The SWOT- part 2 : a look @ US legal services

Legal services, for this SWOT,  will include publishing, online services and providers.  The ever-expanding world of legal services is an area all information professionals, analysts and managers are dealing with every work day.  Let's look at the industry in terms of SWOT terminology.

1. Strengthens-  Many major online legal service providers ("OLSP") grew from strong print brands resulting from years in this medium.  West Publishing alone has been in the print legal business for over 100 years. 

As a result, OLSPs have established markets- US Legal, Law School and Government /Business sectors with unique customer offerings.

2. Weaknesses- Sometimes a failure to see change and innovation and act quickly.  Can be driven by "old school" business concepts such as exclusive licensing agreements and numerous restrictions, long term agreements or variations there of...i.e. LMA (Library Maintenance Agreements)

How many years went into developing competing products, West KM and Lexis Search Advantage?

In the meantime, other business intelligence vendors have move onto "big data" analytical tools which are working to cut across disciplines and industries to provide ease of use and competitive pricing models for future customers including those in legal markets.

3. Opportunities- Technology has been the OSLPs' lighting rod  from dedicated red Lexis terminals (anyone remember those?) to CD towers to E Books and wireless access.  Publishers have used these emerging technologies to attempt to gain ground with their customers over the years.

LexisNexis, Westlaw and Wolters Kluwer and now BNA/Bloomberg continue to partner with new companies offering specialization product lines.

4. Threats- These very unconventional start up service companies continue to gain acceptance within legal consumer markets. As referenced in the Weakness section of this SWOT, these cutting edge vendors are gaining ground. 

Who and what are these new online legal services providers??  Names like Justia.com, FastCase and Legal Zoom represent this new crop of BI vendors.  In an interesting article from the Information Today website dated September 1, 2011, "Upstate legal services gain traction", by Paula J. Hane ; the author paints several interesting current and future scenarios for the legal services online markets.



This is a very broad analysis on the legal services industry.....granted, SWOTs have been criticized for being too simple, too general in focus..... and there were probably many factors left out but I just wanted to illustrate this type of analysis and how competitive factors are always in play.

Comments are welcomed.

Disruptive Innovations and CI

What do the telephone, the photocopier, the personal computer and Bloomberg's recent purchase of Bureau of National Affairs have in common?  They are considered by CI experts to be examples of "disruptive innovations."

Defined as " a new dimension of performance compared to existing innovations." ( from Dr. Christensen' s Seeing What's Next)  I have always interpreted that as "some process or product that can totally change a landscape." Forcing all existing and future players to act or behave differently.

This area of analysis was recently in the news when it was revealed that one of the top 10 books recommended by Steve Jobs was Clayton Christensen's Innovator's Dilemma : an  analysis on disruptive innovation.  His following treatise, Seeing What's Next, takes analysis a step further and discusses innovation as a method to predict industry change. Something CI professionals constantly do battle with.

Much has been written about the telephone and the personal computer; we all know how these technologies have changed our business and personal practices and preferences---but what about Bloomberg's recent acquisition of BNA?

Bloomberg wanted into the legal information market; it can now build upon its News, Business/Finance and Government markets/presence by adding a major established Legal "piece." Several years ago,  Bloomberg showed it was serious about the legal market with its launch of "Bloomberg Law." The legal research module integrates legal news, research, case docketing and regulatory functions.

With the major "legal piece" including BNA premier tax and regulatory content, Bloomberg may soon become #4 when added to the "Big 3" (Thomson/West, Wolters Kluwer and Lexis/Nexis) list of legal publishers. Now we have potentially 4 major competitors vying for our money and attention.  That could be very disputive.  Here's hoping there will be saving for all customers....

Law Firms' CI Environment

At a recent local SCIP presentation, the speaker challenged all attendees to visually describe the role of competitive intelligence in your industry.  The theme of the presentation was "Competitive Intelligence in the trenches."

The presentation slide linked below is showing the immediate and secondary forces/issues affecting law firms in their competitive intelligence environment.  The immediate forces close to the organization are dealing with old and new clients; while secondary or indirect issues can be legal economics.


