Desarrollo de bases de datos de información internacionales: Ruth Stanat en 1990

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With the unification of Europe and the rapidly changing political and economic events worldwide, research executives are currently faced with the need for translated, synthesized, and analyzed information from the various countries within the European Economic Commission (EEC) and from other parts of the world. Under the new economic system of the EEC, several companies will plan to expand the marketing of their products and services. Consequently, they will need the collection of published information as well as the need to collect quantitative data. During the 90s, senior management will seek answers to specific questions, such as “Is the Eastern European consumer ready for X,Y, or Z product?” rather than reading large market research reports which do not specifically answer their questions.

Within Europe, there are several obstacles to the collection of published information (e.g. from newspapers, the media, and journals). Following a detailed discussion of these obstacles, this paper discusses a methodology for the scanning, synthesis, translation, and analysis of published information. Within this methodology, the paper is organized into eight parts as follows.

1. Obstáculos a la recopilación de información publicada dentro de la CEE y a nivel mundial
2. La solución: la necesidad de sistemas de seguimiento continuo de la información publicada
3. Cómo definir sus necesidades de información publicada
4. Fuentes de inteligencia empresarial internacional
5. Diseño de la base de datos.
6. Internal staffing versus outsourcing
7. Determinar el costo/beneficio del sistema.
8. Importancia estratégica de estos sistemas para la unificación de Europa

This paper concludes with a discussion of how international and European research managers will experience an increasing need for market trends, competitive intelligence, and new product activity information as new trade agreements evolve within and outside of the European continent. The paper also includes a discussion of research needs for Eastern Europe. In summary, the paper focuses on the development of new cost-efficient systems to process this information, rather than utilizing older labor-intensive methods.

El documento proporciona a los lectores un “cómo” desarrollar estos sistemas junto con los detalles específicos de costos y personal.

1. OBSTÁCULOS A LA RECOPILACIÓN DE INFORMACIÓN PUBLICADA DENTRO DE LA CEE Y A NIVEL MUNDIAL

During the past year, we have seen a dramatic change in worldwide political and economic events. With the eruption of the Gulf crisis, the demise of communism, and the subsequent liberation of several Eastern Bloc countries; the demand for access to credible worldwide business and political information has increased. European research professionals are now asking themselves: “How can I provide management with accurate and timely answers to their international information requests?”

Each country within and outside of the EEC has a wealth of information, or business intelligence, which is reported in its daily newspapers, general business journals, and various industry and market publications. The challenge is to capture this information on a timely basis, translate the information, and synthesize and digest the information, which can be used for market intelligence or research briefs, newsletters, or reports.

1.1.La Barrera del Idioma:

En primer lugar, el profesional de la investigación, independientemente del país en el que se encuentre, se enfrentará a barreras lingüísticas en todo el mundo. Si bien el inglés se está convirtiendo en el idioma aceptado para los negocios en toda Europa occidental, el profesional de la investigación se enfrenta al desafío de capturar información de las siguientes regiones geográficas del mundo:

• Estados Unidos y Canadá
• Europa occidental (incluidos los países escandinavos)
• Europa del Este
• URSS
• México, América Latina, América del Sur
• Oriente Medio
• Lejano Oriente
• Australia

Even within these geographical regions, the diversity of languages can be complex, such as in Western Europe. This challenges the research professional to either increase his or her knowledge and fluency in other foreign languages or to locate information providers and/or commercial database vendors who offer translated information. This paper will focus on a methodology from which the research professional can develop their own system to track international published sources. Lack of Commercial Databases that offer Business and Technical Information by Country or Geographical Region:

1.1.1. Estados Unidos y Canadá:

Estados Unidos tiene una oferta de mercado sofisticada, si no madura, de bases de datos comerciales técnicas y empresariales. Tanto Japón como Europa occidental nos están siguiendo rápidamente con el reciente desarrollo de ofertas de bases de datos comerciales durante los últimos tres a cinco años. Afortunadamente para los EE. UU. y otros usuarios de inglés, muchas de estas bases de datos están traducidas al inglés para acceder a ellas mediante comandos en inglés.

