Between Intelligence and Espionage in the Contemporary Business Environment

The growing use of technology as a fundamental tool for knowledge management has obliged the business world to adapt to the information revolution era. Competitive intelligence is the new management tool companies are using for ensuring positive results both on the short and the long term. The following research paper starts by revealing the needs that companies respond to when implementing competitive intelligence and continues with a summary of the main techniques used by businesses to develop an intelligent market approach. The paper also offers a brief description of corporate espionage practices, underlining the differences between these and the competitive intelligence techniques. A case study showing the way that competitive intelligence is implemented in practice is being offered. Conclusions refer to the main differences between corporate espionage and competitive intelligence as well as the driving forces determining the need for acquiring knowledge on competitive intelligence.