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Business Ethics
Interim Project Reporton
Spying to Gain Competitive Advantage
Spying to Gain Competitive Advantage - An Ethical Dilemma
Today, we are in an environment where every individual or entity seeks to outperform the other
in the arena of delivering value. In the quest for competitive advantage, an individual or entity
devises and employs various strategies, traditional as well as novel. Espionage is one such
strategy that is increasingly being wielded to secure competitive advantage. It is a highly
pervasive strategy given that it is employed by governments, defence forces, businesses,
employees in an organization and even students in an educational institution, albeit at different
scales.
On the one hand, we have supporters of espionage claiming that this strategy is employed by one
and all, and that it, therefore, merits validity. They also pose the argument that the ends that they
seek to achieve through espionage are good and this makes their act of spying on their
competitors ethical. However, on the other hand, opponents of the strategy of spying argue that it
ultimately boils down to invading anothers privacy for ones own advantage and is, therefore,
unjustifiable.
In this project, we seek to answer the question, Do people instinctively resort to spying on
others to gain competitive advantage? and the implications thereof, especially for management
of organizations.
Literature Review
Title: - Review of "Lone Survivor"By: -Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal, American Combat HeroLink: - http://www.wmarkbrooks.com/2009/11/confessions-of-a-corporate-spy-got-ethics.htmlAccording to Marcus Luttrell Corporate Espionage is .illegal or unethical activitiesconducted for commercial gain. These activities can include theft of information,
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inappropriate use of information, sabotage, bribery, blackmail, hacking, or socialengineering.Luttrell is also of the opinion that the internet has blurred the lines of what is considered
legal and what is not. He also talks about how Google is used today as tool to gain secret
information that they can use to conduct espionage. and hoe Google allows one to gather
information today that otherwise would have to be obtained by means of stealing.He defines the Golden Rule of Spying as such an act that answers the question Would
we want and willingly approve of our conduct if another company was conducting the
activity against our own company. He includes the following acts to be considered as
spying:-
Deceit Pretexting Hiding Covering up activities Hiring someone because you dont feel right about conducting the activity yourself.
Title:-Who's Spying on You at Work? Why former CIA agents could be stakingout your office.By: - AnonymousLink: - http://www.details.com/culture-trends/career-and-money/200912/office-work-
spy-cia-corporate-espionage
The Anonymous corporate spy here through his tell-all article states his justification
about paid corporate spying as that's what we were hired to do. He also admits that a
spy must be ready to get your hands dirty and operate in the gray area and he admits
to trying to stay within the law. Ironically, the author never mentions the ethical aspects
of his deeds.
The author is of the opinion that Corporate Espionage can be carried out not only through
technology but also through human observation.
He also quotes various examples of espionage at international and inter-corporate level
and how various corporate invest lose amounts of money due to espionage. ($100 billion
lost by U.S. firms annually).
Title:-The Wikileaks IllusionBy: - Alasdair RobertsLink: - http://www.wilsonquarterly.com/essays/wikileaks-illusion
For as long as there has been commerce, there has been espionage, just that the tools get
smarter and powerful. Wikileaks which has shook many nations, corporate and
individuals alike has marked the end of old fashioned secrecy. In the article The
Wikileaks Illusion Alasdair Roberts has attempted to unleash the power, the evolution
and the modus operandi of WikiLeaks. It gives a fresh perspective of the world of
modern spying and its consequences.
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Title: - Rajat Gupta fined $13.9 million for insider tradingLink: - http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/rajat-gupta-fined-139-
million-for-insider-trading/article4927746.ece
India-born former Goldman Sachs Director Mr. Rajat Gupta was convicted of insidertrading and disclosing confidential information about Berkshire Hathaway Incs $5billion investment in Goldman Sachs to Mr. Rajaratnam, a Sri Lankan American formerhedge fund manager and billionaire founder of the Galleon Group, a New York-based hedge fund management firm.
Title: - The changing rules of corporate spy gamesLink: - http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0925/p02s01-usec.html
Recently the news came where Mark Hurd, CEO of Hewlett Packard, in order to protect
their companys business interest, initiated spying on one of its board members. The
incident became ugly when it was revealed that the spying agency used techniques such
as gaining access to phone records under false pretenses. Many argue that given the
highly competitive nature of business today its imperative to protect the leak of sensitive
data, however then the question arises that how often in these pursuit, ethicality and right
to privacy will be trespassed. The question is whether justifying these moves sets a bad
precedent or not. If yes, then are we ready to bring in a culture where this kind of
thinking is promoted?
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