SJSU Research Guides: BUS5 162A: International Business Strategy: Country Information

Researching Your Country

We recommend two strategies for gathering country-specific business information.

1. Use the country-specific databases such as WorldGeorgraphy and CountryWatch to get an overall view of your country. Specific content you'll find in these reports related to economic conditions, foreign investment indices, holidays and traditions, and culture and etiquette.

2. To gather specific business information on your country, you will want to search our general business databases such as ABI/Inform and Business Source Complete and use keywords. An example would be to enter "Spain" in the first text box and then enter "banking crisis" in the second.

Databases from the Library

CountryWatch This link opens in a new window
CountryWatch provides critical country-specific intelligence and data that covers demographic, political, economic, business, cultural and environmental subject matter. Click on My Subscription in top right corner of page to to discover what's included and available.
Mergent Online This link opens in a new window
U.S. company data covering approximately 10,000 public companies and their SEC filings. Includes: U.S. Annual Reports: Easy-to-access current and historical annual reports; International company data. Online version of: Mergent industrial manual, Mergent international manual, Mergent bank & finance manual, Mergent OTC industrial manual, Mergent OTC unlisted manual, and Mergent public utility & transportation manual.
World Geography This link opens in a new window
A great source of information on a country's society, culture, and economy.

Global Road Warrior
This is a SJPL database, login with your San Jose Public Library Card . It is produced by World Trade Press. Information provided is very similar to Country Watch. It includes News Feeds with real-time updates.

Commonly Used Business Databases to Find Journal Articles

ABI/INFORM This link opens in a new window
The ABI/INFORM Collection is comprised of ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry, and ABI/INFORM Dateline. The collection features thousands of full-text journals, dissertations, working papers, key business and economics periodicals such as The Economist and Sloan Management Review, country-and industry-focused reports, and major news sources like the Wall Street Journal. Its international coverage gives researchers a complete picture of companies and business trends around the world. Also provides valuable historical perspective, with journals and other material dating back to the early 1900s.
Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
This database contains monographs, major reference works, book digests, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses, detailed author profiles and more. Indexing and abstracts for scholarly business journals back as far as 1886 are included.
Emerald Insight This link opens in a new window
Developed for Business Schools and Management Departments, Emerald Insight is a collection of peer-reviewed management journals -- 100+ full text journals or 75,000+ full text management articles and reviews from the top 300 management journals.
Gale Business Insights This link opens in a new window
Thousands of global company, country and business topic overviews featuring detailed information as well as interactive rankings and statistics, with quick links to associated content. Global Histories, SWOT Reports, Thomson Reuters Company Financials and Investment Reports, Market Share Reports, and Industry Research Essays. Full-text articles from academic journals, business periodicals, newswires and other media outlets,,200 business executive video interviews and lessons for deeper insight into issues and decision-making.
Thousands of interactive LiveCharts for economic and business indicators that let researchers generate their own analyses and custom charts for reports and presentations.
Gale OneFile Business This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text coverage of all business disciplines including accounting, economics, finance, marketing, management, and strategy, as well as business theory and practice. Users will understand the activities of companies and industries worldwide through nearly 4,000 leading business and trade publications, updated daily. Complementing these titles is a selection of international, U.S., and regional news publications,
Gale OneFile Entrepreneurship This link opens in a new window
Ideal for business schools and entrepreneurs, Gale OneFile: Entrepreneurship is updated daily and provides insights, tips, strategies, and success stories as well as subject-appropriate full-text periodicals.
ScienceDirect This link opens in a new window
Good coverage on technology-related business and applied science journals.

Online Journal Index

If you have a favorite journal, magazine, or newspaper and would like to know if it is available online through the library, go to the Journal Index to find out. You can search by title or subject.

Hofstede's Cultural Framework

Professor Geert Hofstede conducted one of the most comprehensive studies of how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. His cultural dimensions theory analyzes countries using several dimensions. This tool provides the scores of 93 different countries on this value scale.

Country Scores on the Dimensions of National Culture

Free on the Web

CIA World Factbook
The Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities, basically every country, dependency, and geographic entity in the world..
CPI: Corruption Perceptions Index
“First launched in 1995, the CPI has been widely credited with putting the issue of corruption on the international policy agenda.” It is produced by Transparency International.
Global Edge
This site is hosted by Michigan State University, funded in part by US Department of Education, Title VI B Grant. It includes course materials that instructors can use for their classes. It has a wealth of resources including guided modules with case studies and narratives.
Google Search
Use Google to find country information. Make sure to inspect the accuracy and integrity of the information. Generally speaking, the following sites are more reliable: .org, .gov, .edu. Try a search such as Mexico site:gov.
International Monetary Fund
According to its website, IMF " is an organization of 189 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world." Take a look at the IMF Data Mapper (link on the left) to find a country's GDP.