A Trade Secrets Framework and Strategic Approaches

Trade secrets are key assets for innovative, successful companies. Compared to other intellectual property, trade secrets require different approaches to protect and embed them into company innovation strategies. Previous literature has not, however, provided a comprehensive evaluation of the strategic approaches toward trade secrets. This article benefits from a systematic literature review method to examine trade secrecy approaches with a theoretical lens using both dynamic capabilities and resource-based view approaches. Fifty articles are carefully selected and examined to build a “strategic directions and approaches” framework for companies to protect and benefit from their trade secrets. This study therefore offers both academic and practical values by identifying a dynamic, structured view of available trade secrecy approaches, the foundations for a unified trade secrecy framework, and a future research agenda.