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BA 101 - Intro to Business & World Affairs
The
Basics
- Public
vs. Private vs. Nonprofit
- SEC
& EDGAR: to look up specific filings, start from here.
- SIC
Code (Standard Industrial Classification Code); NAICS
(North American Industry Classification System); Conversion between NAICS and SIC.
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Business Plan Samples
Business Plans and Profiles Index: excellent place to start if you know what your business will be. NOTE: not all the resources are available at PSU. To check if we have certain books, use Vikat
Many of the above sources include guides on how to write a business plan and/or free sample business plans. The PSU Library currently has the following books on business plans:
- Anatomy of a business plan
HD30.28 .P5 2005 (Reference)
- Businessplan.com : how to write an ecommerce business plan
HD30.28 .R664 2000
- Prentice Hall Encyclopedia of Model Business Plans
HD30.28 .C76 1998 (Reference)
- Business Plans Handbook: a compilation of actual business plans developed by small businesses throughout North America
HD62.7 .B865 (Reference)
Sites with free business/marketing plan samples and/or related information:
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Company
Profiles
| Hoover's
Online |
| Profiles of over 12 million companies worldwide, both public and private, providing in-depth overview, history, financials, market performance, executive biographies, and competitive analysis. |
| Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage |
|
A comprehensive source of business and investment information, offering on-line access to popular Standard & Poor's research products such as Industry Surveys, Stock Reports, Corporation Records, The Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives, The Outlook, Mutual Fund Reports among others. |
| LexisNexis
Academic Universe |
| The "Company Profiles" section includes detailed profiles
or brief snapshots of both public and private companies from various
sources. The "Company Financial" section provides detailed
financial data such as stock information, earnings, financial ratios,
etc. |
| Investext
Plus |
|
Analyst reports and profiles on major public or private companies worldwide. Usu. covers business
description, products, history, and financial analysis. |
| ReferenceUSA |
|
Comprehensive current listing of US public and private companies,
healthcare providers, nonprofit organizations and government agencies. |
| Corporate Affiliations |
| Comprehensive directory of corporate families in the US and worldwide. Covers nearly 200,000 parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, and divisions - all the way down to the seventh level of reporting relationships. |
| ThomasNet (Thomas Register) |
| Directory for industrial suppliers, distributors, and service providers in the US and Canada. Searchable/browsable by product type, company name, and brand name. |
| Kompass |
| International directory of producers, distributors, service providers, exporters, importers, etc.. Company profiles include contact information, executives, products & services. Advanced search available from subscription version available at the Multnomah County Library Central Branch. |
| Company
Web Sites |
| Most annual reports are also available on a company's web site. You
may have to follow several links to get to "investor relations"
or "about the company" or "company information."
But, eventually, you should be able to get to the annual report. |
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Industry
& Market
| Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage |
| A comprehensive source of business and investment information, offering on-line access to popular Standard & Poor's research products such as Industry Surveys, Stock Reports, Corporation Records, The Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives, The Outlook, Mutual Fund Reports among others. |
| Business
Source Premier |
|
Do a general article search using "Advanced Search", then
select "Industry Profiles" or "Market Research Reports".
Such reports or profiles usually come from renowned trade publications.
|
| Mintel Reports |
| Market research reports covering (mainly) US and international marketplaces. Each report analyzes market drivers, market size & trends, market segmentation, supply structure, advertising and promotion, retail distribution, consumer characteristics, and market forecasts. |
| Hoover's
Online |
| Unique industry classification system that covers emerging industries. Includes overview, complete company list, news, and listing of industry associations. |
| Investext
Plus |
|
Full text reports for over 53 industries worldwide. Choose industry
from the drop-down menu. Or do a keyword search using "[kw] industry report" |
| LexisNexis
Academic Universe |
|
Select "Business -> Industry & Market" for articles
and reports from a large number of trade publications, and "Business
-> Business News -> Industry News" from other industry
related news. |
| Wall
Street Journal Online |
|
Full text coverage from 1984 to present. Provides a broad range of
information on businesses, industries, the economy, and sociopolitical
factors that influence the business world. |
Industrial Ratios:
- Industry
norms and key business ratios: HD9724 .I514 (Ready
Reference)
- Almanac
of business and industrial financial ratios: HF5681
.R25 T68 (Ready Reference)
- RMA
annual statement studies: HC101 .R6 (Ready Reference)
- Financial studies of the small business: HD2346.U5 F55a (Ready Reference)
- Bizstats.com: a wide range of business and industry statistics and ratios, including the hard-to-get ones for small businesses. Data are not very current, but good for reference.
Industry Profiles and Reports:
|
| ::
Industry & Trade Associations :: |
Such
organizations are dedicated to promoting the industries they are
in and often collect extensive industry-specific data that are not
available elsewhere. Their Web sites sometimes make such data or
analytic articles/reports freely available. Contacting them directly
by calling or emailing are also a valid way of collecting exclusive
information. To find an industry-specific association, try the following
two sources:
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Market
Shares, Brands & Promotion
::
Key Reference Books ::
- Market
share reporter: HF5410
.M35 (Reference)
- D&B
business rankings: HC102.2 .D86
(Ready Reference)
- Book
of Lists (Portland, OR): HG4058.P6 B66 (Ready Reference)
- Encyclopedia
of consumer brands: HF5415.3 .E527 1994 (Reference)
- Specialized books such as Market Scope (HD9321.4 .M375, Reference)
**
Market
shares, company rankings, brand information, promotion and other product-related information can also be found in the following
places:
- Resources mentioned in "Industry & Market" above often contain searching and sorting by sales option.
