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opening and closing a business to tax rates； employment laws； investor
protection； enforcing contracts and much more。 There is a tool for
paring countries to rank them by the criteria you consider most
important。
296 Appendix
。 Economics Network （economicsnetwork。ac。uk） is a heavyduty
economics website supported by some 30 universities and business
schools in the UK； providing links to free data （mainly macroeconomic）
on the UK and international economies at this link （
economicsnetwork。ac。uk/links/data_free。htm）。
。 FAME （Financial Analysis Made Easy） is a powerful database that
contains information on 3。4 million panies in the UK and Ireland。
You can pare each pany with detailed financials with its peer
group based on its activity codes； and the so。。ware lets you search for
panies that ply with your own criteria； bining as many
conditions as you like。 FAME is available in business libraries and on
CD from the publishers； who also offer free trial （bvdep/en/
panyInformationHome。html 》 pany data – national 》 FAME）。
。 Free pany Reports & Accounts （fcreports） is an online
service offering free instant downloads of financial reports from listed
panies in the UK。 Annual reports； balance sheets； profit & loss
statements and interim reports are available from one of the largest
databases of listed panies in the UK。
。 Global petitiveness Report （weforum/en/initiatives/gcp/
index。htm）： Produced by the World Economic Forum and first published
in 1979； it covers 131 major and emerging economies； providing an
annual measure of a nation’s economic environment and its ability to
achieve sustained growth。
。 Google News （google）； which you can tap into by selecting
‘News’ on the horizontal menu at the top of the page under the Google
banner。 Here you will find links to any newspaper article anywhere in
the world covering a particular topic。
。 Google Trends （google。uk》Labs》Google Trends） provides a
snapshot on what the world is most interested in at any one moment。
For example； if you are trying to find out if consumers really care about
green issues （useful to know when seeing how to pitch a new product）；
entering that into the search pane produces a graph showing how
interest measured by the number of searches is growing （or contracting）
since January 2004 when they started collecting the data。
。 Human Development Index （undp）： HDI is published annually
by the UN and ranks nations according to a posite index that
measures 33 aspects of a country’s average achievements in three basic
aspects of human development： longevity； knowledge； and a decent
standard of living。 From the main menu choose ‘Human Development
Statistics’ from the menu on the le。。 of the page。
。 The Internet Public Library （ipl） is run by a consortium of
US universities whose aim is to provide internet users help with finding
information online。 There are extensive sections on business； puters；
education； leisure and health。
Appendix 297
。 Kelly’s （kellysearch。uk） lists information on 200；000 product
and service categories across 200 countries。 Business contact details；
basic product and service details and online catalogues are provided。
。 Keynote （keynote。uk） operates in 18 countries； providing
business ratios and trends for 140 industry sectors； giving enough
information to assess accurately the financial health of each industry
sector。 Using this service you can find out how profitable a business
sector is and how successful the main panies operating in each
sector are。 Executive summaries are free； but expect to pay between
￡250 and ￡500 for most reports。
。 Lexis…Nexis （lexis…nexis） has literally dozens of databases
covering every sector you can think of； but most useful for entrepreneurs
researching petitors is pany Analyzer； which creates prehensive
pany reports drawn from 36 separate sources； with up to
250 documents per source。 So； when you get tired of scouring different
databases to find out all there is to know about a petitor； customer
or supplier； you could consider using pany Analyzer to access
legal； business； financial and public records sources with a single
search。 pany Analyzer provides access to accurate information
about parent and subsidiary panies and their directors； to highlight
potential conflicts of interest。
。 Librarians’ Internet Index （h。。p：//lii）： The mission of Librarians’
Internet Index is to provide a well…organized point of access for reliable；
trustworthy； librarian…selected websites。 To be included； the information
must be freely available； have an identified and qualified site author
and have current； accurate information about the topic concerned。
。 LibrarySpot （libraryspot） is a free virtual library resource
centre for just about anyone exploring the web for valuable
research information。 Forbes selected LibrarySpot as the Best
Reference Site on the Web and United States Today described it as ‘an
awesome online library’。
。 Microso。。 （h。。p：//adlab。microso。。） is testing a product that can give
you masses of data on market demographics （age； sex； ine etc）；
purchase intentions and a search funnel tool that helps you understand
how your market searches the internet。 Using the demographics tool；
you can find that 76 per cent of people showing an interest in baby
clothes are female and； surprisingly； 24 per cent are male。 The peak age
group is the 25–34…year…olds and the lowest is the under…18s followed
by the over…50s。
。 The National Statistics （statistics。gov。uk） website contains a vast
range of official UK statistics and information about statistics； which
can be accessed and downloaded free。
。 NationMaster （nationmaster）： This provides a pilation
of data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook； UN and
298 Appendix
OECD。 Using the tools on the website you can generate maps and
graphs on all kinds of statistics with ease。 Its aim is to be the web’s onestop
resource for country statistics on everything。
。 Online Newspapers （onlinenewspapers）： Newspapers and
magazines are a source of considerable information on panies；
markets and products in that sphere of interest。 Virtually every online
newspaper in the world is listed here。 You can search straight from the
homepage； either by continent or by country。 There is also a separate
site for online magazines （onlinenewspapers/SiteMap/
magazines…sitemap。htm）。
。 Realtor （realtor）： This is the website of the US National
Association of Realtors。 An MBA can use this site to work out the cost
