ETHICS & INTEGRITY

RESOURCE GUIDE
SAMPLE POLICIES
Introduction
Bonnie Hohhof

Part 2 of Competitive Intelligence Ethics contains examples of specific competitive intelligence ethics policies.
These ethics policies are divided into two groups:
• corporate practitioners

• consulting firms working in the CI space

Practitioner corporate codes of conduct

For the corporate practitioners originally contacted about including their CI ethics policies in this publication,
approximately one third said they simply used the SCIP Code of Ethics. Another third did not have separate
competitive intelligence ethics guidelines and either used their corporate code of ethics or had no written eth-
ical code. Of the remaining third, several indicated that they had CI ethics policies but were not allowed to
share them outside the company. The rest appear in this section.
To encourage sharing of CI practitioner Codes of Conduct, companies were given the option of having their
names removed from the policies. Although we had hoped that more would include their company name, we
do appreciate the time and effort it took the individual practitioners to move our request through their internal
channels, and to provide these samples.
A quick scan of the corporate ethics policies show that corporate ethics policies vary widely in size and scope.
They range from very detailed guidelines and examples of how CI is conducted in their organization (averaging
5 pages) to a one page pocket card (Company D). For an extended view of how one company has incorporated
CI ethical rules into an extensive corporate Competition Policy, see Company I.
Each ethics policy embodies different approaches to codify ethics into competitive intelligence activities:
• Company A includes specific guidelines for marketing and sales.

• Company B incorporated a Q&A section of appropriate behavior examples.

• Company E explicitly states that their Code of Conduct applies equally to employees and
external contractors.

• Company F takes the “thou shall not” approach to their policy.

• Company G has their guidelines in a PowerPoint that they use in presentations throughout
the company.

• Company H includes specific ethics training requirements of CI professionals and all com-
pany employees and assigns direct management responsibility for it.

Special thanks must be given to Sandy Hughes and Procter and Gamble for allowing the company Policy for
Collecting Competitive Information to be published with corporate attribution.

SCIP’s Competitive Intelligence Foundation, www.scip.org 79

Competitive intelligence consultants codes of ethics
Much of the public discussion surrounding the need for competitive intelligence ethical codes has been driven
by examples of perceived misconduct or illegal activities by external consultants. We have included the Codes
of Ethics of twelve CI consulting firms to provide you with examples of what can be considered ‘standard’
policies for third party CI contractors. Before you contract out any competitive intelligence activities, be sure
to review that company’s ethical code.
Many of the article authors and this editor strongly suggest that you include an ethical code of conduct in all of
your external CI contracts. Some companies simply duplicate their own internal codes of conduct; others
specifically create third party codes. In either case, remember that in the public eye your company will be held
accountable for the actions of your CI contractors.
The ultimate guideline of CI ethics could be embodied in this simple question:
Would you be comfortable, seeing your name and what you did, on the front page of your
home town newspaper?

80 Competitive Intelligence Ethics: Navigating the Gray Zone

SCIP Code of Ethics

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 execu-

tion 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.

www.scip.org/ci/ethics.asp

SCIP’s Competitive Intelligence Foundation, www.scip.org 81

Competitive Intelligence Research
Guidelines
Company B

Purpose
This brochure provides Guidelines for all the Company’s employees and contractors (e.g., consultants) who are
conducting competitive intelligence research on behalf of the Company. The Guidelines comply with standards
of conduct in the Company’s Code of Conduct, other statements of corporate policies (particularly the
Corporate Value Statement), and standard practices.

General Policy
These Guidelines comply with the Company’s general policy that anyone acting on its behalf must comply with
the legal requirements of the various countries, economies, and regional communities in which the Company
does business. Employees and agents of the Company shall conduct the Company’s affairs in accordance with
the highest moral and legal standards. The reputations of the Company and each employee of the Company
for unquestioned honesty, integrity, and fair dealing are priceless assets—assets that must not be compromised.
Thus, these Guidelines apply uniformly to all employees and contractors representing each member of the
entire Company group of companies.

Background and Scope

Issues about competitive intelligence research mainly evolve around the collection and use of information
obtained about competitors. Findings from a 1989 The Information Advisor survey highlight most of the key
issues:
• Telephone interviews are used by 75% of consulting firms.

