Basic Business Research

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Basic Business Research

• Stephen Hayes
• Business Services Librarian
• University Libraries of Notre Dame

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Orientation Session Goals

• Beyond what can be Googled quality business
  information
• Find basic business information such as financial
  news, company profiles, and industry
• Learn to use 3 University Libraries business
  resources Factiva, Business and Company Resource
  Center, and SP netAdvantage.
• Working with information professional

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Mahaffey Business Information Center

• Partnership between Mendoza College of Business
  and Hesburgh Libraries of Notre Dame.
• College supplies space Hesburgh Libraries
  supplies staff, databases, resources, and pcs.

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Staff

• Stephen Hayes, Entrepreneurial Spirit Endowed
  Business Librarian
• Barbara Pete Pietraszewski, Business Services
  Librarian
• Michele Shaw, Branch Supervisor
• Beata Frelas, Technical Support
  Consultant/Analyst
• BIC contacts, phone [phone]

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Access to Business Information

• http//bic.library.nd.edu/
• http//library.nd.edu

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Data and Collections
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Company Information sources

• ABI/INFORM Global
• Hoovers.com content
• Business And Company Resource Center
• Investment reports
• Financials
• Business Source Complete
• Datamonitor Company Profiles with SWOT
• Factiva
• Publicly traded company
• LexisNexis Academic
• Company Dossier includes some private company
  info.

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Problem No. 1

• Find information on a company publicly traded
  company
• Find financial background
• Find recent news story, press release, and trade
  article on your company

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Factiva

• Articles from more than 4,000 Reuters and Dow
  Jones journalists worldwide.
• Content in 22 languages from 118 countries not
  available on the free web.
• Tracks news on more companies than are publicly
  listed on all the global stock exchanges
  combined.
• Access to nearly 8,000 sources
• Wall Street Journal Full text

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Find a company in Factiva

• Select Factiva from the Business Resource tab
  on the BIC webpage (bic.library.nd.edu)
• From the Company/Market tab, select Company
  subtab
• Enter your companies name in the name search box
• Click search
• From the pick list provided, select your listed
  company

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Company Information Reports in Factiva

• The Snapshot, the default company view in
  Factiva, has lots of basic company background and
  information. Scroll down to Latest News and note
  you can find press releases, trade articles, and
  more.
• From the left-hand frame select Reports, select
  Detailed Company Profile Report with Financial
  Results Report for a good overview of the
  company and its financials.
• From the left-hand frame select Reports, select
  Ratio Comparison Report for the key ratios for
  your company compared to the Industry, Sector and
  SP 500.

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Other Factiva Content

• Using the Search main tab you may find additional
  article in journals and newspapers.
• Using the Company/Markets main tab Quotes sub-tab
  get quotes for
• stocks, funds, corporate bonds, market indexes
  and currencies
• Using the News Pages main tab, Factiva Pages
  sub-tab find the Wall Street Journal full text.

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Problem No. 2

• Find more stories on your company.
• Locate an analyst/investment report on this
  company.
• Locate an analysts report on the companys
  industry.

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Business and Company Resource Center

• 15,030,991 articles
• Many full text many back to 1980
• Investment reports and forecasts for more than
  11,000 US and international companies and for 53
  industries
• Prepared by Wall Street and international
  brokerage firms
• Profiles of more than 100,000 public and private
  companies

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Business and Company Resource Center

• Select Business Company Resource Center from
  the Business Resource tab on the BIC webpage
  (bic.library.nd.edu)
• Click on the Search Now within the Company
  Search icon
• Enter your company name in the Company Name or
  Ticker Symbol search box - Make sure the All
  Companies radio button is selected
• Click on the green search button
• Select your company from the list provided

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Business and Company Resource Center articles
analysts reports

• From the tabs across the top, select the
  News/Magazines tab for articles
• Click the Investment Reports tab at the top of
  the record for analysts reports
• Click on the Industry Overview tab
• Select the SIC or NIACS code for the industry you
  associate with your company

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Problem No. 3

• Locate the additional industry information

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Standard Poors netAdvantage

• Site license for users campus wide.
• Content included
• Company profiles
• Stock Reports
• Executive Compensation
• EDGAR interface and Global Annual Reports
• Industry Profiles and Surveys
• Wire reports
• Country information
• DRI-WEFA Risk Reports
• CIA World Factbook
• 28,000 companies covered

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Standard Poors netAdvantage

• Select SP netAdvantage from the Business
  Resource tab on the BIC webpage
  (bic.library.nd.edu)
• Select the INDUSTRY tab from the top of the
  screen below netAdvantage.
• From the Industry pull down, select the industry
  your company operates within.
• Click on arrow
• From the left frame, select the SP Industry
  Surveys in pdf
• (Note take time to load)

