This month Cynthia Hetherington, president of The Hetherington Group will be our speaker for “Protecting Our Organizations from Harm: A Researcher’s Toolbox for Due Diligence.”  Cynthia is an experienced researcher and teacher, and has performed competitive intelligence research globally on companies, for other companies.  We know that her knowledge can be useful for nonprofits, too, to help us be wise in our due diligence research both domestically and abroad.  Cynthia recently published an article in her newsletter about researching in the Middle East that we thought would be a great preview of her seminar:

Researching in the Middle East

reprinted with permission, (c) 2011 Cynthia Hetherington

The Arab Spring sounds like a lovely entrée into a delightful new season filled with romance and surprises. What a beautiful name for such a measure of turmoil happening in the Middle East and North Africa. The entire event is filled with suffering and uncertainty. Yet “Spring” is all about the awakening of a new generation of Arab nations, those who are tired of the oppression and despots their parents and grandparents suffered under. With these new generations, opportunities will abound and a call for research and due diligence work will, no doubt, increase. Keep in mind, each country has their own strict laws governing investigations. For example, private detectives do not exist in Saudi Arabia because the practice is forbidden. You need to hire an attorney to make general inquiries on your behalf. So it is always beneficial to contact an experienced vendor/investigator in the country in which you are investigating in order to learn the limitations. The following are some online English language sources for conducting online due diligence in these territories:

Media

Al-Jazeera English (english.aljazeera.net)

Often heard in American news when referencing the latest Al Qaida video or press releases, there is little actual access to the channel in the United States. Now recognized and respected globally, Al- Jazeera is known for reporting from the Arab perspective but has also enlisted reputable journalists known for unbiased reporting. Based in Qatar, Al-Jazeera is not a government owned media outlet.

Country Briefings (Economist.com/countries)

The Economist is a go-to source for any country-specific information. Their coverage of the Middle East over the past year has been quite brilliant, as they are reporting and keeping up with the rapid changes that the Arab Spring is forcing. In addition to the news reporting, look to the Economist Intelligence Unit (eiu.com/public/) for country-specific reports.

Company Directories

Skyminder.com

This subscription-based service offers well-priced credit reports from around the globe. Much of the instantly purchasable reports are from Dun and Bradstreet; however, GraydonUK, Coface, AsiaCIS, and other credit reporting company reports can be retrieved in 5 to 10 days.

Kompass.com

Kompass offers free searching based on executive, company, or brand name. Reports are very well priced and offer the standard corporate information, such as formation, principals, industry classification, and location details.

Social Networks

Maktoob.com

This site offers research and business content information. Maktoob claims to be Arab world’s largest Web portal and online community. According to their site, Maktoob was founded in the year 2000 as the world’s first free Arabic/English Web- based e-mail service, offering users a platform to send and receive e-mails in either language, regardless of their operating system. In the few years since, Maktoob has strategically grown to become an integrated group of companies and Web sites. The network of sites includes Maktoob.com, the world’s leading Arab portal with a market share of around 13 million unique users, as well as a range of companies and sites specialized in business and e-commerce in the MENA region.

Jeeran.com

Jeeran (the neighborhood) offers you ways to connect with friends, chat amongst each other, and share videos, photos, and other multimedia content. Jeeran.com comes to you in English, Arabic, and French language versions.