In Western Europe, some databases do exist in specific languages (e.g. German). As the software technology improves, we will expect that these databases will be able to be translated into the local language of the users. Various publishers of international directories are searching to locate the available local commercial databases available for access, and it is anticipated that more of these global database directories will be published as the world moves toward a global economy.

1.1.2 Europa Occidental:

Similar to the USA, Great Britain has a sophisticated market for commercial databases (both scientific and business). With the unification of Europe by 1992, however, the challenge is to develop databases that capture and report the local business and scientific information from each of the countries and then synthesize and digest the information into a structure that can offer the information as a Western European segment. Within the EEC, however, select countries use sophisticated information reporting systems along with commercial database offerings. The user, however, is faced with the obstacles of differing telecommunications systems and networks. As the unification progresses, data reporting standards and telecommunications access to local country databases will be necessary to enable the information professional to search local database information. Both Reuters and Datastar currently have the largest systems or networks to deliver European technical and business information.

A pesar del rápido crecimiento de las bases de datos y los distribuidores de Europa occidental, una cantidad significativa de información empresarial todavía reside en empresas locales de investigación de mercados o en bibliotecas corporativas. Por ejemplo, las sucursales locales y las filiales de grandes empresas europeas recopilan información comercial y la proporcionan, previa solicitud, a la dirección local o internacional o simplemente archivan la información en archivadores. Este tipo de información local suele estar en el idioma local y la recopila un profesional de la investigación. El profesional de la investigación se enfrenta al desafío de desarrollar un sistema que pueda capturar esta información y desarrollar bases de datos personalizadas a partir del material.

1.1.3 Europa del Este/URSS:

The situation is more pronounced in Eastern Europe and the USSR. I term these regions as “virgin” territory for database development. Whereas Western Europe has had a sophisticated structure for research and information reporting or publishing, Eastern Europe and the USSR have had to rely on state-controlled agencies to gather and collect data (scientific and business). Despite this fact, local market research firms and state agencies have had some type of data reporting methodology even without the technology.

In some countries, these local “intelligence networks” are quite sophisticated, and the challenge is to locate these firms and to develop a business relationship whereby the information can be automated and disseminated to worldwide users. Clearly, the development of databases from these countries will be slow as these countries are still undergoing economic and political changes. Until the reporting and publishing systems improve in several of these countries, the integrity of the published material will continue to be questioned.

1.1.4 México, Centroamérica, Sudamérica:

Similar to Eastern Europe and the USSR, this region of the world has not had a sophisticated publishing or research network. While some government agencies collect and publish data, local business intelligence (e.g. industry, market and competitive data) is lacking. Once again, the challenge is to develop databases from credible sources. One of the best sources for local market intelligence is from the local affiliate or distribution offices in this region of the world. The challenge is to motivate the local offices to forward the information to a centralized library for input into the corporate intelligence system.

It is important that this region of the world does not possess the plethora of business publications such as in the USA or Western Europe from which to scan, research, and abstract the material. Therefore, the research who requires information from Latin America will have to depend more on local intelligence gathering for input into their system.

1.1.5 Lejano Oriente:

As mentioned previously, Japan has the most sophisticated systems and commercial database products in the Far East. While they have been long-time users of European and USA databases and reports, they have recently expanded the distribution of their databases (translated into English) to the USA and European Community. Other countries such as Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore are making strides to develop commercial databases and open up distribution of other international databases into their country. Here again, much of the existing data is not in electronic format nor is it is published material. Similar to Eastern Europe, much of the valuable information is in the affiliate offices and local libraries. The challenge is to capture this information on a systematic basis and disseminate it throughout an organization.