Click on link below for the visual.  Comments are welcome.

www.scribd.com/doc/64852623/CIENVIRONMENT

What is a SWOT?

I'm sure all those bus admin majors out there will think this post is elementary; but a lot of information and research professionals may not. Again,several definitions have emerged.

SWOT #1 definition- a strategic planning tool and method. (http://www.analysisexample.com/)

SWOT #2 definition- an evaluation of available information concerning the business environment in order to identify internal strengthens and weaknesses and external threats and opportunities. (SCIP website)

SWOT #3 definition- aka "situational analysis" or competitor profiling or intelligence analysis (when applied to competitors) (SCIP website)


Try to interpret your firm's SWOT.  Could be fun, could be a challenge.  This information is useful when responding to new business, for example.  CI and SWOTs can help firms see how to best position their strengths while playing up to weaknesses of competing firms.

Definitions

After recently having a "cart before the horse" moment; I realized I had not provided any definitions for competitive intelligence.; but after looking on the web and CI sites and seeing a lot of variations...here goes........

• From the SCIP website: "CI is a necessary, ethical business discipline for decision making based on understanding the competitive environment."
• From the web:"the action of defining, gathering, analyzing, and distributing intelligence about products, customers, competitors and any aspect of the environment needed to support executives and managers in making strategic decisions for an organization."
• From Yvonne Davis: "CI is a systemic process of gathering and analyzing information about competitor activities and general business trends."

See a short list of more definitions @ the right under "Definitions"

The role of Legal Analytics

                                                   

The term “analytics” has been described as “data that helps companies track business trends” and the “sophisticated analysis of data.”  Business analytics is termed the “technique that makes it easier to visualize and  analyze business data to support decision making.”  Legal analytics products from leading business and legal research companies like Dun & Bradstreet, LexisNexis and West Publishing combine the legal parameters of law practices with data analysis to provide firms with potential client lists, litigation and trial analysis and geographical growth trends.

LexisNexis- this legal research company in the suburbs of Dayton OH, was the first legal subscription searchable online service to offer full text US and local case law in the early 1970s.  The non legal or business subscription research service, Nexis, started in the late 1970s.  Information offered in Nexis includes company financials and individual “libraries” such as Hoover’s Industy Reports, Investext Reports, Standard & Poor Profiles and SEC company filings.

Dun & Bradstreet- a business information company founded in the 19th century as a credit reporting service; DNB added company information with its early acquisition of Moody’s Corporation and R. H Donnelley.  After spinning off these companies in 1999-2000, DNB today is the primary resource for detailed business information on privately held as well as publicly traded companies.  Subscribers have access to over 100 million US and international corporations and not for profit organizations. 

Proprietary Applications:

LexisNexis’ AdVantage- online access to individual company and industry information with litigation/trial history, deal & merger data and  legal representation information provided in a report format.  Subscribers can choice from several modules.  LexisNexis states the application has over 45 million public and privately held companies.

Thomson/West’s Firm 360- the competitor to AdVantage, Firm 360, has also several modules such as Deal and Litigation. These modules provide trial history as well as corporate as well as mergers and acquisitions information on US companies.  Firm 360 states the database of over 12 million companies.

Reference USA- an online subscription database, Reference USA, is a division of infoUSA, a print business directory service located in Omaha , Nebraska.  Most US public libraries offer this service to library patrons.  This database contains over 14 million business and over 100 million residential entries covering the US and Canada.  The US portion of Reference USA can be searched using over 20 unique “data elements” ( i.e. location, sales figures and number of employees).

DNB’s Selectory- a “prospecting” database from DNB’s Sales and Marketing Solutions division, Selectory contains over 14 million business records and over 1 million Canadian businesses.  Subscribers can create reports based on geographical locations, company size, SIC/NAICS and industry.  Information can be downloaded into Excel or into PDF reports. Other modules include corporate family tree and mailing label formatting.

Note: starting in late 2011, Selectory will become part of Hoover's with increased coverage and new interface.  Hoover's is part of Dun & Bradstreet.

