In 2016 Canada should focus and exports, experts say.

Export development and investment in trade enabling infrastructure are the two key elements that should keep the Canadian economy steady in 2016.

A rough start to 2016

Despite their best efforts, however, the experts that presented the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Crystal Ball Report in Ottawa on January 28 warn that the Canadian economy is in for a bumpy 2016.

“The worst start to a year on record,” said Perrin Beatty, CEO and President of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the event’s opening presentation.

Prices of oil reached the level where the lid of the barrel costs more than what’s inside the barrel.

According to Beatty, in 2016 Canada’s economy will face many challenges such as high consumer debt, an overheated housing market, and the inability to rely on traditional sources of growth, such as natural resources or internal consumer spending.

A deep divide in the nation’s business community

The Canadian business community seems to be deeply divided in its outlook, between optimism in sectors that are experiencing rapid growth such as forestry, automotive and technology, and gloom in the mining and energy sectors stricken by low commodity prices.

“The turbulences wreaking havoc in certain parts of the economy are actually fueling a spectacular, double-digit growth in other parts of the economy,” said Peter Hall, Vice President and Chief Economist for EDC and a contributor to the report.

Hall also added that because of the makeup of the Canadian economy the exports are really the engine for moving forward. “And I am not just saying this because I am representing EDC,” he emphasized.

Many Canadian businesses share this sentiment. According to Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s report, most businesses expressed enthusiasm over prospects in the U.S. and Europe, whose economies are expected to grow in 2016. Beatty explains,

Where is growth going to come from? Not consumption – consumers are tapped out. Government spending cannot provide much lift. Most provinces are in cut-back mode. We cannot rely on natural resources anymore. Housing is overbuilt. That means we have to start exporting like crazy.

Exporting to other countries, however, is not as easy as it seems, says Corine Pohlmann, Senior Vice President for the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses that represents over 100,000 small business owners from coast-to-coast. Small businesses contribute over 50% to Canada’s GDP and provide over 90% of all private sector jobs.

Time to reduce burdens on exporters

“The cost of doing business with the U.S. is still expensive for many companies. We really should start focusing on reducing those types of expenses. There are still too many surprises there. We need to decrease financial and regulatory burden,” Pohlmann said.

Responding to Pohlmann’s concern, Beatty said that enhancing trade enabling infrastructure as well as trade and regulatory harmonization are critical for the economy to grow.

For many industries in the knowledge economy, regulations, ownership requirements and restrictions on data flows can be the most difficult barriers to success. Canada must move quickly to ratify the TPP and a comprehensive economic and trade agreement with Europe.

Ratifying free trade agreements with nations like China will help many small Canadian businesses feel less ‘intimidated’ and help them to understand what needs to be done to access these markets.

Panel experts also identified the shortage of a qualified workforce as a major obstacle for growth. According to the Crystal Ball report, Canadian businesses are facing skills gaps and mismatches right across the board, creating an urgent need for new immigrants and for the skills and education aligned with the needs of employers.

Summarising the outlook for 2016, Hall said that economic turbulence comes with positives and negatives.

Volatility has to come with the growth. Our job is look for those sources of growth, and when we find them to take as much advantage of them as we possibly can.

Do you think Canadian exporters can turn the economy around in 2016? Do you plan to take advantages of the opportunities out there and start “exporting like crazy?”

The post Why “We have to start exporting like crazy” appeared first on Trade Ready.

This involves gathering information about competitors in order to determine their possible future actions and strategies and gain a competitive advantage.

Competitive intelligence is an ongoing process that involves gathering data about:

• competitors and their strategic intentions;
• technology, especially emerging trends and possible future developments;
• legal and regulatory changes;
• suppliers and changes to supply and distribution systems;
• materials;
• industry and market trends; and
• political and economic changes that affect the competitive environment.

People sometimes confuse competitive intelligence with stealing information from or spying on competitors. Although finding out about competitors is an essential component of competitive intelligence, it does not involve covert gathering of information.

Developing competitive intelligence includes   all factors in the competitive environment, not just competitors.

In competitive intelligence, all information is gathered from publicly available and non-proprietary sources. The information is analyzed constantly to answer the questions raised by a company’s strategic planning and objectives.

Competitive intelligence keeps a company informed about critical issues that might influence its profitability and ability to compete in the marketplace. It also enables decision makers to make more effective planning decisions.

The need for competitive intelligence

Companies need to develop competitive intelligence as well as market intelligence because it enables a company to be more profitable and avoid losses.

For example, market intelligence might indicate that customers in a new market desire a certain new product. A company might invest considerable time and financial resources into developing that product and preparing a marketing plan, only to see a competitor also develop the same product and release it first.

Competitive intelligence enables a company to make better decisions regarding long-term and short-term planning, research and development programs, and marketing focus.

It also enables a company to react quickly to legislative and regulatory changes in the competitive environment.

The intelligence that is developed can be used to aid in decisions about whether entering certain product markets is worthwhile. It can also be used to help decide on the method of market entry and to assess potential profitability.

An important part of your global business success

With international trade, competitive intelligence becomes even more important.

Developing an understanding of the competitive situation prevailing in foreign markets is invaluable for making a decision about whether to enter a market.

For example, market research might show that the target market is dominated by a few large and powerful corporations, which might make securing an initial market foothold prohibitively expensive.

In this situation, a company might decide that it would be a strategic move to develop a partnership with one of the large corporations already in the market.

Competitive intelligence can contribute to a company’s international activities in other ways. A company might be able to find out why competitors have succeeded or failed in a new market and learn from their mistakes.

New product ideas and design considerations might be uncovered, or a company might gain advance warning of new product introductions.

Other monitoring activities might reveal competitors’ prices, which can help in making decisions about cost structure.

The competitive intelligence model

Competitive intelligence works best when a clear, concise question is formulated after a company conducts a needs assessment.

This method will identify knowledge gaps and enable questions to be developed. For an international marketer, the needs assessment might lead to the development of questions such as:

• What is the financial strength of a competing firm in our target market?
• What are the critical success factors in the market leader’s promotional campaigns?
• What are the company’s strategic intentions?
• Who are the company’s partners?
• What markets is the competitor targeting?

There are ten phases in the competitive intelligence model:

• Conduct a needs assessment
• Formulate questions
• Organize the process
• Gather the data
• Organize the data into information
• Assess the accuracy of the information and fill information gaps
• Analyze information to create competitive intelligence
• Disseminate intelligence to decision makers
• Formulate a strategy and implement it
• Evaluate action effectiveness and adjust the needs assessment as required

The model is cyclical and continually builds on and refines the competitive intelligence that has been obtained from earlier projects.

What types of competitive intelligence do you need to gather to increase your international profitability?

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