Nothing Unethical about Competitve Intelligence

Competitive intelligence is a structured approach to gathering, analyzing and communicating data - market trends and industry developments that allows for advanced identification of risks and opportunities in the competitive arena., and make best informed business decisions.   Competitive intelligence is a formalized, yet continuously evolving process by which the management team assesses the evolution of its industry and the capabilities and behavior of its current and potential competitors to assist in maintaining or developing a competitive advantage.(Prescott and Gibbons) CI is a continuous process involving the legal and ethical collection of information, analysis that doesn't avoid unwelcome conclusions, and controlled dissemination of actionable intelligence to decision makers. CI is the process of enhancing marketplace competitiveness through a greater -- yet unequivocally ethical -- understanding of a firm's competitors and the competitive environment. The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) defines it as follows: Competitive Intelligence: A systematic and ethical program for gathering, analyzing, and managing external information that can affect your company's plans, decisions, and operations. It is the legal collection and analysis of information regarding the capabilities, vulnerabilities, and intentions of business competitors, conducted by using information databases and other "open sources" and through ethical inquiry.   O2ibm

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