“Highly Recommended” Review By Professional Reference Librarian Of Directory of American Firms Operating in Foreign Countries, 18th Edition

Fiorito, Barbara D., ed. Directory of American Firms Operating in Foreign Countries, 18th ed. Millis, Mass.: Uniworld Business Publications, Inc., 2005. ISBN 0836000498.

Current information about business outside of the United States is often not easy to come by in spite of the global reach of the Internet. This unique three-volume print directory addresses that lacuna, and in particular answers the need for directory information about businesses operating in developing countries. This 18th edition of the Directory of American Firms Operating in Foreign Countries contains over 3,000 U.S. firms with more than 36,000 branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates in 196 countries. The work is divided into two parts: a straight alphabetical list of American firms that have operations abroad and listings by country from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe of the American firms’ foreign operations. Each entry in Part One contains the company’s U.S. address, telephone/fax, NAICS code, description of principal product/service, and the foreign countries in which it has a branch, subsidiary, or affiliate. Key personnel are also noted, as well as the company’s Web site address, annual revenue, and number of employees, when available. Part Two’s entries consist of the name of the U.S. parent firm, address, telephone, fax, and Web site address, NAICS code, principal product/service, and the name and address of its branch, subsidiary, or affiliates in that country. Unique to the 18th edition is the expansion of coverage to include any firms that have a significant and dominant U.S. presence, useful in cases where the nationality or ultimate corporate ownership is blurred, and the addition of 500 new companies.

The strengths of this work are its inclusion of affiliates and multinational firms; the ease of use engendered by the simple two-part structure; the clarity of the entries; the extensive coverage of developing countries, such as Myanmar, Nicaragua, Zimbabwe, and Libya; the explanation of sources and the accuracy of the listings in the introduction; a key to all the foreign company designations. Librarians will appreciate the list of the full chronology of editions of this work since it was first published in 1954. A wish list for future editions would include an index by U.S. state to assist, for instance, those patrons who are immigrants and want to do business with companies in Illinois that have operations in their country of origin; a copyright statement that explains fair use; year founded of each company; clear designation of each company as an affiliate, branch, or subsidiary.

The authority, accuracy, extensive geographical coverage, and unique focus of the Directory make it a staple in any public, academic, or business library. Highly recommended.

-Linda Dausch, Business Reference Librarian,
Chicago Public Library