I suppose, as long as the CI analyst adheres to the ethics in his mode & style of communication, the CCI's decision shouldn't be much of a problem. That's what smart CI is all about- to know without letting other know !! ....Am I missing any key caveat here by any chance, Varsha ??

Hello there Varsha:

First of, I think it would mean more business for CI consulting firms as companies would now think twice about contacting their counterparts to gather information.

Second, I would think that it makes it just a little bit more difficult for CI analysts in these consulting firms to probe for information - especially from the bigger companies if these companies had sufficiently educated all their employees about this act. But then, CI analysts always tend to find sources and methods to elicit the required info.

However, am curious if consulting firms can use client confidentiality agreements so that employees of these big companies can always say they never knew this information would go to their competitor. Also much of the information we elicit looks pretty "harmless" on the surface so not sure if the CCI can really catch on to ti.

Nimalan