You are hired as a strategic analyst for a Fortune $500$ company. Your first task is to develop a competitive intelligence report to find key insights on the rivals' latest actions, current capabilities, and potential future actions. Being new to this type of report and the ethical protocols, what should be your first action?

a$.$ Call the competitors' CEO for an interview.

b$.$ Infiltrate the competitors' headquarters and plant devices to receive information.

c$.$ Contact the Strategy and Competitive Intelligence Professionals association.

d$.$ Analyze the publicly released financial records from six months ago.