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IBISworld

• 5 digit NAICS codes
• Report has
• Executive Summary
• Key Statistics   
• Segmentation   
• Market Characteristics   
• Industry Conditions   
• Key Factors   
• Key Competitors   
• Industry Performance   
• Outlook

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IBISworld

• Retail Trade (62 Reports)
• Mining (10 Reports)
• Manufacturing (193 Reports)
• Wholesale Trade (69 Reports)
• Information (30 Reports)
• Real Estate and Rental and Leasing (19 Reports)
• Administrative and Support and Waste Management
  and Remediation Services (29 Reports)
• Health Care and Social Assistance (31 Reports)
• Accommodation and Food Services (11 Reports)
• Other Services (except Public Administration) (32
  Reports)

• Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting (38
  Reports)
• Utilities (8 Reports)
• Construction (31 Reports)
• Transportation and Warehousing (42 Reports)
• Finance and Insurance (32 Reports)
• Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
  (34 Reports)
• Educational Services (13 Reports)
• Arts, Entertainment and Recreation (20 Reports)
• Special Reports (3 Reports)

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IBISWorld

• Select IBISWorld from the Business Resource tab
  on the BIC webpage (bic.library.nd.edu)
• In the SEARCH box, enter either your company name
  of the key word of the industry you wish to
  research
• From the SEARCH RESULTS select the industry your
  company operates within.

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Suggested Methodology/Strategy

• 1) Develop a Client information needs statement
• Articulating all anticipated data and information
  needs
• Client maybe a true client or yourself
• 2) Identify potential sources of information,
• Keep in mind this may be people/expert, primary
  or secondary sources
• 3) Plan a strategy of research
• Allocation of time, which product or individual
  first, develop a list of terms, synonyms,
  concepts, codes, etc.
• 4) Consult with an information professional,
  a.k.a. librarian, about gaps in your information

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Search Strategy-1

• 1) Business and Company Resource Center
• Establish industry and find or select SIC/NIACS
  codes
• Baseline industry background Industry
  Overviews
• Investment reports
• Ranking of competitors, products, services, etc.
  sometimes including market share
• Competitors self-classifying as providing the
  same product and service.
• Articles

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Search Strategy-pt.2

• 2) Factiva
• Background on publicly traded companies
• Overview of financials income and balance
  sheets
• competitors list
• Key ratios of company vs. industry
• 3) Standard and Poors netAdvantage
• SP Industry Reports
• Stock information
• Financials

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Search Strategy-pt.3

• 3.5) IBISworld academic
• Industry background
• 4) Mergent Online
• Broad industry reports by world region
• Annual reports publicly traded companies
• Financials in Excel format
• 5) Business Source Complete (EBSCO)
• Datamonitor reports on Companies and industries
  for SWOT analysis

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Search Strategy-pt.4

• 6) Mintel Oxygen MarketResearch.com Academic
  Forrester Research Faulkner advisory for IT
  studies.
• True market research reports
• 7) Assess the information gaps that exist visit
  with an informational professional in the BIC
• 8) Lexis Nexis Academic
• Fill in specific information gaps from newspaper
  or journals articles
• Local specific information
• Proximity Searching
• Within the same sentence w/s
• Within the same paragraph w/p

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Gaps in Information

• Ask specific questions
• In what format do you want data ( i.e., paper,
  electronic, for use in Excel, etc.)
• Information may reside in non-published sources
• Send Questions to bicref_at_nd.edu
• Name
• Contact method
• Best time
• Want/settle for
• What you have done

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Key Points to remember

• Google does not search the invisible or deep
  web where high quality and high cost traditional
  business information is found.
• No one is a completely independent researcher
  you will have to talk with experts and
  information professionals the librarians
• BIC and the BIC web site is THE starting point
  for business information
• Bic.library.nd.edu
• Wall Street Journal is full text in Factiva
  both owned by the same company

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Key Points to remember

• Analysts reports, a.k.a investment reports for
  companies and industry are found in Business
  Company Resource Center
• Standard and Poors Industry Surveys are the
  gold standard of industry reports and found in
  Standard and Poors netAdvantage
• SWOT analysis may be found in the Datamonitor
  reports located in Business and Company Resource
  Center and Business Source Premiere.
• Lexis/Nexis allows searching within the same
  sentence (w/s) or within the same paragraph
  (w/p)
• Send your business questions to BICREF_at_nd.edu
• When you have a business information questions
• Ask A Business Librarian

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Questions?