Industrial espionage and innovation

Abstract

Industrial espionage is normally regarded as thoroughly undesirable, something to be stopped rather than studied. Lack of academic interest is explained by industrial espionage being generally ineffective as a means of transferring technological information. Consequently, it makes little contribution to innovation, a topic of consuming interest to academics, policy makers, and managers. Indeed, attempts to prevent industrial espionage would seem to be of rather more relevance to innovation than industrial espionage itself. Such attempts can easily disrupt information flow in informal information channels, and this certainly does make an important contribution to innovation. The problem arises because the information transaction which takes place in industrial espionage is widely confused with the information exchange fundamental to personal networking. The confusion is unnecessary – as is the obsession with preventing industrial espionage.