GERMAN INDUSTRY LISTS IN ENGLISH:  where can I buy a deeply-detailed
directory (ie, top-five executives, sales US$5 (five) million and more, 
of firms in Germany whose activitites are similar to US SIC codes 3400
thru 3999 (ie, manufacturing industrial goods)

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 31 Oct 2003 12:12 PST

There is a commercial directory available on-line (and they advertise
a free trial, too!) that can sort companies by country and line of
business (SIC/NAICS codes), provides sales figures for companies with
annual sales of a million dollars or more, and can identify the top
FOUR executives.

Would that meet your needs?

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by leroisoleil-ga on 31 Oct 2003 13:11 PST

Can it be that pafalafa-ga is exercising so lively a sense of humor
that I would say, "... no, gotta be FIVE, "four" simly will not feed
the bulldog..?
Maybe.  In that case, good, I laugh, and then seriously, I say "GOOD",
let's do it.  TGR

Hello leroisoleil-ga,

Would that I had such a finely-honed sense of humor.  

Simple truth is, I was just repeating what I knew about the strengths
and limits of the database in question.

Which...by the way...is the online version of the Dun & Bradstreet
International Million Dollar Directory.  You can find its front page
here:

http://mddi.dnb.com/mddi/

As you can see, they have a domestic version of the database for the
US, and an international version, which lists a good deal of
information for companies with annual sales of a million dollars or
more.

What kind of information?  You can see a sample of it here:

http://mddi.dnb.com/mddi/sample.aspx#Company

for a company in San Francisco.  

The information can be sorted and listed according to a host of
variables...it would be no problem to select German companies in
particular manufacturing sectors with sales of $5 million or more.

The international information is similar, but not identical to the US
example above.  D&B's own description of the international info is
also on the main page:

"D&B's International Million Dollar Database (IMDDI) is the answer for
those research professionals who require information on over 1,600,000
international companies. Find SIC, total employees, legal status,
annual US sales dollar equivalent, and more, plus identify up to four
(4) executives on the world's largest entities. Search, lookup, report
and download this information with just a few mouse clicks."

That's where I got the "four executive limit" info from.  

By the way, a salesperson at D&B tells me that the main difference
between the US and International data is that the latter does not
include bios of the executives...only the name and title.

You should note, as well, that at the middle of the page, left hand
side, is the "Free Trial" text to click on.  The saleslady wouldn't
tell me a lot of detail about this without my promising her my first
born son (who I'm sometimes tempted to offer up for adoption anyway),
but this being Halloween -- and he being the bringer of the much candy
--  I declined her offer.  But you might very well want to take
advantage of it yourself, if it allows you to access the information
you need.

A final tidbit...I've seen the Million Dollar Directory in print
version in many libraries.  And more and more libraries are carrying
it on-line as well, and offering access to their patrons.  A good city
or university library may well be able to provide you no-cost access
to the information you're looking for.  Might want to make the library
your first stop.

I hope this serves your needs.  But if anything here is unclear...or
if D&B just doesn't do it for you...let me know and I'll be happy to
work on this further for you.

Good luck.

pafalafa-ga


search strategy:  None.  Made use of existing bookmarks.

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Request for Answer Clarification by leroisoleil-ga on 31 Oct 2003 15:06 PST

This is a late-Friday acknowledgement to PAFALAFA-GA.  The answer
looks like a ringing sucess and  tomorrow, with optimism and respect I
will explore the IMMD and respond more fully.  Happy Halloween to you
and your first-born.  TGR

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Request for Answer Clarification by leroisoleil-ga on 01 Nov 2003 16:47 PST

"Good Lord, let's raise a glass to clear and quick thinking".  I will
next immediately after this message via "Request for Answer
Clarification" click the rating button and enter whatever maximum-good
it to be had there (I'm new at this "Google Answers" thing and have
not yet learned its protocol).   MORE, IT'S LIKELY THAT I WILL POST
ANOTHER, AN ADDITIONAL, QUESTION, TO THIS SAME PURPOSE, and I would be
happy to discover that PAFALAFA-GA would choose to pursue it.

Unfamiliar as I am with Google Answers, I do not know how to signal
that future event.  Any suggestion will be welcome.  TGR

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Clarification of Answer by pafalafa-ga on 01 Nov 2003 16:59 PST

Thanks so much for the twinkly stars...glad this worked out so well.

We all look forward to seeing your next question(s) here at Google
Answers.  If you want to direct a question to a particular researcher,
just make that clear in the question heading itself, as was done here:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=214808

Be aware, though, if you go this route, and the researcher is
otherwise occupied (we do have occasional bouts of activity outside of
GA), your question might languish for a while.

Well....back to the boys' Halloween candy....

pafalafa-ga

Good Lord, let's raise a glass to clear and quick thinking.  TGR