Research within organisations I have just started working on a dissertation and I need to contact a number of organisations to get an idea of how they work. 

What I am after is not sensitive in its nature. I just want to know what practices they apply to their tasks and whether they have developed anything  different that suits their needs or perhaps the tools they use.

However, I am being troubled by the following points:


How can I assure the organisations that the information I require is not sensitive or for commercial purposes? My interests are purely academic. 
I am carrying out my research within an organisation. I am worried they might see me as competition. For the time being I have opted to not mentioning any organisation.


How can I go about assuring them that my interests are purely academic and convince them to reply back? What should I do?
In the US, if you are conducting a survey or certain type of interview, you need to have it approved (or declared exempt) by your campus IRB committee. This body will regulate what you need to disclose, and will also approve the wording of any cover letter.

In a written context, putting the cover letter on school letterhead should convey that the project is academic.

In an interview, you would likely state that you are a PhD student at UNIVERSITY and are working on a dissertation related to X to convey that your project is an academic one.