es data from a variety of sources, some private and some public, and distills it into information that can be useful to business professionals and others making decisions about emerging markets. ISI provides basic financial statements for companies both public and private as well as news about companies and the business environment in a particular country or region. ISI also provides brokerage reports about companies and market conditions as well as macroeconomic data. The company's goal is to take data from a wide variety of sources which may or may not otherwise be available for searching, combine it into information (such as spreadsheets) which can have an immediate use in the business community, and provide that information to customers.
The customers targeted by ISI include those in the business community who might be considering entering a particular foreign market, those who already have operations in a market, or those who are located within a market and who want additional resources. ISI also targets research organizations, government entities and news organizations who need a single source of information so that they do not have to conduct the research themselves.
The company's success is intimately related to the company's ability to find and distill accurate information in a timely manner. While there are research specialists located in many of the countries which ISI profiles, the company relies on local sources as well. These sources sign contracts with ISI which may or may not be exclusive (meaning that the information providers might be able to provide the same information to more companies other than ISI). ISI also uses sources of information which are recognized in the business community as being credible, which gives additional value to ISI's service.
ISI's organizational strategy has been two-pronged to this point. It has focused both on building a sales organization which can support the company's e...