The globalisation of markets, rapid technical progress, varying regional market dynamism and the international exchange of goods and services gradually change the terms of competition for companies. Heavy competition from abroad even forces formerly nationally oriented companies to shift their focus from the national to the international market. The companies are thus facing the challenge to gear their corporate strategies towards international business. The analysis of international competitors and international purchasing and sales markets provides companies with important information for the development of their global corporate strategies. Comprehensive and systematic data sets are the basis of such an analysis. Appropriate editing, structuring, processing and dissemination of information for corporate decisions thus becomes the central task of the different corporate divisions. The project aims at devising standardised methods so as to improve the available systematic information and to create decision bases in companies. We will extend the econometric methods and data sources that have been used thus far in the existing methods (e.g. the "Global Sourcing Management Tool", developed at the ZEW). Apart from foreign trade figures, production, market, and patent data will also form the basis for a quantitative-statistical Management Information System.