Information Services and Systems Welcome! Croeso! Your Librarians are: Elen Wyn Davies Sam Oakley Michele Davies Rebecca Kelleher Marie Bevan buslib@swansea.ac.uk www.swansea.ac.uk/iss Information Services and Systems Your MSc Part 2 assignments • A management consulting report • A new business plan What information will you need for these assignments? During this session we’ll look at reputable & scholarly sources of business information, using EBSCO Business Source Complete, ProQuest Business Collection , FAME and Mintel Information Services and Systems The management consulting report: what will I need? • • • • • • • • A company profile – to get an overview Annual financial report – financial health An industry report – state of the industry Market research reports – consumer behaviour and trends Commodity reports– forecasts on supply & demand & prices of crops and raw materials Country profile – economic & political risks Scholarly articles – **very important** Latest news– ensure you’re up-to date Information Services and Systems Format of the management consulting report • “The project should be in the format of a strategic management report, however, students should make full use of academic references.” • Page 3 & 4 of the MSc Management handbook • Referencing advice: on Library support for Business & Economics (Blackboard) Information Services and Systems Business plan for a new business venture • Similar information sources as the Management Consulting report EXCEPT • Focus is on a new venture • The business ideas need to be grounded in research (your own investigations, plus information from industry and market research reports and scholarly articles). • Need ideas? Try Mintel Inspire (more later) Information Services and Systems Format of the Business Plan • Page 7 of the MSc Management handbook • Examples of business plans on ProQuest Business Collection Information Services and Systems Tools to find business information • Google? Why not? • iFind Research – gateway to specialist business sources, such as: • EBSCO Business Source Complete • ProQuest Business Collection • Mintel (for market research reports and data) • FAME UK (financial company information) • Nexis – global business news • IBIS and Euromonitor Passport (on trial) Information Services and Systems What is Athens? • Athens is a username/password system so that Swansea University users can access the online books, journals and databases which we subscribe to. • Username – 123456@swansea.ac.uk • Password – your usual password (for email) • IMPORTANT – set the ATHENS cookie first here on your PC, laptop and mobile devices. Information Services and Systems Search for a company profile • EBSCO Business Sources Complete • I’m going to search for the British chocolate confectionary company Thorntons..... Information Services and Systems Search for a company profile • Go to EBSCO Business Sources Complete • Search for the Chinese multinational company LENOVO. • Using the section on SWOT analysis, name one of the “threats” to Lenovo’s success. • 2 minutes Information Services and Systems Search for an industry profile EBSCO Business Source Complete, I’m going to search for an industry profile on the chocolate industry.... Information Services and Systems Search for an industry profile In EBSCO Business Source Complete, search for an industry profile on: The global consumer electronics industry Information Services and Systems Effective search tips for searching for journal articles • Don’t just dive into a database and type in the first words which come into your head. • Plan. • Break down your complicated research topic into concepts. • Think of other search terms which mean the same thing Information Services and Systems A Search Strategy Topic: Strategic planning for growth in chocolate manufacturing companies Concept 1 Concept 2 Concept 3 Chocolate manufacturing companies Growth Strategic planning Information Services and Systems A Search Strategy Concept 1 Concept 2 Concept 3 chocolate manufacturing companies growth strategic planning chocolate industry expansion business planning confectionary industry diversification corporate planning candy industry business development innovation strategic management Cadbury’s , Mars, Nestles, Thorntons Information Services and Systems Boolean Operators Aim To narrow your search results Boolean Operator AND Search Examples Chocolate industry AND strategic planning Retrieval Formula Only retrieves records containing all terms confectionary AND chocolate To broaden your search results OR chocolate OR cocoa workforce OR employees To exclude a term from your search NOT Chocolate NOT ice cream Retrieves records containing either one or more terms Excludes records containing the second term Information Services and Systems Phrase searching: use “quotation marks” “strategic planning” “SWOT analysis” “chocolate confectionary industry” Information Services and Systems Truncation: use * on the root of a word Strateg* Strategic Strategy Strategically Information Services and Systems Wildcard: use ? in the middle of a word to replace one or more letters Examples Wom?n woman, women Organi?ation organisation, organization Behavio?r behavior, behaviour Information Services and Systems Search for scholarly articles on EBSCO Chocolate OR confectionary AND growth OR diversification OR innovation OR expansion AND planning OR strateg* Information Services and Systems Search for scholarly articles on “innovation management” AND “electronic industries” Limit to Full-Text Scholarly articles published over the last 10 years. Information Services and Systems Company finance • Database: FAME (Financial Analysis Made Easy) • UK & Ireland – all companies, large and small • 10 years of company financial reports as filed at Companies House. My search: Thorntons Information Services and Systems Company finance Go into the FAME database and search for Lenovo UK Ltd. Look at the standard report – how many employees? Look at the peer group (bar chart format). Information Services and Systems Market Research Mintel Oxygen – market research reports • Market : size, share, environment, competition • Consumer behaviour: ownership, purchasing, usage • Brands: leading companies and products My search: chocolate Information Services and Systems Market Research Mintel Oxygen – market research reports Search on : computer tablets Take a look at the Executive summary of the Desktop, laptop and tablet computers report – which European country leads on mobile broadband penetration? Information Services and Systems Other types of reports See your handout for help searching for: Country reports – economic overview of a country Commodity reports – forecasts on supply and demand and prices for key commodities (raw materials and foodstuffs) Information Services and Systems Need help? Just ask! Appointments & questions – email buslib@swansea.ac.uk Guides, links and tutorials on Blackboard subject support for Business & Economics Information Services and Systems Need help? Just ask! Appointments available:buslib@swansea.ac.uk /swanuni.iss @swanuni_iss http://buseconlib.wordpress.com/