Several large market research firms have valuable data in Australia. During recent years, Australia has made strides to use and disseminate electronic information. With the increased use of telecommunications technology, it is expected that the research professional will be able to locate strategic market information from this region of the world either through electronic commercial databases or published global market intelligence directories.

1.1.6 Fragmentación de la Información:

As we begin the 90s, research executives must be able to view their competition on a worldwide basis. Specifically, they must have rapid access to translated, digested, and analyzed information. More importantly, the information must be credible. While Western European research executives have been gathering information and analyzing their own domestic markets over the past four decades, they are now faced with the fragmentation of published information on a worldwide basis.

Sugerimos que los profesionales de la investigación organicen la información de su investigación por región geográfica, industria, mercado, productos y competidores. Si bien esto puede parecer un enfoque simplista, se pueden crear bases de datos que puedan obtener sistemáticamente información de las filiales locales y detectar “lagunas” en los datos.

1.1.7 Oportunidad de la Información:

Information that is local to the country or termed “domestic” can usually be obtained rapidly. However, the research professional must still have a system that systematically scans the domestic publications, determines which articles are strategic or have a high degree of impact on the business, and must digest the articles to be input into a system. This challenge is augmented when publications from other European countries and from other geographical regions of the world must be scanned, digested and abstracted. Global information, even when it is structured and captured on a consistent basis, still has to be translated, formatted and input electronically for transmission. During the next five years, I believe that software and telecommunications technology will make its greatest developments in this area.

During the 90s, research executives will require worldwide news information on a daily basis and digested published information which is no older than a week. During this next decade, executives will demand “answers to specific questions” rather than piles of information or voluminous reports or outputs from database searches. As information professionals, we have to be ready to deliver against these difficult orders.

2. LA SOLUCIÓN: LA NECESIDAD DE SISTEMAS DE SEGUIMIENTO CONTINUO DE LA INFORMACIÓN PUBLICADA

Despite the advances in software, computer, and telecommunications technology, the information capturing process, translation process, and electronic input is, for the most part, manual. This will continue to be the case for the next few years, particularly in Third World countries. The research executive is faced with the following challenges:

• The need for an efficient method or system that will scan and digest the relevant newspapers and business and technical journals in the domestic country, and then expand this to the other countries within the EEC
• The need for this information to be scanned daily, translated, digested, abstracted, and placed into electronic format for a market intelligence system
• La necesidad de ampliar esta cobertura a otras regiones del mundo.

Within the USA, several large corporations have developed a corporate or market intelligence system to accomplish this task. In effect, senior management has made a “top down” commitment to invest in this type of system to enable management throughout the organization to be kept abreast of the industry, the market, the competition and the products, on a global basis. Typically, these systems are managed or staffed by the strategic planning or market research departments. The information is distributed by this department to senior management and to managers throughout the organization.

As the world economies evolve, much of the valuable information will be found in published articles and journals. Unfortunately, most of this information is kept in “pockets” within the organization or is resident in other countries. Shared corporate information networks break down these barriers and enable managers throughout the organization to cost-efficiently obtain the information. The role of the research professional is to be aware of these systems and to be knowledgeable as to the execution of these systems.

3. CÓMO DEFINIR SUS NECESIDADES DE INFORMACIÓN PUBLICADA

3.1. La Auditoría de Información Estratégica

Within your own firm, I recommend that you initially survey your management and the recipients of your research to assess the utility of the published journals they are currently receiving. I term this procedure a “Strategic Information Audit,” as the survey accomplishes the following.

• Una evaluación del nivel de uso de las publicaciones actuales.
• El “flujo” de la información dentro de la empresa (tanto formal como informal)
• El grado de duplicación de suscripciones dentro de la organización.
• Determina la oportunidad de la información y la efectividad de las “listas de enrutamiento”
• Determines the cost and usefulness of newsletters, research publications, and reports
• Determines which managers are using computers and what form of communication they use the most
• Enables you to draw an “information blueprint” of you organization
• Le permite evaluar la lista de deseos del encuestado, que eventualmente se convierte en la red de información óptima para la organización.

