares ◎ Company structure ◎ Board members ◎ Company background ◎ Others	◎ Sales volume and value in recent years ◎ Sales department structure and management system ◎ Main sales channels ◎ List of major agencies ◎ Sales strategy ◎ Pricing strategy ◎ Main industries and clients ◎ Others
Production	Purchase
◎ Main product type and models ◎ Main equipment for production ◎ Number of production lines ◎ Production capacity ◎ OEMs ◎ Others	◎ Purchase management system ◎ Raw material purchase ◎ Types and quantities of raw materials purchased ◎ Overview of domestic vendors ◎ Procedures to select vendors ◎ Relationships with vendors ◎ Others
Research and development (R&D)	Product quality and after-sales services
◎ R&D departments and number of staff ◎ R&D costs ◎ R&D capacity ◎ Other	◎ Quality certification ◎ Quality assurance system ◎ Comments by key clients on the quality of products ◎ Delivery, sites and cycles ◎ Product guarantee and repair rates ◎ After-sales system ◎ Other
Financial standing	Industry prospects and future plans
◎ Balance sheets for three consecutive years ◎ Profit and loss statements for three consecutive years ◎ Analysis of financial standing ◎ Other	◎ Main industries that need the products and how many they use ◎ Forecasting of industry prospect ◎ Industries future sales will target ◎ Future R&D and production planning ◎ Other
Human resources management	External relations
◎ Salary structure ◎ Welfare system ◎ Rewards and promotions ◎ Employee training systems ◎ Other	◎ With government and regulators ◎ With domestic research institutes ◎ With vendors ◎ Other