• Questionable issues mainly involve “representation:”

- Disclosing the “true” purpose of the interview

- Using “wrong” name

- Not revealing client’s name

- Concealing competitor sponsorship.

• Competitor pricing was identified as the most important item of competitive intelligence
gathering, with strategy and sales data second and third, respectively.

• The most important uses of competitive intelligence cited were: setting prices, making
strategy changes, and planning new products.

SCIP’s Competitive Intelligence Foundation, www.scip.org 91

Valid competitive information may be defined as “commercially useful ideas or facts,” i.e., any data or plans
that relate to the conduct of business. Information may be technical in nature (designs, patents, methods of
operations, etc.) or relate to business activities (customers’ names, capital plans, R&D plans, marketing plans,
financial data, etc.). Since the Company considers such information about itself confidential, we must recog-
nize and acknowledge that such information may also be considered confidential by competitors.
Control over confidential information is lost when its secrecy is waived by publication, either directly by a
company or its employees or agents acting on its behalf. The decisions of the courts conflict and are not clear
as to what exactly constitutes waiver by publication. Hence, it is impossible to provide rigid guidelines. Each
effort to collect information should be examined on its own merits, and The Company’s legal department
should be consulted when in doubt.
The acquisition of competitive information may be pre-planned and deliberate or it may be inadvertent. The
Guidelines below address these types of issues, but in no way are expected to supercede the overall Company
Code of Conduct.

Basic Principles and Appropriate Behavior

Information gathering methods
Contacts with competitors involving pricing, marketing strategies, customers, markets, costs or future manu-
facturing plans can expose the Company to liability for violating antitrust or other business conduct laws and
shall be avoided. The gathering of competitive information must be in compliance with such laws. The fol-
lowing sources of information (from “the Wade System of Graduation of Sources of Information”) are consid-
ered reasonable for gathering:
• Published material and public documents, such as court records

• Disclosures made by competitors’ employees and obtained without subterfuge

• Market surveys and consultants’ reports

• Financial reports and brokers’ research brochures

• Trade fairs, exhibits, and competitors’ brochures

• Analyses of competitors’ products

Right to protect proprietary information

The Company respects the right of competitors to have their proprietary information protected from disclosure
and will not permit violation of such rights in seeking competitive information.

Duty of investigation
If competitive information is obtained from someone working for or with a competitor, and that information
would be deemed confidential if owned by the Company, there is an obligation to establish whether the infor-
mation was disclosed without restriction. One way to do this is to ask if the information is company-confiden-
tial. Generally, former employees of a competitor may not have any authority to determine confidential status
of information. Care should be taken to avoid accepting or encouraging the disclosure by former competitor
employees of confidential information.

Responsibility for contractor’s actions

Competitive information disclosed to the Company by contractors (consultants) can be used for the benefit of
the Company if the information is not subject to restriction of confidentiality and the use of the information
does not violate the Company’s compliance with antitrust and other business laws.

92 Competitive Intelligence Ethics: Navigating the Gray Zone

The Company may be held responsible for the behavior of a contractor hired by the Company specifically to
obtain competitive information unless the contractor’s action was unauthorized and unintended by the
Company (reference section on Third Party Contractors). It is the contracting manager’s responsibility to
ensure that contractors (and their contractors, if any) observe these Guidelines.

Identification
When seeking information that could be deemed confidential, employees cannot hide the fact that they are
seeking information on behalf of the Company if required to be disclosed.

Liability
If there is any question as to the legality of a particular means being considered to obtain competitive informa-
tion or the right to use and disclose any information obtained, employees and contractors should check with
the Company’s law department for advice on avoiding unethical or illegal actions.

Disclosure and use by the company

All competitive information gathered for the Company is limited to disclosure and use for the benefit of the
Company and cannot be used for personal benefit or disclosed to outsiders without prior written management
approval.

Government records
Various governmental agencies require that companies disclose information to the government. It is the obliga-
tion of the owner of the information to assert confidentiality for such information and The Company has the
right to use information not protected and obtained legally from government sources.

