Peek Inside Your Competitor's Business

Intelligence gathering isn't just for Cold War-era spies. You can use investigative research to find out what your competitors are up to — and how it might affect your business. Our guide to competitive research gives you practical tools and techniques for corporate sleuthing, and our case study reveals how Bain & Company gathered intelligence on a Japanese carmaker for a U.S. competitor. Worried about the legal and ethical implications of business-world espionage? Never fear: we've summarized the seven deadly sins of competitive spying, so you'll know how to keep it clean. And to get you started, we've gathered a handy list of the best resources for mining corporate data.