High value innovations, psychological contracts and the risks of trade secret disclosure - SPGR based tools in trade secret management

Innovation projects develop and keep trade secrets. Secrecy is a prominent mechanism for controlling innovation. Research and development, R&D, is often done by teams. If the duration of the project is long, then psychological contracts (PC) will develop. The PC can be horizontal and internal to the team. If the R&D project has high potential value, then it is essential to mitigate the risk from possible disclosure of trade secrets. I present how PCs in long-duration teams, may add to the formal employment contracts and non-disclosure agreements. For the teams developing high-value innovations, new tools based on group dynamics may mitigate the risks of trade secret disclosure. The theory behind SPGR has four group functions. The functions relate to issues in trade secret management and the development of PCs.