Hi Bren!
As you have already guessed, this is a gray area that seems to depend
upon the company and the individual gathering competitive information.
The ethics of competitive intelligence is a widely discussed and SCIP
provides a code of ethics that has been generally accepted as industry
standard. However, this code is not always followed...
***
SCIP
SCIP, the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals, the
association for those who do competitor research, has a code of
ethics, which is commonly asserted on the web sites of competitive
intelligence professionals:
SCIP Code of Ethics for CI Professionals
http://www.scip.org/ci/ethics.asp
"* To continually strive to increase the recognition and respect of
the profession.
* To comply with all applicable laws, domestic and international.
* To accurately disclose all relevant information, including one's
identity and organization, prior to all interviews.
* To fully respect all requests for confidentiality of
information.
* To avoid conflicts of interest in fulfilling one's duties.
* To provide honest and realistic recommendations and conclusions
in the execution of one's duties.
* To promote this code of ethics within one's company, with
third-party contractors and within the entire profession.
* To faithfully adhere to and abide by one's company policies,
objectives, and guidelines."
SCIP also has a number of great resources on ethics and the question
of how far is too far.
Ethical Issues in CI
http://www.scip.org/ci/ethics_issues.asp
The article below is linked from the above page, but I wanted to
highlight it for you as it gives a good discussion of the ethical
questions you're addressing:
Ethical Issues in Competitive Intelligence Practice: Consensus,
Conflicts, and Challenges (Competitive Intelligence Review, Spring
1997)
http://www.scip.org/Library/8(1)ethics.pdf
***
ARTICLES ON THE ETHICS OF COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE GATHERING
Articles are excerpted here; access the full text by clicking on the
link.
Spying: How Far is too Far? (Business 2.0, June 2001)
http://www.business2.com/articles/mag/0,1640,11776,FF.html
"'There's no law against lying,' says Jan Herring, an independent
intelligence consultant in Hartford. 'But if you're doing it to get at
something that is otherwise protected, you probably have used
misrepresentation in committing crime.' If you need to lie to get
information, there's probably a good legal reason why you can't get it
in the first place.
Keeping Your Nose Clean While Sniffing for Competitive Info: How far
is too far when evaluating rivals' business practices? Imagine how it
would play on "60 Minutes"... (Business Week, June 2, 2000)
http://businessweek.lycos.com/smallbiz/content/jun2000/ox000602b.htm
"While the federal Economic Espionage Act prohibits the theft of trade
secrets, competitive intelligence professionals admit gray areas
exist. Still, if you follow the ethical guidelines of the professional
society and use common sense, you'll stay out of trouble. Two
well-known competitive-intelligence consultants, Leonard Fuld and Kirk
Tyson, independently came up with their own "Ten Commandments" to
guide competitive-intelligence professionals. They prohibit such
blatant illegalities as lying, stealing, bribing, and eavesdropping
with illegal devices."
Sifting through garbage: Intelligence or spying? (Reuters, September
3, 2001)
http://www.ciol.com/content/news/trends/101090301.asp
"But the ethics of corporate intelligence can be fuzzy. 'If you're
selling Toyotas, I think it's appropriate to go buy a Honda and take
it to your factory and find out if they're doing something better than
you're doing,' Professor Hoffman said.
'But to go rifle around in Honda's garbage can, or to put surveillance
equipment illegally in their offices, or to sit up in a building
across from their factory with high-powered binoculars and spy on
them, if not illegal that is certainly ethically questionable.'"
Corporate Spooks (March 6, 2001)
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0306-03.htm
"'To my knowledge, in all 50 states, it is not illegal to lie,' he
says. 'The only people I listen to are the United States Department of
Justice and state and local law enforcement officials.'
What about dumpster diving -- going through someone's garbage?
'Dumpster diving is perfectly legal, providing there is not a sign
posted,' Barry says. 'The courts have held that if it is left to be
accessed by commercial carters, then it is no longer private property.
It is only private property if there is a 'no trespassing' sign and
you had to trespass to get into the dumpster.'
What about using an answering machine pick -- a device used to
remotely grab someone else's message off the target's answering
machine?
'That's probably a gray area,' Barry says.
'Do you use picks?' we ask.
'Fine, and you?' Barry answers.
Barry wonders whether SCIP members are adhering to the organization's
'code of ethics.'"
When it is Wrong to Know: Ethics of Corporate Espionage
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/business/botline/spring99/3_4/espionage.html
***
OTHER ETHICAL CODES
iExecutus, a competitor monitoring company includes their code of
ethics on their web site:
iExecutus Ethics Policy
http://www.iexecutus.com/ep.htm
"1) iExecutus will not provide services to any competitors of
existing clients.
2) iExecutus will provide honest proposals based on a fair and
truthful evaluation of a user's research request.
3) iExecutus will not misrepresent or purposely mislead any
individual or business entity.
4) iExecutus will abide by all federal, state, local or client
company regulations in the collection and reporting of competitive
information.
5) iExecutus will abide by the Society of Competitive Information
Professionals (SCIP) Code of Ethics."
United Technologies Corporate: Code of Ethics
http://www.utc.com/profile/ethics/english/Gather.PDF
"The Code provides, however, that information will be sought only when
there is a reasonable belief that both receipt and use of the
information is lawful."
***
SEARCH STRATEGY
competitive intelligence ethics
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&q=competitive+intelligence+ethics
"too far" "competitive intelligence"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&q=%22too+far%22+%22competitive+intelligence%22
corporate spying ethics
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&q=corporate+spying+ethics
"competitive intelligence" "gray areas"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22competitive+intelligence%22+%22gray+areas%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&start=10&sa=N
competitor information ethics
://www.google.com/search?q=competitor+information+ethics&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8
***
I hope the information that I have provided here is helpful. Please
don't hesitate to request clarification if you have questions or need
further research!
>Librarygopher |
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