Each year Forbes produces a li.
Each year Forbes produces a list of the ‘Best Countries for Business’, which ranks countries
across fifteen different metrics. While it may be regarded as too general for managerial decision
making, it does receive considerable media attention and serves as a good indicator of macro trends relevant to business. Another aspect of value is the comparison of country’s business environments through simple aggregated measures.
For this week’s tutorial, familiarise yourself with this year’s list and methodology to prepare
responses to the following questions.
https://www.forbes.com/best-countries-for-business/list/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/12/19/best-countries-for-business-2018-behind-the-numbers/#ad35aac34379
Questions
1. The U.K tops the 2018 list despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Brexit. What factors
contribute to it remaining an excellent location for business? How might the future impact of
Brexit affect their position in the list?
2. Identify a country that has had a substantial improvement (green arrow) and another that has
had a substantial deterioration (red arrow) in one factor. Try to find information as to the
environmental trends or events that may contributed to this change. You should consult the
methodology to understand what the metrics are based on.
3. Compare a country in the top 20 to a country in the bottom 20. Consider how a marketer might
adjust their approach to market entry based on these conditions. .
4. What are some of the problems in using a list based on these metrics to inform managerial
decision making? What other information would be useful to properly understand a country’s
business environment?
A recent Planet Money podcast focuses on the use of rankings in selling countries to investors at
the Davos World Economic Forum. It’s recommended to listen to this episode to get a better
understanding of the context, including the impact and issues of ranking systems. The link is
available on LMS or download through your usual podcast app: Planet Money Episode 821 – The
Other Davos.
