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Ethics
1. We will not use deception when representing ourselves. We shall provide the name and location of our company to respondents in interviews.
2. We will not bribe respondents, nor will we use blackmail or employ extortion.
3. We will not perform surreptitious espionage using listening devices, hidden cameras, or stakeouts. We will not overfly competitor facilities.
4. We will not swap pricing information with competitors or promote collusion in anti-competitive agreements. Although we will obtain pricing and volume information for clients, we will not compromise our clients' positions with various anti-trust regulations. ("In the marketplace of ideas, we shall be the getters, not the givers.")
5. We will not plant competitive information or misinformation.
6. We will not knowingly compromise either a client's or respondent's positions or reputations by demanding information unavailable in the routine course of conversation or business. Our standard practice is to blot out the name of respondents in CI project archival copies of interviews provided to clients.
7. We will not tape record conversations with respondents except in focus groups where respondents have been previously informed and have agreed to be recorded.
8. We will not knowingly compromise the position of any sovereign state based on providing knowledge that involves their or our National Security.
9. We will not provide information of a personal nature that is likely to be used for either private or public character assassination.
10. Since all client materials are kept highly confidential, we will provide a Nondisclosure Agreement or sign a similar agreement provided by our clients. In addition, all of our employees are required to sign Nondisclosure Agreements to pledge secrecy of client information. We will also segregate all client project-related materials from other file materials in a similar or related industry to prevent disclosure of non-public information. (Copies of our Nondisclosure Agreement available upon request).
11. We will not remove competitors' private plans, diagrams, samples, or technology without agreement. We will not rummage through competitors' trash. We are not interested in obtaining, keeping, or using Trade Secrets (as defined in the law).
12. We will not place false advertisements for the purpose of interviewing competitive personnel.
13. We will act with integrity in our relationships with clients, colleagues, other organizations, referral sources, and other professions so as to contribute to the optimum benefit of our clients and actively promote international and domestic competitiveness.
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