INTELLIGENCE: RESEARCH BRIEF: The importance of properly identifying the strategies, and anticipating the actions, of rivals.

To manage relationships with subordinates, colleagues, bosses and others, executives first need to know how to classify those people accurately.

The purchasing function can go beyond mere cost cutting by rote. It can add value by driving innovation and superior long-term cost performance.

Companies typically have antagonistic relationships with hackers, "modders" and others who alter their products, but is there a way to work with -- instead of against -- such underground innovators?

Companies too often vacillate in their commitment to internal corporate venturing activities, leading to less than optimal outcomes. Executives need to better understand -- and manage -- the factors that drive cyclicality in internal corporate venturing.

In many organizations, the corporate marketing function has lost budget, head count, influence and confidence, resulting in strategic consequences that run deeper than many senior managers may realize. The question is not how to rebuild the marketing center, but how to disperse marketing competenceacross the organization.

Although most companies undertake acquisitions with an eye toward fueling growth, the resulting infusion of new ideas, perspectives and processes can produce lasting benefits that are broader and deeper.

The seeds of effective change must be planted by embedding procedural and behavioral changes in an organization long before the initiative is launched.

New research shows that the most resilient companies are those that continually orchestrate a dynamic balance of four innovation strategies.

Many companies have filled their corner offices with mediocre executives. A set of basic practices can help organizations avoid such a crucial mistake.

Many common marketing activities are coming under greater scrutiny from regulators, lawyers and scholars. Companies are scrambling to figure out how that will affect competition.