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Demystifying battles of corporate espionage
By Ni Tao |
August 7, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
I can tell almost immediately whether a drink I'm consuming is a Coke or a Pepsi without looking at the label on the bottle containing the dark brown, sparkling beverage -- or even if the bottle bears no label at all.
To some, the slight difference in taste between a Coke and a Pepsi is practically impossible to discern by taste buds. But connoisseurs would assert that there is something special about the Coke's taste that makes its grip so firm on soda drinkers.
I learned of the existence of that "special" something in a dog-eared book I found when rummaging through my father's collection of detective novels. Though not a strictly a whodunit, the content of the book was every bit as dramatic and gripping. It was from it that I, then a boy of nine and not able to understand every word, first came across the term "corporate espionage."
A large portion of Eamon Javers' "Broker, Trader, Lawyer, Spy" recounts how Coca-Cola Inc's rivals used every means possible to get their hands on the company's secret formula, coded "Merchandise 7X," that reportedly gives the soft drink its unique flavor. And it describes how Coke fought off attempts to steal its tightly guarded commercial secret and kept its own employees from divulging it.
Coca Cola's long-running, mostly invisible war with corporate spooks and companies that hire them has been featured in books that probe the inner workings of the hidden industry.
Not in "Broker, Trader, Lawyer, Spy." Instead of presenting a mere roundup of significant spying episodes, Javers chronicles the genesis and evolution of the clandestine corporate espionage industry.
However, the greatest value of the book is in helping demystify a group of individuals who are both feared and romanticized.
Contrary to stereotyped one-dimensional spies with a gift for conspiracy and violence, corporate spies operate on a battlefield without bloodletting. And the way they blend into surroundings and go about their business -- just like ordinary office workers -- explains why they seldom blow their cover.
As Javers notes, "Spies often say that 90 percent of a good intelligence operation is open-source information -- stuff that's in the newspapers, in government documents, or easily available with a phone call or two."
Corporate spying has been one of the "wrong" beneficiaries of technological advance. As spooks are now armed with high-tech gadgets, like satellite surveillance cameras and GPS tracking devices, the age when gumshoe work was the primary source of intelligence would seem to be long gone.
This notion is wrong. While analytical skills remain part and parcel of modern-day corporate espionage, dumpster-diving and phone-bugging are still tricks that spies use frequently to elicit solid information about targets they investigate.
As Javers writes in the chapter "The Chocolate Wars" about the bitter tit-for-tat spying battle between candy giants Nestle and Mars, reconstructing information from shredded documents is still the most effective way to gather snippets of intelligence and piece them together into something that makes sense.
As competition intensifies in the global business world, moral and ethical issues are sure to become important regarding the services provided by corporate spies.
The Mars versus Nestle spying saga may repeat itself on a colossal scale if "market share trumps all other concerns."
The more we hear about such cases, the more the business culture is revealed as perilously flawed.
There are good examples to follow, though. In November 2006, three of Coca-Cola's senior executives were tried and convicted of attempting to sell confidential company files and trial products to Coke's arch rival Pepsi for US$1.5 million. Pepsi feigned interest in the proposed sale but then alerted Coke to the presence of its "fifth column," leading to the arrests.
Considering the Coke-Pepsi rivalry that spans decades, Pepsi should be credited with this unusual integrity. But maybe its bona fides was inspired by the conviction that Coke's "Merchandise 7X" is more a marketing gimmick than a secret recipe.
After all, Coke's No. 1 soft drink status may be just due to the fact that it has become a symbol of pop culture.
To some, the slight difference in taste between a Coke and a Pepsi is practically impossible to discern by taste buds. But connoisseurs would assert that there is something special about the Coke's taste that makes its grip so firm on soda drinkers.
I learned of the existence of that "special" something in a dog-eared book I found when rummaging through my father's collection of detective novels. Though not a strictly a whodunit, the content of the book was every bit as dramatic and gripping. It was from it that I, then a boy of nine and not able to understand every word, first came across the term "corporate espionage."
A large portion of Eamon Javers' "Broker, Trader, Lawyer, Spy" recounts how Coca-Cola Inc's rivals used every means possible to get their hands on the company's secret formula, coded "Merchandise 7X," that reportedly gives the soft drink its unique flavor. And it describes how Coke fought off attempts to steal its tightly guarded commercial secret and kept its own employees from divulging it.
Coca Cola's long-running, mostly invisible war with corporate spooks and companies that hire them has been featured in books that probe the inner workings of the hidden industry.
Not in "Broker, Trader, Lawyer, Spy." Instead of presenting a mere roundup of significant spying episodes, Javers chronicles the genesis and evolution of the clandestine corporate espionage industry.
However, the greatest value of the book is in helping demystify a group of individuals who are both feared and romanticized.
Contrary to stereotyped one-dimensional spies with a gift for conspiracy and violence, corporate spies operate on a battlefield without bloodletting. And the way they blend into surroundings and go about their business -- just like ordinary office workers -- explains why they seldom blow their cover.
As Javers notes, "Spies often say that 90 percent of a good intelligence operation is open-source information -- stuff that's in the newspapers, in government documents, or easily available with a phone call or two."
Corporate spying has been one of the "wrong" beneficiaries of technological advance. As spooks are now armed with high-tech gadgets, like satellite surveillance cameras and GPS tracking devices, the age when gumshoe work was the primary source of intelligence would seem to be long gone.
This notion is wrong. While analytical skills remain part and parcel of modern-day corporate espionage, dumpster-diving and phone-bugging are still tricks that spies use frequently to elicit solid information about targets they investigate.
As Javers writes in the chapter "The Chocolate Wars" about the bitter tit-for-tat spying battle between candy giants Nestle and Mars, reconstructing information from shredded documents is still the most effective way to gather snippets of intelligence and piece them together into something that makes sense.
As competition intensifies in the global business world, moral and ethical issues are sure to become important regarding the services provided by corporate spies.
The Mars versus Nestle spying saga may repeat itself on a colossal scale if "market share trumps all other concerns."
The more we hear about such cases, the more the business culture is revealed as perilously flawed.
There are good examples to follow, though. In November 2006, three of Coca-Cola's senior executives were tried and convicted of attempting to sell confidential company files and trial products to Coke's arch rival Pepsi for US$1.5 million. Pepsi feigned interest in the proposed sale but then alerted Coke to the presence of its "fifth column," leading to the arrests.
Considering the Coke-Pepsi rivalry that spans decades, Pepsi should be credited with this unusual integrity. But maybe its bona fides was inspired by the conviction that Coke's "Merchandise 7X" is more a marketing gimmick than a secret recipe.
After all, Coke's No. 1 soft drink status may be just due to the fact that it has become a symbol of pop culture.
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