Several years ago, the World Bank became concerned about the business climate and environment in different countries around the world. After a time, they decided to embark on the creation of a database that would provide indicators of the cost of doing business in various countries. With a keen eye towards looking at existing laws and regulations in each country, their team of researchers looked...

A number of international organizations have grown interested in establishing databases that take a close look at the business climate around the globe. One organization is the World Bank, and they recently created this interactive mapping interface that allows users to discover how easy (or difficult) it is to do business in 181 economies. From the homepage, visitors can explore the site's...

Creating interesting and compelling lessons in Economics can present several unique challenges. Fortunately, the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning organization has brought together a number of fine instructional resources for use by educators. These lesson plans and other activities are divided into thematic areas, such as economic decision-making, goods and services, savings,...

Ross Runkel is a retired professor of law, and given his long experience with employment and labor law, it seems quite natural that he would be the founder of the site, Employment Law. Along with a team of other equally qualified professionals, he has created this site to serve as a clearinghouse of material about the world of employment law and its many facets. First time visitors may wish to...

How does one stir the pot of creative possibilities, so to speak? It is a daunting challenge, and UNESCO's Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity is interested in exploring "new ways to turn creativity in developing countries into sustainable cultural industries." The Alliance was launched in 2002, and they have recently embarked on a number of public-private partnerships that are designed to...

The Global Edge site from Michigan State University’s Broad College of Business is focused on providing high-quality educational tools for use in the classroom or in executive training. On this site, visitors can look over interactive learning modules in ten different topical areas, including Microfinance, Agricultural Business, and Culture. Each module is contained within an online "reader" that...

There's no time like the present to learn about global strategy and organization, and such edification is possible via this nice set of resources offered courtesy of MIT's OpenCourseWare initiative. This particular course is titled "Global Strategy and Organization" and it contains materials offered by Professor Donald Lessard's Spring 2008 version of this course. The primary goal of the course is...

Where will the next great ideas in engineering come from? What will they be? These are but a few of the excellent and thoughtful questions being asked as part of the Grand Challenges For Engineering initiative. Sponsored by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), this website is part of their effort to solicit opinions on this material from engineering experts and members of the scientific...

Great Nonprofits is a website that those with an interest in non-profits will find most useful. Great Nonprofits describes itself as the Zagats, Trip Advisor, or Epinions of the nonprofit world, as it encourages the employees, volunteers, and donors of charitable organizations to give reviews of them. There is a tab in the menu at the top of the page entitled "Find Reviews", where visitors can...

As what is arguably one of the most well-known business publications in the world, the Harvard Business Review is a key source of information for policy makers, financiers, government officials, and journalists. While not all of their content is available for free here, their website offers enough free material to make it a valuable online destination. First-time visitors can browse their Must...