Which one of the following statements is true of competitive intelligence as a means of environmental scanning?
A) The Competitive Espionage Act makes it a crime in the United States to engage in competitive intelligence.
B) It is unethical to use competitive intelligence to make strategic business decisions.
C) Competitive intelligence is ethical if competitor-related information is collected from sources accessible and available to the public.
D) Buying competitors' products and asking their own employees to evaluate them to learn about new technical innovations is an example of the unethical practices followed in competitive intelligence.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Competitive intelligence is ethical if the information is collected from sources that are accessible and available to the public. The Competitive Espionage Act makes it a crime to engage in espionage, not competitive intelligence. It is not necessarily unethical to use competitive intelligence to make strategic business decisions, but certain practices such as stealing trade secrets or violating employees' confidentiality agreements are unethical. Buying competitors' products and conducting evaluations of them is a common practice in competitive intelligence and is not necessarily unethical.

Which One of the Following Statements Is True of Competitive