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Gathering competitive intelligence is vital to corporate success, but intelligence gathering too often leads to unethical behavior. Most needed information is available though open sources, and unethical behavior is not needed or justifiable. Tips for preventing ethics abuses are offered, and an eight-step program for implementing ethics guidelines is outlined.

Companies should establish ethical and legal guidelines for their business intelligence activities. These guidelines should help avoid allegations of espionage, which could lead to expensive lawsuits and disciplinary fines. Whatever form the guidelines take, they should always follow and support the corporate ethical guidelines of the company. Senior management must demonstrate its support for the guidelines to ensure that they would be followed and implemented and to emphasize that all employees are subject to these rules. Management should request the participation of the legal department of the company to prevent misconceptions. When introducing the guidelines to the organization, a brief training course should be offered to ensure that everyone understands them.