Business and Economics Librarians course noticeboard

Keep your eye on this space...

The Business Subject Team at Wheatley are continuing the pilot started in Semester 1 2006 recording answers to some of the enquiries about information for coursework that we frequently encounter. Different members of the Library staff on duty at different times and on different sites are often asked the same questions. When useful sources are found there is no easy way to communicate to colleagues or with other students on the course. It is a pity that when we find really useful journal articles or reports, or a useful book that ought to go on to Short Loan, only the person who asked knows about it, and the rest of the course misses an opportunity.

So, we hope that as Semester continues you will see module numbers underneath that will link you to useful advice about information sources for your coursework.

If you cannot come along to Wheatley Library to ask a subject specialist about your information requirements contact us via: businesslibrarians@brookes.ac.uk We shall try to answer your question and post a copy here. However, please remember that we do not provide a research service for you. Your lecturers will expect you to be familiar with databases and other information source in business and economics. Look at our training page at http://www.brookes.ac.uk/library/business/training.html

Also, check out the Business Subject Team web page at http://www.brookes.ac.uk/library/business.html Web pages on all the databases mentioned below are available with details of coverage and connections.

Semester 2 2007 assignments:

U55081 Strategic Marketing mobile phones assignment
U51062 Strategic Management oil exploration assignment
U51072 Methods of Enquiry organic food project
U51002 Foundations of Business Innocent assignment
U51002 Foundations of Business Marks and Spencer assignment
U55051 Kelloggs and India

Semester 1 2006 assignments:

U51002 Foundations of Business Tesco assignment
U51062 Strategic Management Budget airlines assignment
U51002 Foundations of Business Innocent assignment
U55000 Introduction to Marketing Gap assignment

U51002 Foundations of Business Marks and Spencer assignment

Check out the web page on company information:http://www.brookes.ac.uk/library/business/company.html This web page is very long, but it's only the first section on electronic databases you need consult. Don't depend on Google for sources of information on Marks and Spencers. Authoritative business information is both marketable and expensive and is not available for free on the internet. We pay thousands of pounds for the databases mentioned below. Look at the linked guides for an explanation of what they do. Check out our training page linked above if you want to know more.
First look at EBSCOhost databases, one of which is Business Source Complete. Go into this and click on Company profiles in the top toolbar and in the following screen enter Marks and Spencer then click on the pdf for Marks and Spencer Group plc. The Datamonitor company profile provides a useful summary of M & S's activities and especially see the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. M & S's rivals are covered in other profiles.
Next, return to the Business Source Complete advanced search screen and enter Marks and Spencer as a search in and click on the drop down menu where it says "select a field", and select CO Company Entity. This will retrieve about 1600 articles on M & S from a wide variety of trade journals, but the most recent are listed first. You have to scan and be selective about the articles you read. There is a fairly interesting article: Advertiser of the year: Marks and Spencer in Campaign (UK), 12/15/2006 Issue 50, p14-15. Is this useful for your assignment? You must be the judge and you must browse to find other useful articles.
Then go to our web page for Thomson Gale databases, enter this database host and select the Investext database. Here you will find analysts reports by entering Marks and Spencer and then selecting Marks and Spencer Group plc. Have a browse and check out some of the larger reports. There is no set format for these reports that can vary from unhelpful 1 page reports to a full review of companies operations, a PEST analysis and SWOT analysis. Check out M & S's rivals for more information about the industry. Then, go to the top of the left blue margin and click on Search then Advanced Search and enter retail* and United Kingdom. This retrieves over 5500 reports, but there are some interesting recent ones if you browse.
You could check out the PROMT database (also in Thomson Gale, change by clicking in the left blue margin) for more newspaper and trade journal articles if you have time. This will help to update you on the detail of recent events.
Find the Mintel database and in the search box in the top right of the screen enter Marks and Spencer. This database contains many market research reports, but also retail sector reports. The results list is relevance ranked and starts with the reports with the most hits of M & S. The reports on clothing and food retailing and on menswear and women's wear will obviously be helpful.
There are a number of books on Marks and Spencer in the Library. Most are too old to be useful. We have placed one on Short Loan in Wheatley Library: Bevan, Judi (2007). The rise and fall of Marks & Spencer and how it rose again. London: Profile Books Ltd. (381.1410941 BEV)
Finally look for the Fame database web page if you want to quickly retrieve the basic accounts of M & S and rivals for comparison. Thomson One banker gives full accounts and share prices.
John Handley has asked for the following to be added:

Question 2 of the Assignment requires you to consider whether a "hard" or "soft" approach to HRM would be appropriate to Marks & Spencer.

