International Business Information

INLS 227

Fall 2002

Many standard business sources have companion/parallel international sources

• Encyclopedia of Associations Encyclopedia of Associations, International Organizations

• American Statistics Index (ASI – found in LexisNexis Statistical) Index to International Statistics (IIS)

• D&B Million Dollar DirectoryD&B Principal International Businesses

• Business Information: how to find it International Business Information: how to find it

• Hoover’s Handbook of American Business –Hoover’s Handbook of World Business

General Finding Aids

• Ulrich’s International Periodicals Directory • Global Data Locator• International Directory of Business Information• Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources -

Europe• International Business Information: how to find it,

how to use it (1999)• International Business Resources on the WWW• VIBES

Statistical Sources

• Index to International Statistics (from CIS)• International Monetary Fund

• European Union

• OECD

• United Nations

• Statistical Abstract of the United States

• Statistics Sources (Gale Pub)

• STAT-USA

General Sources for International Business Research

• ABI-Inform• Business & Industry Database• PAIS International• LexisNexis Academic• Business Source Elite• Thomson Research• STAT-USA• WSJ

Company InformationCharacteristics of Company Information Sources

• Type of information:• Basic

– D&B Principal International Businesses

• Product Directory– Thomas Register/Global

• Financial Directory– Mergent International Manual

• Rankings Directory– Forbes Global 500– Fortune Global 500

Company InformationCharacteristics of Company Information Sources

• Legal Status - International– Public doesn’t always mean publicly traded– Private companies often provide more financial information– UK

• all companies must register with the Companies House• All publicly listed companies are required to have PLC attached to

name.

– Italy• All companies must register with the Chamber of Commerce.

– EU Directives

Company InformationCharacteristics of Company Information Sources

– China• 1994 passed company law legislation

– Australia• All companies register with the Australia Securities

and Exchange Commission – private companies also included

– Special Cases• Japanese keiretsu (company coalitions) and Korean

chaebol (conglomerates)

Company InformationCharacteristics of Company Information Sources

• Size of Company– Most companies are small, the smaller they are , the less information

there is available.– Multinationals

• Corporations which have home in one country but operate and live under laws and customs of other countries as well. GM, Ford, Royal Dutch/Shell

– Forbes has annual multinational report published

– Transnational• an organization in which different capabilities and contributions

among different country-operations are shared and integrated. Exxon-Mobil

– United Nations tracks transnational companies annually – World Investment Report [United Nations Transnational Division ]

• xx

Directory Sources

• Basic Company Directories– Principal International Businesses (D&B)– World Business Directory (Gale)– Directory of Corporate Affiliations (National

Register)– D&B Europa– Europe's medium-sized companies directory.– Directory of standing representative organizations of

foreign and territorial companies in China– Directory of public companies in Canada

Directory Sources

• Industry Directories– Thomson’s Bank Directory– European Directory of Retailers and

Wholesalers

• Product Directories – Kompass– Thomas Register of European Manufacturers

http://www.tgrnet.com/

Directory Sources

• Listed Company Reports (publicly held)– Use SEC 20-F for non-U.S. companies that trade on the

U.S. stock exchanges

– Use ICC British Company Annual Reports full-text files for companies that trade on London

• International Directory of Company Histories• Hoover’s Handbook of World Business

Financial Sources

• Typical Questions– How is a company performing financially this

year? How has it performed financially in previous years?

– Is a full financial report (with balance sheet and income statement) available? Os the company profitable?

Financial Sources

• Registration requirements vary

• Form and content vary

• Find it okay, but interpretation ?

• Find extracts but not complete

Financial Sources

Moody’s International Manual

Hoover’s Handbook of World Business

Thomson/Polk Bank Directory

Economic Statistics Sources

• Basic Indicators of a nation’s economic well-being. Gauges economy’s performance and predict future conditions

• Includes measures of national income, employment, price levels, and industrial output

• Formal and Informal Country Classification groups– G7 U.S., Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, and the

United Kingdom (7)– OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (12)– OECD Organization for economic cooperation and

development (29+)– EU European Union (15)

Good description of groups is in CIA World Factbook

Key Publishers/ Compilers of Economic Information

• United Nations• OECD• World bank• World Trade Organization• International Monetary Fund• Economist Intelligence Unit• Euromonitor• EU

United Nations Publications

• National Accounts Statistics: Main aggregates and detailed tables HC79.I5 N3844

• International Trade Statistics Yearbook• SITC Standard International Trade Classification• Monthly Bulletin of Statistics• Statistical Yearbook• Demographic Yearbook

OECD Publications

• National Accounts of OECD Nations

• OECD Economic Outlook

• Key Economic Indicators

IMF Publications

• International Financial Statistics Yearbook

• World Economic Outlook

• Government Finance Statistics Yearbook

World Bank Publications

• World Development Report

• World Development Indicators

• Social Indicators of Development

• World Debt Tables

• World Bank Atlas

Economist Intelligence Unit Publications

• Country Profiles and Country Reports

• EIU Regional Newsletters

• Country Risk Service

International Business Information

• Source used:

Pagell, Ruth and Michael Halperin.International Business Information:

How to Find it, How toUse it. 2nd ed. N.Y.: AMACOM, 1999.