PART A Soft skills: Online databases Business skills: Researching services for overseas operations Objective: This case study develops skills in searching Web-enabled databases with information about products and services in faraway locations.

Your company is located in Johor, Malaysia, and manufactures office furniture of various types. You are considering opening a facility to manufacture and sell your products in Australia. You would like to contact organizations that offer many services necessary for you to open your Australian office and manufacturing facility, including lawyers, accountants, import-export experts, and telecommunications equipment and support firm.

Access the following online databases to locate companies that you would like to meet with during your upcoming trip:

1 Australian Business Register (abr.gov.au)

2 AustraliaTrade Now (australiatradenow.com)

3 Nationwide Business Directory of Australia (www.nationwide.com.au)

If necessary, use search engines such as Google:

[1] List the companies you would contact on your trip to determine whether they can help you with these and any other functions you think are vital to establishing your office.

[2] Rate the databases you used for accuracy of name, completeness, ease of use, and general helpfulness.

[3] Provide any additional information extracted either from the databases mentioned above or any other online/offline sources that you feel could help you establish your office. You need to clearly state the additional information you are seeking, why this information is crucial in setting up your office and provide details on the source upon which this information was sought.