The strategic information audit should be conducted by a task force with representatives from the market research department, the library, the information systems department, and a representative from a business unit (no more than 4-5 representatives). The procedure should entail approximately 30-50 interviews of key suppliers and suppliers of information within the organization. The audit should clearly define the utility of the published information within the company and should summarize the needs of the users. The summary of the results should list the most needed published matter, determine the international scope of the literature, determine the optimum timeliness and format of the information, and determine if an electronic system or hard copy process is the best way to deliver published business intelligence to the recipients. A copy of a sample questionnaire is included in the Appendix 1 of this paper.

4. FUENTES DE INTELIGENCIA DE NEGOCIOS INTERNACIONALES

Within Western Europe and the USA, and Canada, numerous published sources of business and technical information exist. Unfortunately, executives and managers do not have the time to scan and digest all of the available publications that impact the business on a daily basis, much less on an international scale. In addition to published material, a wealth of strategic business and technical information is published in conference proceedings and in sales personnel trip reports. This published material should also be considered for input into a corporate intelligence system. The following lists sources of international business intelligence:

• Periódicos nacionales y regionales (locales)
• Revistas científicas y empresariales
• Actas de congresos
• Informes de viaje del personal de ventas
• Boletines publicados
• Informes de investigación de mercado sindicados y personalizados
• Planes Internos de Negocios y Marketing
• Memorandos internos
• Procedimientos legales
• Informes de Investigación y Desarrollo tanto internos como externos a la organización

With the unification of Western Europe, the collection, translation, analysis, and dissemination of published material is essential to develop new marketing and product development plans. Clearly, it is impossible for a research department to scan all of the publications from the member EEC countries on a daily basis, translate the material, analyze the information, and input the information on an electronic network on a daily or weekly basis. This situation becomes more complex if Western European companies wish to remain abreast with the rest of the world’s publications (Eastern Europe, USA, Latin America, Far East, etc.). As a result, the following section discusses a solution to the problem with the development of a process or system within the company to handle this information.

5. CÓMO DESARROLLAR SISTEMAS PROTOTIPO

5.1. Diseño de la Base de Datos

Una vez finalizada la auditoría de la información estratégica y la definición de la información publicada que es relevante para la toma de decisiones tácticas y estratégicas, es necesario desarrollar un prototipo del sistema de bajo costo. Efectivamente, el diseño de la base de datos debe “derivarse” de las necesidades de los usuarios de la auditoría de la información estratégica. A continuación se describe un ejemplo de diseño de una base de datos que organiza la información publicada por región geográfica:

Organización por región geográfica

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Topic Area:                                      Industry                    Market Segments

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Tendencias industriales

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Tendencias políticas

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Desarrollos económicos

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Actividad del mercado

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Actividad Competitiva

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Desarrollo de nuevo producto

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Actividad

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Uso de la tecnología

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Futuras tendencias

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Claramente, el diseño de la base de datos debe reflejar los deseos de los encuestados. Cabe señalar que no hay dos competidores que vean sus productos y mercados de la misma manera. La base de datos también se puede organizar por competidor X, Y o Z en un formato de perfil de competidor como se muestra a continuación:

Organización por actividad competitiva

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Áreas temáticas:

Company Overview              Competitor X             Competitor Y              Competitor Z

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� Dirección estratégica general

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� Organización de la empresa

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� Posición en el mercado

- Cuota de mercado

- Posición competitiva

- Publicidad y promoción

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� Desempeño financiero

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� Estrategia de Distribución

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� Investigación y Desarrollo

- Estrategia

- Inversión

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� Actividad de desarrollo de nuevos productos

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� Uso de la tecnología

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� Estrategia Internacional

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� Posibles fusiones, adquisiciones y desinversiones

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� Estrategia futura proyectada

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5.1 1.Formato de la Base de Datos

Market intelligence systems which capture published information also require easy-to-use menu screens that enable the user to select the information they wish to view. Please note that the published data can be organized by geographical region, by competitor, and by topic. In other words, the system can include several different ways to view or access the information.

