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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1505412
But research into the impact of leaking on company performance creates a mixed picture. For example, one simulation study acknowledges that there are short-term risks of leaking such as competitors getting hold of commercial information, but ultimately found that firms benefit in the long run. For instance, once details of a new project are out there, a firm might be approached about new R&D partnerships with other companies in its ecosystem. This is why an organisation might engage in “selective leaking” of certain product details, such as code or other intellectual property. This can help generate related contributions from other organisations – app developers in the case of Apple, for example. And so selective revealing helps inform other interested parties about a possible product direction, especially when such information is hard to come by otherwise. But companies have to constantly negotiate how openness as a strategy can work in tandem with the need to protect intellectual property. This explains why leaks tend to happen in highly competitive markets where there is a need to draw attention to product plans, to create a buzz around upcoming products, or to discourage consumers from buying competing products. Also, it helps employees and managers in other firms – competitors or producers of accompanying products and services – to react quickly. Ambiguity fuels rumours Companies in innovative sectors such as technology can face an ambiguous, nascent market environment that, according to our research, has “unclear customers, undefined product attributes, and no well-established industry value chain”. Under such conditions, rumours can help managers making technical design decisions to tap into discussions and expectations of producers and consumers. In such market circumstances, rumours can also help out investors and analysts who need reassurance, not only about an organisation’s financial outlook but, by extension, about its strategy. The role of ambiguity and relative lack of information during the tech product innovation process encourages people to devour rumours to attain new knowledge, however provisional it may be. This is why tech blogs that share rumours have become important information intermediaries that even major investors and company analysts track to glean information on firms’ potential strategic outlooks. And so, when keeping an ear out for rumours about new tech, remember they are often based on unverified information. While exciting to follow, only time will tell if such leaks are true or false.