Should I Keep a Secret? The Effects of Trade Secret Protection Procedures on Employees' Obligations to Protect Trade Secrets

Abstract

Organizations' trade secrets (which can be chemical formulae, recipes, customer files, machinery designs, or many other types of information) are often valuable, enduring sources of competitive advantage. In this study, the influence of organizations' formal efforts to protect trade secrets on employees' beliefs about their obligations to protect those secrets was investigated. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered by means of survey interviews with 111 employees of two high-tech organizations. Employees' obligations were influenced by their levels of familiarity with, and their perceptions of the enforcement of, two types of trade secret protection procedures (TSPPs): trade secret access restriction procedures (ARs) and trade secret handling procedures (HPs). Employees' levels of familiarity with ARs were negatively related to their felt obligations to protect trade secrets, but the opposite was true for HPs: Employees' levels of familiarity with HPs were positively related to the obligations they felt to protect trade secrets. For both types of TSPPs, the relationship between familiarity and felt obligations was moderated by employees' perceptions of the degree to which the TSPPs were enforced.

The patent management trichotomy: patenting, publishing, and secrecy

“…Numerous studies have found that the protection of innovations and prevention of imitation is the main motive for patenting (Arundel et al, 1995, Blind et al, 2006, Cohen et al, 2000, Duguet and Kabla, 1998, Giuri et al, 2007, Granstrand, 1999, Thumm, 2004a, Veer and Jell, 2012, Thumm, 2004b. Publishing is not associated with such benefits, while secrecy is (Arundel, 2001, Hannah, 2005. This leads to the first proposition.…”

Conflict Minerals and Supply Chain Due Diligence: An Exploratory Study of Multi-tier Supply Chains

“…For some firms, implementing due diligence within the rather unregulated European market is a strategic decision they are reluctant to take as a first mover. Accordingly, regulation presents a trust-building facilitator demanding concerted levels of supply chain transparency among all firms, curtailing concerns of competitive disadvantage (Doorey, 2011), and enabling exchange of confidential information (Hannah, 2005).…”

Hr Practices, Knowledge Sharing and Protection Activities, and Performance — A Moderation Model

“…Managers can address these issues through continuous monitoring, and by evaluating, for example, the trustworthiness of employees already during the recruitment interviews (Olander and Hurmelinna-Laukkanen, 2015). In general, the HR practices that are targeted towards limiting unwanted knowledge flows, i.e., knowledge securing practices, can cover means such as non-disclosure agreements, confidentiality clauses, enforcing non-competition agreements (applicable only with certain employees), educating employees on confidentiality issues, motivational aspects for following information security rules, sanctions for breaking the rules, and controlling and restricting access, (Baughn et al, 1997;Bulgurcu et al, 2010;Hannah, 2005;Hannah and Robertson, 2016;Olander et al, 2015;O'Neill and Adya, 2007;Porter Liebeskind, 1996;.…”