LibraryBusiness

ResourcesENL 265Business

CommunicationKate Randall HaleyLibrarian, Business & EconomicsUniversity of Massachusetts DartmouthClaire T. Carney Library© Copyright 2008 Kate Randall Haley

Key Points of ContactUMass Dartmouth Library Reference

Desk– 2nd floor library, ext. 8678– Reference@UMassD.edu– Live Chat (instant message) service

UMass Dartmouth Business Librarian– Kate Randall Haley

• Library Second Floor Office, x8670• KRandall@umassd.edu

Analytical ReportsAssess OpportunitiesSolve ProblemsSupport DecisionsCan also include

recommendations, according to your textbook, Business Communication Today, chapters 13-15

Assess OpportunitiesReports to assess opportunities “explain the

risks and rewards of choosing a course of action, such as market analysis reports. These are used to judge the likelihood of success for new products or sales initiatives by suggesting potential opportunities in a given market and identifying competitive threats and other risks.

Due diligence reports examine the financial aspects of a proposed decision, such as acquiring another company.”

Assess OpportunitiesUse Mintel Market Research in conjunction with

articles from trade publications in ABI/Inform Global or RDS Business & Industry to find good examples of companies expanding their revenues by introducing new products or services for market analyses.

Use Mergent Online and S&P NetAdvantage to find in-depth company financial data. Hoover’s Company Records will help you identify public companies as well as privately held businesses, including their competitors.

Solve Problems “Managers often assign troubleshooting

reports when they need to understand why something isn’t working properly, from malfunctioning industrial processes to financial disappointments, and what needs to be done to fix it.

Failure analysis reports study events that happened in the past, with the hope of learning how to avoid similar failures in the future.”

Solve ProblemsArticles from trade publications and scholarly

journals such as those in ABI/Inform Global or RDS Business & Industry frequently examine company actions in regard to problems such as recent product recalls at Apple and Ford, or make it possible to compare companies with similar problems and review their solutions.

Use Hoover’s to identify public companies and Mergent and S&P NetAdvantage to examine them in depth for financial data to support a failure diagnosis.

Support Decisions “Feasibility reports are called for when

managers need to explore the ramifications of a decision they’re about to make (such as replacing an ad agency or switching materials used in a manufacturing process).

Justification reports justify a decision that has already been made.”

Support DecisionsArticles from trade publications and scholarly

journals such as those in ABI/Inform Global or RDS Business & Industry are used in a feasibility report to benchmark actions or review options other companies have taken with respect to similar decisions, or to explore new ways of handling processes or procedures or justify changes.

Use Mergent and S&P NetAdvantage to determine success or failure at the bottom line.

UMD Library ResourcesFind Articles & Databases: Business &

Economics– ProQuest Direct

• ABI/Inform Global• ABI/Inform Trade & Industry• ABI/Inform Dateline• Hoover’s Company Records• Massachusetts Newspapers• National Newspapers

UMD Library Resources– RDS Business Reference Suite

• Business & Industry Database• Business & Management Practices• TableBase

– InfoTrac Search Bank• General Business File

UMD Library Resources

– Mintel Reports: Market Research and Consumer Intelligence

– CorpTech “Explore” database

– Reference USA: Business

Where to BeginStart with

Hoover’s Company Records to choose a company and determine whether it is publicly or privately held. Public companies are data-rich environments.

For example, you might do a problem-solving report about improving service and security with credit card processing at a restaurant such as Olive Garden.

Where to BeginThen, go to industry overviews to get

a background report that will assist you in understanding the factors and trends that affect your industry area.

Once you have some background, update industry information with trade publication articles, and begin to look for examples within your industry of how other companies handle similar issues.

Identifying a Company

Identifying a CompanySometimes a company is part of (a subsidiary or

division of) a larger, parent organization. Hoover’s makes it easy to find and understand.

Industry AnalysisIndustry overviews: Library print and E-

resources Standard & Poor’s NetAdvantage

Industry Surveys

Mergent Online Industry Reports

Value Line Investment SurveyRESERVE HG 4501 .U26 (print, 1st

floor)

Update industry information with trade publication articles in ABI/Inform Global and ABI Trade & Industry and RDS Business & Industry.

Industry Analysis

Industry Analysis

Industry Analysis

Industry Analysis

Industry Analysis

Industry Analysis

What next?

Who are the customers in your industry area? What is the likely market demand within the next 1 to 3 years? Use Mintel Market Research to find trends in consumer behavior.

Continue to update the data from the previous sources with the ProQuest ABI/Inform family and the RDS Business & Industry, Business & Management Practices and TableBase databases.

Customer AnalysisUse Mintel Market Research and

Consumer Intelligence database– You must create a user profile in Mintel, using

your Umass Dartmouth email username and password, then login to create and save a personal profile.

Customer AnalysisWhen searching Mintel Market Research

database, you can use keywords or categories.– For example, you could check all the reports listed

under “Food and Foodservice”, or you could do a quick keyword search for “restaurants” in the search box in the upper right of the screen.

Customer Analysis

Customer Analysis

Use print Library resources to examine the characteristics of your potential customers.

– Demographics USA (County and Zip Code

editions) REF HF 5415.1 .D46 – LifeStyle Market Analyst

REF HF 5415.33 .U6 .L54– Massachusetts Municipal Profiles

DESK REF HT 123.5 .M4 M397

Customer AnalysisUse Census Bureau data directly (print Library

resources derive their data from Census and proprietary resources) particularly for local information.– Census Bureau data can include information on

individuals from the Census of Population, or on industries such as County Business Patterns. Go to www.census.gov .

– The American FactFinder gives fast access to population, income, etc., using city or zip code searching, and offers detailed data as well. Go to the FactFinder home page.

Customer Analysis

What next?

Who are the competitors in your industry area? Could they give you useful ideas to solve problems or support decisions?

Use ProQuest, RDS and InfoTrac databases to search for specific competitors by company name that you identified in the industry overviews or other sources.

Competitive Analysis

You can also use Reference USA: Business and CorpTech “Explore” to search for specific competitors by company name, industry area, zip code, town, or state.

Don’t forget to start with the local telephone directory “yellow pages” for your most basic analysis, especially for very localized data.

Financial AnalysisPublic company data is readily available.

Use Hoover’s Company Records first to determine whether any company is public, then get detailed financials from Mergent & S&P. Use the company’s TICKER symbol for quickest, best retrieval.

Hoover’s Company RecordsMergent Online

– All financial data is availableStandard & Poor’s NetAdvantage

– Select the Stock Report

Financial Analysis

Financial Analysis

Financial Analysis

Financial Analysis

Financial AnalysisPrivate company data is very difficult to acquire.

Use Hoover’s Company Records as well as directory databases like Reference USA: Business to assess ranges of sales figures and numbers of employees for your competitors… if the company you have selected is private, look at trade pub articles for examples of how other companies handle various problems or decisions.

Hoover’s Company RecordsReference USA: Business

Financial Analysis

Start here

Your Analytical ReportWriting an analytical report begins with good

writing and a focused objective. Use the examples in your textbook in chapters 13-15 and remember that your goal is communication.

Companies use a combination of internal (primary) information and secondary sources (such as those available in the library) for successful analysis of issues facing them on a regular basis.

Understanding this gives you a competitive advantage.

More informationQuestions?? If you need help:

– Email Reference@umassd.edu– the Reference Desk telephone

508.999.8678– Live Chat service – Kate Randall Haley is available by

telephone x8670, office on second floor of library, email KRandall@umassd.edu