INSTRUCTIONS
international business class
Topic Issue #2: Corporate Espionage
The second issue we will cover in class is corporate espionage. The purpose of this topic is for our class to learn as much as we can about the stealing of trade secrets and company data by both companies and countries. Corporate espionage can occur by companies stealing customer data, product designs, future strategic plans, or other data from competing companies or even partners. It can also occur as a state-sponsored activity where nations steal the data and information from companies to benefit industries or specific companies in their own countries, with those industries or companies often providing the government with a financial benefit in exchange for the close relationships and the access to the stolen information.
You can choose to explore either of these two aspects of corporate espionage; however, don’t use articles that solely focus on countries engaging in cyber attacks on other countries to cause disruptions or for the purpose of stealing government secrets.
Assignment Requirements
The article must be from the last 5 years. One purpose of the assignment is to have you take the time to look at some of the international business newspapers and international coverage in business periodicals. For each issue presentation, you should find one article of interest on the assigned topic. The articles should be substantial – meaning a major story (as opposed to one or two paragraphs). You may use more than one article if you find interesting information, but the articles are shorter in length. Use the library’s electronic databases as well as the internet to find current and academically appropriate information. Along with reading the “starter” material mentioned in the introductory paragraph and the material in the textbook surrounding the topic, you should try to use such sources as Business Week, Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Financial Times (of London), or an equally significant business publication as your source for your article. You can access some of these sources through the library’s databases. From the link below you can access Business Source Complete which is a good database with many reputable publications like Bloomberg Business Week.
You can also use some reputable websites that have international business news like the following:
(CNBC website section for world news)
(British Broadcasting Corporation
– BBC)
https://globaledge.msu.edu/ (Global business website hosted by Michigan State University)
You can also use a podcast or a video in place of an article, but in either of those cases it must be long enough
to be equivalent to an article (which is hard to do), otherwise it can be part of a combination of an article and a
podcast/video on the topic. The podcast or video must also be within the last 5 years
Written Requirements
You will write a summary of and provide comments on the article. The summary and commentary should
include the following:
Content
A summary of the article, including how the article adds to the information in the textbook
.Your comments about what you learned, what you thought was surprising, what was most interesting,
what was most valuable from the article, etc. Format
.
The written assignment should be at least 2 pages in length
, with at least
1/2 page devoted to your
comments. The assignment should be double spaced. Use 1 inch margins
Use a font no larger than Times Roman 12 pt. font.
Citation and Article
Provide a citation of the article at the end of your paper using APA format. Information on writing a proper citation in APA format is provided in two links to Purdue University
Upload a copy of the article along with your paper. In the case of videos and podcasts, the citations will suffice
STARTER MATERIAL
Other Starter Material
Below are a few other resources related to corporate espionage that might spark an idea or two related to what you might search for on the topic.
- Before Huawei was the target of a federal investigation last year, many Americans had not heard of the company. Yet as mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article link below, the company employs 188,000 people in 170 countries, provides cloud services, is a leader in 5G technology, and sells more smartphones than Apple. The link below relates to Huawei’s dubious use of corporate espionage to become the world’s largest maker of telecommunications equipment.
- Some countries are more involved in stealing company secrets than others. Below is a link to an article that discussed a US government agency report on the worst offenders in corporate espionage.
Requirements: – 2 filled pages
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