"Business Dynamics" data and analysis via Passport

If you're like me, you probably choose our Passport database as your go-to place for data and analysis on markets for fast-moving consumer goods... but you may have forgotten that Passport also provides detailed economic and demographic data for most countries.

Euromonitor, the publisher of Passport, has recently expanded their business environment section and renamed it "Business Dynamics." As with many things in Passport, the Business Dynamics content can be tricky to find and hard to appreciate without a guide... like, for instance, this blog post...

How  to access:  Within Passport click on Economies along the top navigation bar, then on Business Dynamics. (See the image below.)

Why  to access?  The content menu for Business Dynamics is below. I'll go through each numbered section, highlighting the treasures that await intrepid explorers.

1 & 2: Search Tree and Rank Countries

Quick access to the raw, nation-level data on topics such as Outdoor Adspend, Bank Claims on the Private Sector, Educational Attainment, and the Efficiency of Customs and Border Clearance for Freight. Note that depending on the topic, you may be able to use the Change Time Series options to get historical data going back 10-20 years, and possibly even a forecast.

3: Analysis Finder

Need both data and some analysis on what those numbers might mean?  Start by choosing a target geography (country) in the Analysis Finder, then scan some of the country reports & briefings, videocasts, opinion articles, datagraphics, and more.  

For example, I just read (ok, browsed quickly) the Country Briefing for Canada published in May of this year and was able to get a brief, country-level SWOT, a look at our regulatory environment, details on access to finance, transportation and communication infrastructure, employment and labour cost trends, and much more.

4: Dashboards

The Dashboards option takes you to a beautiful map of the world with all the countries shaded to show the variation for just one of the many Business Dynamics variables, and one country highlighted to show their actual data and trends.

In my experience, many people take one quick look at the Dashboard, don't see the country or topic they are researching, and click onward. You've really got to take a deep breath and explore the many links, especially the Change Category and Change Geography options on the left side of the map.  

With just a few clicks you can configure the map to highlight your topic and focus on your target country, resulting in a datagraphic that will look great in a presentation! Plus, if you keep exploring the links on the map, you'll see that you can drill down to the statistics (see 1 & 2 above) and the analysis (see 3 above), thus using the Dashboard feature as a graphical search tool!

5: Vis Apps

The Business Dynamics section of Passport includes both Economies Overview and Labour Force Dynamics Vis Apps (interactive visual applications).  

• The Economies tool allows you to quickly compare the performance of any of the 85 largest economies against its peers using key indicators such as GDP and inflation rates.
   
• The Labour Force Dynamics tool allows you to compare any two of the ~80 major economies on labour market measures such as "economically active population by age and sex."
    
• As with the Dashboards, both tools produce infographics that you (and your audience!) can understand at a glance or use to dig down to the underlying numbers and analysis.

Still not sure why you might want to explore the Business Dynamics section of Passport? Here is a brief list of some of the newest material available for those who dig deep enough: 

• Future of Work: 65+ Age Bracket Drive Labour Force Growth in India and China  (Opinion | 02 Aug 2016)
• How will Brexit Impact Industries, Economies and Consumers?  (Videocast | 29 Jul 2016)
• Business Dynamics: Hong Kong  (Country Briefing | 27 Jul 2016)
• Nigeria In Depth  (Opinion | 18 Jul 2016)
• Increasing Automation to Exert Pressure on Employment  (Opinion | 21 Jun 2016)
• Business Climate Forecast – Risks in 4 Major Investment Destinations  (Opinion | 07 Jun 2016)

Final note: If you like this, then you may also like my last post about a similar topic: New to IBISWorld for SFU researchers: business environment data and analysis.  

Questions? ... Please!

-- MarkB
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark Bodnar
Business & Economics Librarian
mbodnar@sfu.ca