DATE: June 11, 2012
TO: G. Alan Williams
FROM: Charlotte Johnson
RE: The Rhetoric of Industrial Espionage: The Case of Starwood V. Hilton. Jameson, D. A. (2011). The Rhetoric of Industrial Espionage: The Case of Starwood V. Hilton. Business Communication Quarterly, 74(3), 289-297. doi:10.1177/1080569911413811
ARTICLE SYNOPSIS
This article discusses a lawsuit filed by Starwood against Hilton in 2009 for industrial espionage. Starwood had an agreement with their executives that they would not share any personal information from the company and they would not work for another company of the same sort for at least one year. This is to keep ideas on the inside as well for companies to use their ideas before it is too late or to come up with different idea for their company. Starwood tells how Hilton stole documents and used them for their own personal gain. This information was taken by two executive employees who were recruited by a Hilton vice president. This Vice president received some personal information and ideas that were clearly from another company. Once the two executives were hired into the Hilton staff more information was given out openly share by the two. This information was shared with about 44 other employees who knew that every idea they were being given was from a competing organization (Starwood).
LEGAL ISSUE
The legal business issues here would be the theft if many documents. Not only were these documents taken, they were also used for a new product for the company. This was not only used to get more information about what Starwood was planning, but it was also used for personal gain and reputation
MANAGERIAL PERSPECTIVE
These issues caused a lot of hassle for Starwood and a lot more money for Hilton. These
