INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH IN A RELATIVE WORLD

This paper addresses some of the factors which are changing the perspe ctive of international research. The slow or zero growth of the wester n industrial nations compared with the boom in the emerging Tiger Stat es means that global corporations are looking beyond the US and Wester n Europe as primary markets and increasingly towards Asia, Eastern Eur ope and Latin America. This shift means that many companies are lookin g to new markets and cultures as a source of incremental revenue and c onducting research in countries and cultures which they have hiterto i gnored. The implications of information overload and technical develop ment on international research is considered and the rise of 'informal research' discussed. It seems likely that what is required from inter national research will change very little - reliable information, insi ght and consistency. However, the means by which the information is ga thered, organised, analysed and presented is likely to change enormous ly.