- Article/news
databases such as Business Source Premier and LexisNexis Academic Universe.
When searching, try combining "market share" and company,
industry or product name as keywords.
- Gary
Price's List of Lists: containing special issues of trade
magazines for rankings and statistics.
| Advertising
Age Data Center |
|
Provides exclusive advertising and marketing industry data, including
comprehensive ad spending estimates on 100 elite marketers, company
profiles, and sales and earnings reports, top megabrands ranked by
measured U.S. media spending, other marketing/advertising spending
data and ranking, top media companies, and top advertising agencies.
Free registration required. |
| ** Article search using Business Source Premier and LexisNexis
Academic Universe is essential to finding information about
products, brands, promotional strategies, distribution, and pricing
information. |
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Consumers
| U.S.
Census Bureau |
|
The comprehensive and detailed demographic information on U.S. "Subjects
A-Z" provides detailed subject index, while "American
Fact Finder" lets you find information on specific communities
by city, town, county, state, or zip code. |
| PortlandMaps.com |
| A compilation of public data for the Portland Metro area, including demographic data from Census, crime data, building permits, parks, mass transit, and more. Searchable by street address or intersection. |
| County Business Patterns |
| An annual series that provides subnational economic data by industry. The series is useful for studying the economic activity of small areas; analyzing economic changes over time; and as a benchmark for statistical series, surveys, and databases between economic censuses. Businesses use the data for analyzing market potential, measuring the effectiveness of sales and advertising programs, setting sales quotas, and developing budgets. |
| Consumer
Expenditure Survey |
|
Conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Provides information
on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their
expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers)
characteristics. |
| Mediamark Reporter ** Tutorial ** |
| Comprehensive consumer demographic, lifestyle, product usage, and media data. Users must sign up with their @pdx.edu (Webmail account). Internet Explorer recommended. |
| MyBestSegments |
| Detailed demographic and lifestyle profiles of American neighborhoods . Searchable by zip code. Demographic indicators include race/ethnicity, housing, education, income, etc. Lifestyle indicators include dining out, shopping, travel, media preferences, etc. |
| Household
spending: who spends how much on what: HC110.C6 O34
(Reference) |
| Contains
statistics on people's spending on different items such as apparel,
entertainment, food and beverages, arranged by age, income, household
type and region. |
| Lifestyle
market analyst:HF5415.33.U6 L54 (Reference) |
|
Contains statistics on lifestyle interests of different people in
major cities in each state. Divided into market profiles by cities,
lifestyle profiles by lifestyles and interests, and consumer segment
profiles by age, sex, and marital status. Also lists consumer magazines
and direct mail lists targeted to each lifestyle profile. Good for
market segmentation. |
| Demographics
USA county/ZIP edition: HC110 .C6 S83/HF5415.3 D463, (Reference) |
| Demographic
statistics and rankings by county and zip code, including "buying power index", "retail sales
by merchandise line", "consumer buying power", and
"households by Effective Buying Income (EBI)". A good source
to use for pricing strategies. |
| The American generations series : do a title search in Vikat |
| Demographic profiles (statistics and analysis) of various American generations. |
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Environmental
Scan
**
Sources used for industry analysis mentioned previously (Census data, Business Source Premier, LexisNexis Academic Universe, Regional
Business News, Wall Street Journal Online, Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage, Investext, Global Market Information Database) often
include information on political and regulatory environments and how the
changes and trends will impact the industry and the companies. If there
is not a specific section in the report, one often has to do a general
search using appropriate keywords to find relevant information. Other cross-disciplinary resources include:
| EIU
(Economist Intelligence Unit) |
| Provides detailed reports on country commerce (operating conditions
and business regulations), country finance (financial regulations
and conditions), business briefings, business intelligence and summary
analysis. |
| PAIS |
| Contains abstracts of journal articles, books, statistical yearbooks,
directories, conference proceedings, research reports and government
documents covering topics in public and social policy, business, economics,
finance, law, international relations, public administration, government,
political science, and other social sciences -- with emphasis on issues
that are or might become the subjects of legislation. |
| STAT-USA |
| Current and historical economic and financial releases and economic
data, current and historical trade-related releases, international
market research, trade opportunities, country analysis, and trade
library. |
| CQ
Library |
| "The award-winning choice of researchers seeking original, comprehensive
reporting and analysis on issues in the news. Controversial topics
addressed in a balanced, unbiased manner in the CQ tradition." |
| Books
on culture, business etiquette, and import procedures: |
- Culturegrams:
GT150 .C85 (Shelves)
- Craighead's international business, travel, and relocation guide to... countries: HF5549.5.E45 D56 (Shelves)
- Countries and their cultures: GN307 .C68 (Reference)
- Worldmark encyclopedia of cultures and daily life: GN333 .W67 (Reference)
- Europa
world year book: JN1. E85 (Reference)
- In the
Library catalog, type in "business etiquette" under "SUBJECT"
- Importers manual USA (HF1419 .H56 2004)
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Citing sources
Citing Business Databases in APA Style || MLA Style (more examples...)
Portland State Library Research Survival Guide: look under "Style Guides"
EasyBib (free MLA formatting)
** When in doubt, contact the Writing Center.
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