When companies venture abroad, managers seek information on the legal and political environments in each country. This information is available from various web sources, as illustrated in the following exercises.

(a) Suppose you want to sign up distributors in the European Union and want to learn about EU contract law. What should you do? Consult the globalEDGE™ portal to learn about EU trade and contract laws. Try the following: At globalEDGE™, click Reference Desk, Global Resource Directory, and then Trade Law. Describe the resources there for learning about contract law in Europe.

(b) The Central Intelligence Agency’s portal provides up-to-date information about national governments and political environments. Go to www.cia.gov, click World Factbook, and summarize the political environment in each of China, Colombia, France, and Russia. L01