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INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS

HAVE YOUR SAY >Add your comments

Jane Simms >Hang on to heritage when you revive a famous brand

Debate >Is market research a waste of money?

Cary Cooper >Bosses must be more resilient

Iqbal Wahhab >Why I changed my attitude towards customer service

Sahar Hashemi >Playing the survival game

Richard Cree >How good are you at coping with change?

• Winning by design

• A new breed of seed capital is redefining the way start-ups develop

• WL Gore's fabric of success

• The 10 worst customer service errors

International

Beyond the black gold

Oil-rich Azerbaijan is a young entrepreneurial nation with strong prospects. Despite conflict with neighbouring Armenia, tourism is rising, farmers are eyeing EU markets and there's a warm welcome for British businesses

Tower of strength

Canada weathered the financial storm thanks largely to a robust and well-regulated banking sector. As the country hosts G8 and G20 summits this month, can it offer world leaders a more reliable economic model?

How to go global

Finding the right country for international expansion takes research and plenty of planning

Inside-out Thinking

Interest in outsourcing is on the increase, fuelled by the pressure to cut costs as revenues fall. And this is no longer just a game for the big boys; small firms can also benefit from a little expert help

"Kenya's got everything India's got"

Kencall hopes to take advantage of Kenya's first undersea fibre-optic cable to challenge the outsourcing elite

Green for Go

With Ireland's favourable corporation tax, why do so many of its company directors choose the UK?

The EU Merry-Go-Round

The Brussels rumour machine is cranking up with speculation about the likely complexion of the new European Commission

China out of reach to "rigid" firms

Multinational firms need to dump the conventional approach if they want to succeed in China

Beyond the BRIC wall

Are BRIC countries still a safe bet for investment?

Drop of cheer

A weak pound means more demand for UK produce, but foreign consumers are short of cash, too

Hanoi rocks

A vibrant economy and a highly educated labour pool are just two of the reasons why British companies are flocking to Vietnam

Red tape burns well

According to the European Commission, EU companies saved €500m (£370m) in 2007 thanks to its bureaucracy-busting measures

Make way for the Slovenians

In January, Slovenia took over the EU's rotating presidency. For the next six months a country of two million people will guide the fortunes of the EU, which represents a population of nearly half a billion

Is there an upside to outcast trading?

Unrecognised states attract only the most hardened of investors

The Irish question

Peace has brought prosperity, but should a lower corporation tax be introduced?

Does no really mean yes?

After the French said "non" to the EU Constitution in 2005, the same document in the guise of The Lisbon Treaty, is virtually a done deal

The Reform Treaty

It won't change things overnight but the Reform Treaty could have deep and long-term implications for UK business

European disinformation

Research reveals countries like France and Germany are actively discouraging their young from becoming entrepreneurs

Speeding up deregulation

When it comes to red tape, the European Commission certainly talks a good game, says Andrew Cave

The Portuguese presidency

The EU has been playing musical chairs and Portugal, which last held the presidency in 2000 when it gave us the Lisbon Agenda, is in the hot-seat again

Regulatory talk, but no action

The first statistical analysis of the EU's impact assessments to date makes grim reading

The fight for the consumer

All small business owners know that the customer is king. This view has not always been shared by big business, or by government

The EC's latest eco-drive

A new campaign aims to get businesses and individuals to change their habits out of choice rather than coercion

Time for the EC to prioritise

When EU heads of state meet in Brussels they have a habit of making sweeping statements and signing up to unrealistic goals

Prepare for contract friction

Proposals for a new consumer law could place e-commerce out of the reach of small businesses

An EU constitution is not dead

A new version of the constitution could be imminent, so it's worth looking at what the revised document could have in store

Labour law still in flux

Andrew Cave looks at the implications of the European Commission's long-awaited Green Paper on the Evolution of Labour Law

Beware of CSR red tape

Watch out for yet more regulation as the European Parliament discusses CSR