Ethical Issues Associated with Copying Business Competitors’ Strategies (Essay Sample)

Ethical Issues Associated with Copying Business Competitors’ Strategies Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course Name Professor’s Name Date Ethical Issues Associated with Copying Business Competitors’ Strategies Technological advancements in the 21st century have intensified business competition. Competitive analysis is a relatively effective process that enables organizations to gather information about their competitors. Nonetheless, to obtain such crucial information, firms employ unethical tactics that are considered fraudulent (Elia, 2016). It is imperative to conduct a thorough competitive analysis to survive in the marketplace to study competitors’ trends, strengths, and weaknesses. Nevertheless, copying business competitors’ strategies is unethical and can easily harm one’s brand. Due to increased competition, top management is fixated on comprehending the aspects that lead to sustained growth. Firms must study and analyze their competitors to develop unique products that satisfy customer needs (Zahra, 1994). However, businesses can be tempted to copy their rivals’ product range, strategies, organizational structure, and managerial processes. Such practices violate the established business ethics that results in fierce court battles (Zahra, 1994). Moreover, some companies try to access rivals’ classified information by pretending to be a genuine clients interested in transacting with the said organization (Elia, 2016). Such unethical tactics are intended to access competitors’ pricing strategies and other information that would ordinarily not be availed to business rivals. Moreover, calling competitors and posing as legitimate consumers is another ethical issue in copying competitors’ strategies. In conclusion, business managers always seek ways to outmaneuver the competition and achieve sustainable growth and expansion. To achieve such an objective, they conduct a competit...