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BUS 3315: Business Communications

Business research can often times be challenging. These are resources that can help with the process of researching a company or industry.

Article sources - library electronic resources

These are resources that can be used to find articles on many business-related topics: companies, industries, management, advertising & marketing, etc.

Locating current challenges & trends

Unless you are extremely familiar with the company you are researching, locating challenges or trends for your company maybe difficult. Below are several strategies that you can utilize in locating this information.

  • Locate and peruse the SWOT analysis for your company.  What strengths does your company possess?  Is it facing any threats or obstacles?
  • Use the IBISWorld database and find the industry report for the industry in which your company operates.  Look at the section "Industry Performance" and find the section called "Current Performance".  Read here and see what challenges or trends are covered here.  If you company is one of the major players, click on the link for "Major Companies" in the table of contents and read what is in this section on your company.
  • Use the ValueLine database and the search option at the top right of the page to find your company.  In the text part of the investment report, does the analyst cover any challenges that your company has dealt with or any issues that are on-going concerns?

Once you have this information, stop for a moment and consider what terms convey/describe what you are looking for.  These are terms that you can use in databases such as Business Source Complete, ABI/INform and Nexis Uni to locate articles.

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