of living in 700 international cities across 162 different currencies。
Invaluable； either when moving job or advertising appointments。 Select
‘Moving’ from the menu bar at the top of the screen； and then from
the ‘Moving Tools’ menu in the middle of the le。。…hand menu select
‘Salary Calculator’。 Once in the Salary Calculator tool； select the term
‘International Salary Calculator’ highlighted in blue at the bo。。om of
the first paragraph。
。 Thomas Global Register （thomasglobal） is an online directory
in 11 languages with details of over 700；000 suppliers in 28 countries。 It
can be searched by industry sub…sector or name either for the world or
by country。
。 Trade Association Forum （taforum 》 Directories 》 Association
Directory） is the directory of Trade Associations on whose websites are
links to industry…relevant online research sources。 For example； you
will find The Baby Products Association listed； at whose website you
can find details of the 238 panies operating in the sector； with their
contact details。
。 Transparency International （transparency）： TI； established
in 1986； is independent； impartial and operates through a worldwide
network of over 90 locally established organizations。 It is probably best
known for its Corruption Perceptions Index （CPI）。 This is a posite of
independent surveys studying 159 countries。 In the most recent survey；
70 countries were rated as having ‘rampant corruption that poses a
grave threat to institutions as well as to social and political stability’。
。 UK Trade & Investment （uktradeinvest。gov。uk） is the government
agency charged with helping UK…based businesses succeed in ‘an
increasingly global world’。 It provides information on doing business
with every country and every business sector； from Aerospace to
Water。
。 World Intellectual Property Organization （wipo 》 Resources
》 Directory of IP Offices） is a country…by…country directory of the organizations
responsible for intellectual property （patents； trademarks；
Appendix 299
logos； designs and copyright） around the world。 From there you can
find the rules and procedures for protecting IP。
。 World Market Research Associations （mrweb）； while not
quite covering the world； does have web addresses for over 65 national
market research associations and a hundred or so other bodies such as
the Mystery Shopping Providers Association； which in turn has over
150 members； and panies worldwide。
。 Worldwide…Tax （worldwide…tax）： This website is a very
prehensive site that deals with a host of taxation and financial
subjects for some 70 countries。 For each country there are a general
and economic survey and links to providers of professional services
such as accountants； banks； lawyers and government sites； as well as a
plete and prehensive section on the embassies in that country。
。 Yellow Pages World （yellowpagesworld 》 Yellow Pages
International） is an international directory of online yellow pages and
white pages whose goal is to make it easy to find an online yellow pages
or white pages provider in the country you want to search in。 Currently
31 countries are covered。
Also look at the data sources listed in individual chapters。
KEEPING TRACK OF THE MBA WORLD
There are a number of subjects that every MBA needs to know something
about。 Reading this book will have given you an insight into what most of
the top business schools do and how well they are rated。 But the business
school world is nothing if not dynamic。 Twenty…five years ago there were
only North American business schools in the top ranks； 15 years later a
handful of British schools joined them。 Now there are four Spanish Business
Schools and three French； as well as schools from Argentina； Australia；
Belgium； Canada； China； Holland； India； Ireland； Mexico； Singapore and
South Africa。 In 2008； some 30 executives from 13 countries pleted their
MBAs at a brand…new business school in Berlin。 The European School of
Management and Technology （ESMT） started its two…year part…time MBA
programme only in 2006。 Backed by firms including Allianz； Axel Springer；
BMW； Bayer； Bosch and Siemens； with Lars…Hendrik R。ller； a former
INSEAD professor； at the helm and sufficient funding to triple its 22…strong
faculty； it looks set to soar up the league tables – a first for Germany in this
field。 In fact； frustrated business school professors make a habit of spawning
new and great schools。 Visiting Harvard faculty launched Cranfield School
of Management in the 1960s。 In the days when two…year MBAs were the
norm； Cranfield students did their second year at Harvard。 Then it was
Cranfield’s turn； with its senior faculty spinning out to help launch schools
at Oxford and INSEAD。
300 Appendix
Below are the key sources of information to keep up to date in the MBA
world。
Setting standards
The world has moved on from having ‘degree mills’； where the award is
effectively purchased； to ‘accreditation mills’； where the recognition of
the university awarding the MBA has been purchased。 That in turn gives
a spurious； perhaps even criminal； quality standard to institutions that
use such recognition for marketing purposes only。 There are a number
of legitimate organizations concerned with se。。ing standards in terms of
teaching； research and resources in business schools。 They do a thorough
job of work and charge accordingly。 Business schools pay anything from
￡35；000 to ￡100；000 to gain accreditation and as much again in administrative
pain。
Among the accrediting organizations of repute are：
。 The Council on Higher Education （che。ac。za） in South Africa。
。 The Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation
（fibaa） in Bonn； Germany； which accredits schools in Germany；
Austria and Switzerland。
。 The Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs （
acbsp）； which typically accredits smaller； private US schools；
though it does have Business and puter University College BCU
University in Lebanon on its books。
。 The International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education （
iacbe）； founded in 1997； has 200 accredited institutions； mostly
undergraduate and mostly in the United States。 Pontificia Universidad
Católica； Lima； Perú； with five MBA programmes； one in association
with Maastricht School of Management； is something of an exception。
。 The Council for Higher Education Accreditation （chea） is a
consortium of a number of US regional accreditation agencies； which
in turn accredit mostly US schools。 Such international schools as are on
their books are usually ver