Business International Corporation (BI) was a publishing and advisory firm dedicated to assisting American companies in operating abroad.
[1] BI eventually became the premier information source on global business with research, advisory functions, conferences and government roundtables in addition to its publications.
It was headquartered in New York City, at One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, near the UN, with major offices in Geneva, London, Vienna, Hong Kong and Tokyo, and a network of correspondents across the globe.
Among the regularly updated reference products covering 40-50 countries were Financing Foreign Operations (FFO), Investment, Licensing and Trading Conditions Abroad (ILT) and China Hand).
More specialized work covered economic and political risk assessment, and executive cost of living in various cities around the world.
BI also conducted specialized research assignments for its clients, some of which involved hands-on consulting, brainstorming and briefings during strategic planning sessions.
The national roundtables, attended by client firms' top international managers, always included the country's head of state or government, as well as relevant ministers, local business and labor leaders.
[citation needed] A second conference product focused on specific industries, including telecoms and automotive, or on functional operations such as finance or human resources.
[citation needed] In the late summer of 1983, future United States President Barack Obama interviewed for a job at Business International Corporation.
[7] A 1977 New York Times article mentioned Business International as one of the lesser known of 22 news organizations found to have employed journalists who were also working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).