This post has been specially written for those of you working on assignments based on international business. If you are looking for information on a particular country's culture, lifestyle and social customs, a simple internet search will usually do the trick - here's an example of a search on Nigeria.
For web resources on trading overseas, try the following sites:
- Connected Commerce - contains case studies on successful businesses that export products and services.
- Department for International Trade; also has a range of guides for exporting to various countries.
- How to start an import/export business.
- The Guardian guide to exporting.
- Trading Internationally is a section in the British Chambers of Commerce website, offering a range of case studies, documents and training materials.
Trading in another country can be a minefield, in particular, business etiquette can seal the success (or failure) of an export business. I found a number of useful online resources on this topic available via e-resources - try searching for 'business etiquette' in the following:
- Dawson Books: Look out for 'Cross-cultural business behavior'
- Ebook Business Collection: 'business and etiquette' works better here
- Ebscohost Business Collection: Contains the ebook entitled, 'World Business Cultures'
- EMIS: Click on 'news' for articles on this topic
Don't forget USearch: start with 'cross-cultural business' using the advanced search option.
Please do contact me for any further research enquiry.