La información publicada se puede presentar de tres formas:

1. Resúmenes de artículos, con opiniones y referencias añadidas.

2. Formato de informe con análisis resumido o información textual

3. Texto completo de la información

Most market intelligence systems, which capture published information, provide abstracts of key relevant articles, which are abstracted daily and updated in the system weekly. They may also include 2-3 page newsletters and quarterly reports. Many of these systems also include information from the “field,” or rumor information from the field sales force or from plant personnel. Our experience indicates that field intelligence is not useful in the format of anecdotal rumors by itself. When this information is analyzed and verified by published information or by expert opinion, it is then suitable for inclusion in a market intelligence system. The following suggests preliminary screens for the prototype market intelligence system:

Sistema de Inteligencia de Mercado Corporativo

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Elementos de menú:

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� Resúmenes
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� Boletines
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� Informes trimestrales
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� Inteligencia de campo
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Our experience indicates that the information that is published from these systems should be analytical. Most users can read factual information from the literature itself. It is necessary to add the value of analysis to both the abstracts and the report information.

5.1.2 Cómo desarrollar el prototipo

Following agreement on the design and format of the database, the coordinator for the market intelligence system will have to select software and computer equipment. For a prototype, we recommend developing the databases on a personal computer with a text-retrieval package. Following evaluation by a select group of users, and if the response is positive, we then recommend transporting the database to a mainframe or mini-computer which can store the information and which can be accessed by multiple users throughout the organization (on both a domestic and worldwide basis).

Recomendamos paquetes de software que puedan proporcionar capacidades de búsqueda de texto completo junto con capacidades gráficas. Además, se deben instalar software de telecomunicaciones y líneas de datos para que los usuarios puedan acceder a la información a nivel internacional o desde terminales remotas desde sus hogares.

Cabe señalar que tanto el contenido del material publicado como las capacidades operativas del sistema deben evaluarse cada seis a doce meses. A medida que el entorno empresarial internacional continúa cambiando, también debería hacerlo el sistema de inteligencia de mercado. Esto implica que las áreas temáticas podrían cambiar con una frecuencia trimestral o semestral. Sin embargo, la arquitectura general del sistema debería reflejar el pensamiento estratégico de la dirección durante los próximos tres a cinco años.

6. PERSONAL INTERNO VERSUS SUBCONTRATACIÓN

Clearly, the development of market intelligence systems that capture published information and provide it to the organization needs an “internal champion” or a person from the research department who is willing to head up the strategic information audit effort, work with the information systems department to design the database, and implement the system. Our experience indicates that it is important for the internal champion to have “top down” support from senior management. Moreover, a budget must be established for the strategic information audit, the development of the prototype, the authoring of the information, or the procurement of the information into electronic format, and the acquisition of software, computers, and telecommunications equipment.

El campeón interno debe ser el arquitecto del sistema, además de ser el vendedor corporativo, o la persona que vende los beneficios del sistema al personal de investigación y gestión interna. Además, la persona debe tener un técnico en su personal para apoyar la base de datos y una persona de servicio al cliente para “tomar la mano” de los usuarios y obtener retroalimentación continua de la base de datos.

With regard to the decision of whether to produce the databases using the existing research staff or to contract a supplier to publish the databases, the following questions serve as guidelines:

1. Does the research department have sufficient staff of research analysts to publish the information? Do they have the time to scan publications, clip the material, translate and summarize, the material and put it into database format?
2. ¿Tiene el departamento las habilidades y/o el tiempo para publicar bases de datos? ¿Se emplearía mejor el tiempo de los analistas de investigación analizando los datos de la base de datos y publicando informes analíticos o boletines informativos para la alta dirección?
3. Can the research department absorb the cost of the publications, or can they utilize the publications from the corporate library? The cost and translation of international publications should also be considered.
4. Compute a cost per abstract or quarterly report. Is it cheaper to outsource this work? Consider the quality issues. Perhaps it is more efficient to contract out the lower-level abstracting and have the research analysts access the database and analyze this material to produce senior-level management reports or marketing plans.

