Comparing CIP™ to Other Certifications

Summary of differences

The FGH Academy of Competitive Intelligence is the foremost dedicated education and training establishment in the field of CI. Our founders, Leonard Fuld, Dr. Ben Gilad and Jan Herring started the field in the late 70s early 80s and since then shaped it and its Body of Knowledge. ACI is the undisputed thought leader in the field. As a group, ACI’s faculty introduced war gaming, strategic early warning and KITS to Corporate America and Europe. Its instructors have been continuously teaching CI for over three decades, and published some of the most important books in the discipline: Leonard Fuld’s book, Competitor Intelligence: How to Get It – How to Use It (Wiley, 1985) was the first to set the standard on collection and sources. Ben Gilad’s Early Warning (AMACOM, 2004) created the first model of strategic early warning for companies, and Business War Games (Career Press, 2009) brought war gaming to commercial enterprises. Our program is simple, straight forward, doesn’t waste your time on irrelevant topics or slide shows. Instead we build you a career. It is intense and rigorous. Our certificate, the CIP™ is the most widely recognized globally by both employers and recruiters. Just ask any of our alumni (you can find them on LinkedIn).

In other words, you can study with the real masters.

The Battle of the Accolades

We certainly respect our competition. Yet teaching is not about conveying information. It’s about being inspired. Here is a small sample of our alumni’s comments to us*: “Thank you so much for your class! An original way of teaching that helped me to push my boundaries! I really enjoyed this high-quality training and hope to come as soon as possible for the second week”. – Camille Meyer, Siemens “I am very newly into CI. I’m trained as a Molecular Biologist and have been contributing as a scientist until a career change this year. CI is included in my new job responsibilities and I didn’t really have a plan for how I would go about doing it. After last week, I have a very different perspective on these responsibilities, making them far more interesting to me than what I thought I was being asked to do! Yes, see you at CIP-II.” – Jill Carton, Johnson & Johnson “Thanks so much for everything. The class was very inspiring. I hope to be one of the 10% you mentioned. I’ve got a few weeks before our team convenes to put together a team mission and vision going forward, and I’m going to be putting a lot of this into practice!” – Gil Breau, Irving Oil “Ben, I thought both of your classes were incredible. It was refreshing and invigorating to hear your perspective. Your stories and jokes will help me to remember the content! I can’t wait to begin applying the 5 forces and strategy maps for my industry!” – Gerald Flynn, AMICA “I just wanted to write an email to show my appreciation for a great course. Your presentation was the best professional training I have received in my 20-year career. As someone who gives presentations, I was amazed at your knowledge and insight which allowed you to present multiple full days of information in an organized fashion without one PowerPoint slide, and still grip the attention of every student in the class. You presented more than just the tools of the trade, but more importantly, you challenged the class to think critically. And that, I believe, is the essence of competitive intelligence.” – Dave Nixon, Northrop Grumman *For many, many more testimonials, Click Here, and patiently read a few. Nothing speaks better about the unique experience we create than real people telling their perspectives.