Appropriate Behavior Examples

1. Can I photograph a competitor’s plant or facility?
Yes, as long as you photograph only what you can see from a location open to the public using
ordinary equipment which does not enhance what is visible to the naked eye. Flying over a
competitor’s plant to take pictures is not allowable; however, aerial photographs already
existing in the public domain can be obtained and used.
2. Can I obtain competitive information from a former employee of a competitor?
This requires caution, but as long as you do not induce the ex-employee to breach an agree-
ment or confidentially obligation that exists with the former employer, you may inquire. In
general, if seeking information from a former competitor’s employee, you should clearly under-
stand the continuing obligations of the former employee and you should avoid entering into
discussions those topics.
Finally, under most circumstances, you may hire the employee of a competitor for full time
employment by the Company, but not for the purpose of having such person reveal trade
secrets of the former employer. However, the Company’s law and human resources depart-
ments should be contacted before extending any offers, written or verbal, since obligations
including the possibility of non-compete agreements may differ depending on the position to be
filled.
3. Can I ask for or obtain samples from normal commercial channels of a competitor’s product?
Yes, as long as there is not confidentiality attached to the sample.
4. Can I hire a third-party contractor (consultant) to obtain competitive information?

SCIP’s Competitive Intelligence Foundation, www.scip.org 93

 Yes, but only if the contractor will adhere to the Guidelines as acknowledged in writing via a
properly authorized competitive intelligence consulting agreement (see the next section on
Third Party Contractors).
5. Can I use competitive information that I overheard on an airplane or in a restaurant or other public places?
Clear the use of such “accidental” disclosure with the Company law department before dis-
seminating it, as there may be some question as to its confidentiality. The confidentiality of
such conversations will depend on the circumstances. Unless such conversations were clearly
public, they may remain confidential and there may be laws which prevent interception or dis-
semination of such conversations.
6. Can I ask a competitor’s supplier to provide me with details of the services/products rendered to the com-
petitor?
Yes, as long as the supplier understands that you are not asking for confidential information,
and no economic or other leverage is used to obtain the information.
7. Can I ask a competitor’s employee for non-confidential technical or business information?
Yes, if the information is provided to you without coercion and does not conflict with the
Company’s compliance of antitrust or other business laws. Although you are not required to
automatically reveal your affiliation with the Company, be careful not to misrepresent your
employment by the Company if demand for your affiliation is requested. Consult with the
Company’s law department before and after seeking such information.
8. Can I seek information on file with U.S. governmental agencies without going through Freedom of
Information Act written requests?
Yes, as long as you do not misrepresent your employment with the Company, you proceed
through normal government channels, and you are not asking for information identified as
confidential.
9. Can I employ Freedom of Information Act written requests to obtain competitive information?
Yes, as long as the information you request is not considered confidential. In order to avoid
any misunderstanding, the request must be limited by including the sentence: “This request is
only for information not claimed to be confidential by the submitter.” Also, if the government
has failed to properly blank out information which is clearly (as marked) proprietary to the
competitor, the information cannot be used and must be returned to the government via the
Company’s law department.
10. Can I use competitive information that is volunteered to me by an employee of a competitor?
Yes, if the employee appears to be acting within the scope of their employment, unless you sus-
pect the information is confidential or believe the employee is acting wrongfully in disclosing
such information to you. If the confidential information is received in the mail, return it to the
competitor via the Company’s law department.
11. Can I use and disseminate informative “hearsay” competitive information obtained through normal com-
mercial channels?
Yes, unless it would appear that the information is proprietary or confidential. Also, when dis-
seminating such information you should clearly point out that the information is hearsay or
rumor, not fact.

94 Competitive Intelligence Ethics: Navigating the Gray Zone

Third Party Contractors
The Company Consulting Agreement for competitive intelligence has been established, and should be the
starting point for all competitive intelligence agreements with third-party contractors (i.e., consultants,
researchers, etc.). Execution of this type of agreement should follow current standard practices. These agree-
ments must be reviewed by the Company’s law department.
The Company’s managers and employees shall promote and encourage full compliance with the Guidelines by
all third-party contractors, and shall have all of a contractor’s employees who will be performing services for
the Company acknowledge their agreement by signing an acknowledgement copy of the agreement. At the end
of a third-party project, the Company project manager should obtain from the contractor all materials which
contain confidential information relating to the business of the Company.

Administration
Employees and contractors involved in gathering competitive information on behalf of the Company are
responsible for adherence to these Guidelines.
All managers are responsible for advising their employees and/or contractors of the principles embodied in the
Company’s Competitive Intelligence Research Guidelines and for directing their research activities consistent
with these principles.

SCIP’s Competitive Intelligence Foundation, www.scip.org 95

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