El líder interno debe realizar un análisis de “fabricación versus compra” de la siguiente manera:

Costos Anuales del Departamento Interno (US$)

Dotación de personal de 3 a 4 analistas de investigación: $200 000 – $250 000

Honorarios de traducción: 30.000 – 50.000

Publicaciones: 30.000 – 50.000

_______________________________ _________ _______

Costos anuales totales: $260,000 – $350,000

# de resúmenes por año 1200 – 2400

Costo por resumen: $216 – $145

Proveedor externo

Total Contrato Anual $100,000 – $150,000

# resúmenes por año 1200 – 2400

Costo por resumen $83 – $63

In most cases, it is more cost-efficient to contract with an outside supplier. The issue remains, however, whether the outside supplier can quickly, or over a period of time, develop the perspective you need so the abstracts and reports will add value to your analysis. Several companies with successful marketing intelligence systems contract to outside suppliers to publish the abstracts or quarterly summaries, and then their internal research analysts “manage the system” and utilize the information to publish more detailed analytical reports or answer key senior management questions or ad hoc requests.

7. DETERMINACIÓN DEL COSTO/BENEFICIOS DEL SISTEMA

In this current period of economic and political uncertainty, with tight budgets, investment in this type of system must clearly prove value or impact the corporation. The following outlines a typical budget for a market intelligence system that captures published information.

Campeón interno, técnico, representante de servicio al cliente $250,000
Proveedor externo por contrato $100,000
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Costos totales de mano de obra y materiales: $350,000

Software para ordenadores personales 1.000
Software de mainframe (si no lo tiene interno) $100,000
Costos Adicionales de Computadoras (si no las tiene internamente) – ———

Please note that companies have very successfully developed very cost-efficient systems on personal computers for minimal costs. It should be noted that these figures represent large corporate investments in systems that can be accessed worldwide by staff personnel.

After a period of one to two years, management will want to quantify the benefits of the system. If management can answer “yes” to any of the following questions, the system has paid for itself:

1 ¿La empresa ha aumentado (o protegido) su participación de mercado o sus ingresos como resultado de decisiones tomadas a partir del material del sistema?

2 ¿La empresa ha desarrollado nuevos productos o reposicionado productos existentes como resultado del uso directo de información del sistema?

3 ¿Ha identificado la empresa nuevos negocios u oportunidades de mercado como resultado del uso del sistema (por ejemplo, expansión a nuevos mercados: Europa del Este, fusiones, adquisiciones, etc.)?

4 ¿La empresa ha podido reposicionarse respecto a la unificación de Europa de forma más rápida o eficiente con el uso del sistema?

5 ¿Pueden las filiales de la empresa en todo el mundo tomar decisiones más rápidamente como resultado de que la información publicada se traduzca, sintetice y esté disponible en formato electrónico de manera oportuna?

8. IMPORTANCIA ESTRATÉGICA DE ESTOS SISTEMAS PARA EL EJECUTIVO INTERNACIONAL DE INFORMACIÓN

During the next year, it will be necessary for corporations to have access to the published business intelligence of companies within and outside of the EEC. While a plethora of “Euro” publications may develop, research executives will still need business intelligence that is local to the member and non-member countries. Moreover, EEC countries will need business intelligence from Eastern Europe, USA, the Soviet Union, the Far East, Latin America, and other parts of the world. Strategic decisions are made from published information. The companies that invest in these systems will realize the greatest dividends during the 90s.

 

Por Ruth Stanat, 1990.