SOURCES of 
INFORMATION

changes were last made to this web page 2018 Sept 19
 
see also  www.witiger.com/internationalbusiness/countryinfoAssociations.htm
 
. This page used in the following courses taught by Prof. Richardson

This page originally used in UofT course MGTC44, 
Seneca course INB 524, MRK460, IBM600, MRK513 and CAP506
but also used in other courses such as UTM's CCT 322
..
 
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES		 Since this page was created in 2001, it has become apparent that many students find it useful to know these "Sources of Information" since these sources not only apply to country analysis in international business, but also to "regular" decision making in marketing, business and e-commerce. All business is international business, to some extent, so these sources are useful whether your questions are national or international.

After reading this unit and hearing the lecture, you should  be able to use these sources to find information which can help you evaluate an international business situation such that you can judge whether it is profitable, or challenging, for the company to develop interest in.

Some students may also use this information to source leads for job hunting as well as doing international business related assignments and projects.

WTGR

 
Collecting and Analyzing Data

Why do you collect and analyze data on country and region targets?
    o to minimize financial risk
    o to estimate ROI [return on investment] and use that to compare candidate countries
    o reduce uncertainties by formulating contingency plans
You cannot obtain all the information you require, in order to be 100% sure, so you need to create a list of the important Variables and put the information against the list of variables you select.

In reality, you end up with "go / no go" conclusion based on how much information addresses the Variables needed to know.
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Govt Info
Assoc Info
Corp Info		 One of the things many students get frustrated about is finding good quality information on a country or region in order to do a "project". 

You can imagine this is even more critical when you are "out in the real world" and have to source information on an area in order to make a serious business decision. Therefore, in order to provide a resource to students, and to highlight where an international business person might go to begin a search for investigating information for Country Evaluation and Selection, we have noted the following:

There are several categories of information.
    o government
    o associations
    o corporate

plus
    o trade missions
 
.
Govt Info
Assoc Info
Corp Info		 categories of information
  • government
    • supplied by your home government 
    • supplied by the government of the target region
    • supplied by governments other than your's, and the target
  • associations
    • NGO's Non-Governmental Organizations 
    • Bilateral associations
    • Multilateral associations
    • Industry Associations
  • corporate
    • membership lists.
    • webpages of the individual companies
    • directories
    • stock market listings
    • annual reports
.
Govt Info Government information can be divided into three basic categories.
  • information supplied by your home government about the target region
  • information supplied by the government of the target region
  • information supplied by governments other than your's, and the target
.
Govt Info Government information can be divided into three basic categories.
  • information supplied by your home government about the target region

    • examples
  • information supplied by the government of the target region

    • examples
    • Danish Embassy in Ottawa

      •  http://canada.um.dk/
       
    •  JETRO report on high tech investment in Japan
  • information supplied by governments other than your's, and the target

    • example
    • the CIA website which has basic country profiles

      •  cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
      click
      In the late 1990's the U.S. government made some of the material publically available for the common use of Americans as it was hoped it would lead to better international understanding among its citizens. From the CIA website they say "The Factbook is in the public domain. Accordingly, it may be copied freely without permission of the Central Intelligence Agency"
       
    • the Japanese government information in English

      •  www.mofa.go.jp
    • British government information on Europe
.

information supplied by your home government

http://www.international.gc.ca/ciw-cdm/embassies-ambassades.aspx?lang=eng&view=d Canadian Embassies and Consulates overseas are also a great source of info.

Many have direct email contacts and web pages explaining information about the particular region.

 
Assoc Info see www.witiger.com/internationalbusiness/countryinfoAssociations.htm
.
Corp Info Corporate information (that is information on individual companies) can be obtained from a variety of a sources.
  • association membership lists
    • can be obtained from industry associations since many list their member companies on their web sites.
  • webpages of the individual companies
    • from using a search engine
    • links from membership lists
    • advertising - many companies list their URL with commercials
  • directories
  • stock market listings (for public companies)
.
Corp Info Corporate information
  • Annual Reports
    • most annual reports of medium and larges sized companies are published in PDF format on their websites
      RBC -        .rbc.com/investorrelations/index.html 
    • Annual Reports are useful because they usually include a "Chairman's report" - in which are set out the Goals and Objectives of the company and some comments as to how they have met those goals in the previous year
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQko-o2Siq8 Richardson discussing sources of information about a company through
    • the speech by the CEO at the AGM 
    • and info gleaned through reading the corporate press releases


    sorry the lighting sucks, but the audio is clear and loud

    recorded / uploaded 2012 May 30th
.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sources of information on countries - Trade Missions
.
 
KEY
POINTS		 Trade Missions have been an excellent source of information for companies trying to determine pros and cons about doing business in a new country, or expanding existing business.
 international.gc.ca/trade_missions-missions 

Essentially you can divide the info into two parts

  • info you obtain by going on the trade mission
    • contacts you make
    • briefings you receive
    • personal observations from sites visited
  • info you may glean from the govt about other trade missions you cannot participate in
    • eg. list of participants, 
    • economic analysis, 
    • industry profiles etc.
    • target market demographics
The Canadian government is always organizing trade missions all over the world and you should understand that this is a great source of information - if you are targeting a sector or geographic region you should make sure you are up-to-date on all the relevant missions.

WTGR
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Trade
Missions
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Trade
Missions

 CMHC Organizes Housing Trade Mission to Japan Nov 2002
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is organizing a housing trade mission to Japan from November 11 to 15, 2002. This year's mission offers a two-day program in Sapporo, followed by events in Sendai and Tokyo. By the end of October, CMHC will also be releasing the findings of a market study: Japanese consumer segmentation analysis based on nine performance indicators. 

Wireless Trade Mission to Asia Pacific -- February 23-March 4, 2003
Wireless Trade Mission to Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia. This mission is intended to open doors to this emerging  market and to show how well Canadian capabilities in this sector mesh with the region's growing  needs. The projected ICT spending for Asia Pacific is expected to grow to US$239 billion this year.

World Education Market (WEM), held in Lisbon, Portugal from May  21-24, 2002.
A group of 20 Canadian education and training technology companies and institutions participated in the Canada Pavilion at the World Education Market (WEM), held in Portugal. WEM attracted more than 2,000 participants from 70 countries, including senior executives and  government officials, international agencies, school systems, training and content providers,  publishers, television and video producers, satellite, telecommunications and cable companies and the  computer software and hardware industries.

students in MGTC44 are strongly encouraged to seek out information on Trade Missions which might be relevant to the company they will study for the final exam.
.f
Collect and Analyze Data - PROBLEMS
. sd
KEY
POINTS		 It is important to understand some of the problems associated with these sources of information so that you may know their limitations and weaknesses.

WTGR

 
Collect
and
Analyze
Data

PROBLEMS
 
 
 

 

 Information inaccuracies
    • based on relying on government information
      • ? how did the government collect it
      • was the government in a position to get accurate information
      • sample size falsely reported
      • analysis incorrect due to inability to do good analysis
      • government motives for inaccuracy (eg. Moscow maps, West German road signs)
    • NGO sources, WTO, IMP, OECD
      • most reports done by individual consultants hired on a contract basis
      • difficult to verify their credentials and primary sources
    • internet
      • strictly speaking "the internet" is NOT a source of information,  it is a form of the source and bits of information you find on various web pages should be judged just as you would any other source
      • just because someone put in online DOES NOT mean it is valid and credible
       
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Collect
and
Analyze
Data

PROBLEMS
 

 Comparability problems
    • differences in collection methods for stats on eg. household income, literacy rate, etc.
    • currency conversions often not accurate
    • % of foreign ownership effects various factors calculated
       
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