RT Article
T1 Corporate policy and the ethics of competitor intelligence gathering
JF Journal of business ethics
VO 10
IS 6
SP 423
OP 436
A1 Paine, Lynn Sharp
LA English
YR 1991
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1785601873
AB Competitor intelligence, information that helps managers understand their competitors, is highly valued in today's marketplace. Firms, large and small, are taking a more systematic approach to competitor intelligence collection. At the same time, information crimes and litigation over information disputes appear to be on the rise, and survey data show widespread approval of unethical and questionable intelligence-gathering methods. Despite these developments, few corporations address the ethics of intelligence gathering in their corporate codes of conduct. Neither managers nor management educators have paid sufficient attention to this topic. From a review of questionable intelligence-gathering practices reported in various literatures, the author identifies some important ethical principles to help managers draw the line between legitimate and illegitimate methods of information acquisition. The paper also discusses the costs of failure to heed these principles and suggests steps managers can take to provide ethical leadership in this area.
K1 Ethical Leadership
K1 Ethical Principle
K1 Systematic Approach
K1 Survey Data
K1 Economic Growth
DO 10.1007/BF00382825