Where do I find information on privately held companies?- Part 2

Are there resources under the tag"If-it's-free-it-must-be-for-me" ??  The answer is Yes, and here's where things get creative.

1. SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) 10Q/10K filings-- wait ---you thought "privately held companies" do not file-Correct--but some private companies file 10Q reports if they are issuing bonds or they have more than 500 investors.
2. Regional newspapers websites such as Newspaperlinks.com and bizjournals.com provide local coverage of companies, large and small. (bizjournals.com may require a password/Login for access to some full text articles).  Many Bizjournals publications have been known to have long in-depth interviews with local company presidents and CEOs. 
3. The Secretary of State websites: In the US, most corporate registration and business entities procedures are handled through this state office.  Articles of incorporation and some limited liability corporate filings can contain useful information on names of officers, investors and agents of process.  In Ohio, most condominium associations file their by-laws with this state office.  
4. Reference USA (from InfoGroup)- this online business database is now offered through many public libraries. With a current library card, RefUSA provides access to information on business in the US and some Canadian companies, both public and private.  Databases within RefUSA also include new businesses and healthcare providers in the US.
5. Business databases offered by your local public library will vary but some universal ones are Encyclopedia of Associations and OCLC's First Search.
6. AM Best's Insurance ratings are available at the company website- access is free but registration is required.  Best's covers life and property/casualty insurance companies in the US, Canada and many international companies as well.

Where do I find information on privately held companies?- Part 1

The above question I am sure has been asked by many researchers over the years.  I just noticed a recent post from my SCIP (Strategic Competitive Intelligence Professionals) group dealing with this issue. 

As you know, privately held companies are not required to file any annual reports or other disclosures as required by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission).  Many corporate experts believe companies go through periods of "going public" or "taking it private" in order raise awareness (and money) for new ventures or to follow new ventures or ideas in a different direction without investor interaction.

The recent "taking it private" move  by Hugh Hefner's Playboy Enterprises after years of being a  publicly held corporation was an example of heading in a different direction.  Mr. Hefner , seeking to be in charge of his own company again , will reportedly concentrate on the "Playboy brand and the magazine's editorial direction rather than creating products." (NPR , April 2010)


That said......what are good resources out there?......let's start with subscribed databases

1. Skyminder Information Services- a pay-as-you-go database with good coverage of medium and small sized companies and DNB (Dun and Bradstreet) reports at an extra cost.  Service covers US and international companies.

2. Capital IQ- a rich (and expensive) web-based business and analytical tool from Standard & Poor.   This service covers a large number of companies/corporations in addition to providing
financial analysis; covers mainly US companies.

3. Kompass North America- covers many major international companies.  Subscriptions are reasonable and can be purchased in "blocks." Kompass, describing itself as a B-2-B database, can provide information on international companies by products and services as well as name.

4. Dun & Bradstreet- a proven business resource and one familiar to everyone in the information profession.  My only caveat is remember.........the majority of company information in the DNB database comes from the companies themselves..............



Will cover several "if-it-is-free-it-must-be-for-me" resources in my next post.

CI & law firms- more of "where to begin"

I want to post more "how-to" tips for establishing a law firm initiative in competitive intelligence (CI).  So here goes......Suggestions may seem too apparent; but given this fairly new and exploding information tool for many firms, large and small---we all need building blocks.

• What will be the role of CI in your firm? Experts in tracking CI know success within a firm is the result of cooperation between the library/information center, marketing and business development factors. Get as many players and skill sets thinking and working on competitive intelligence.
• Where within your firm can CI be applied? Helping to target new areas of business or influence client services or examining your competitors' client base?
• Know your firm's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats....do some SWOT analysis. (more details on this process later in the blog)  Learn how your firm compares and can best position its strengths or zero in on possible weaknesses and threats.
• Look at internal data, i.e. balance sheets and billing statements  and compare with "external data", i.e. market landscape and client industries- to gauge your firm's potential profits and business growth.
• ......and most important...self promote!  Look at ways to brand, deliver and successfully start working with CI in your firm.