It has come to our attention that the lecture ended before these concepts were discussed. The Following URLs will provide you with some background to the concepts required to answer this question:

Gill. C (1999) Use of Hard and Soft Models ofHRM to illustrate the gap betweenRhetoric and Reality in WorkforceManagement accessed from: http://mams.rmit.edu.au/d4lhtsmk45c.pdf

Truss, C et.al. (1997) Soft and Hard Models of Human Resource Management: A Reappraisal. Journal of Management Studies Volume 34 Issue 1 Page 53 - January 1997 abstract accessed from http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-6486.00042?journalCode=joms

U55081 Strategic Marketing mobile phones assignment

There is a huge amount of information on the mobile phones industry. You will have to scan and sift through a number of databases to retrieve the most useful documents and this is not meant to be an exhaustive list of resources. You should also research for yourself. Follow the instructions below carefully.

Look at the EBSCOhost database guide and connect to the Business Source Complete database. Click on Company profiles in the top toolbar and in the search screen that appears enter all of the mobile phone companies in turn to retrieve concise Datamonitor reports that include a description, history and most usefully a SWOT analysis in most cases (not always).
Next, click on the Advanced Search tab. The subject index term that is used for the industry is cellular telephones (this can be found by clicking the Thesaurus button that enables you to look up the accepted index terms). You can enter this and specify SU Subject Index in the drop down menu. However, even searching the indexes only, at the time of writing nearly 14,000 articles are retrieved. Entering company names such as Vodafone can retrieve 2000+ articles, although a smaller company, such as Carphone Warehouse, can retrieve a more manageable number. How is it possible to make sense of all of this?
Firstly, click on the link Industry Profile at the top of the results list. This selects really useful market information and reports from the prestigious Economist Intelligence Unit, Datamonitor and others.
Next, just to prove that even in best of databases documents are not always indexed consistently, start with a fresh Advanced search screen and enter the search mobile and select TI Title from the drop down menu and again select Industry Profile from the Publication Type box below. This retrieves many of the same documents again, but also more up-to-date Datamonitor reports on Mobile phones and, after reports on mobile homes and cranes, there are some older reports on mobile devices.
Then in Business Source Complete, scanning through our first search above we noticed one UK publication Total telecom magazine that appeared a few times. STARTING WITH A FRESH Advanced Search screen enter Total telecom magazine as a search and specifying SO Publication Name will retrieve all articles from this magazine only. Adding (and) mobile to the next line will retrieve many articles from this journal on the mobile phone industry. Then delete this and try (and) vodafone etc. to retrieve articles on companies. Remember that clicking on the titles of articles first will give an abstract (a brief description) to read to help you decide if you want to retrieve the full text.
Finally substitute Economist and specify SO Publication and add (and) mobile phone* (but do not search for companies). The Economist newspaper tends to pick up major issues and trends in the commercial world. Are there any other publications you could search?
The next database to consult is Mintel. Mintel covers UK markets only. Entering the search mobile phones in the quick search box in the top right corner of the first Mintel screen retrieves a list of relevant reports starting with Telecommunications Retailing and Mobile phones and Network Providers. Most of you will be familiar with Mintel and these are essential reading.
Connect to the Thomson Gale database host via the linked guide and first of all select Investext Plus . Entering company names in the Company Search box retrieves an index from which you should be able to select your exact company name. By clicking on the company entry you will be able to retrieve a list of very up-to-date analyst's reports, usually stockbroker reports, on the company of your choice. Only plcs or quoted companies can be found because these reports are all about assessing share price performance. You will have to browse extensively. There is no standard format for reports that can vary from pages of unintelligible financial information to a complete analysis of every aspect of a company's performance including and industry and competitor analysis, long term trends and even a PEST and SWOT analysis. However, generally the much larger reports are the most helpful and the reports by JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse can be helpful. Do not trouble to look at 1 page reports.
Continuing in the Investext Plus database find Advanced Search by scrolling up to the top of the results list and clicking on Search in the left blue margin. Enter mobile phone* as a search to retrieve some interesting reports on the production of handsets, for example and the recent introduction of MNP (Mobile Number Portability).
If you have still not find enough on companies also try PROMT database on the Thomson Gale host. This provides articles from 1,000 world newspapers and magazines on commercial matters and if you really want more try...
Newspapers on Proquest Follow the instructions in the linked guide to narrow down your search to the Financial Times only. This means that you will be searching in the most authoritative source without all of the repetition of the same news in many other papers.
If company annual reports cannot be found on web sites check out Northcote and Carol on our company internet sources web page: http://www.brookes.ac.uk/library/business/intecomp.html
In the Short Loan Collection in Wheatley Library you will find: 658.872 WEI Weiss. Mobile strategies : understanding wireless business models, MVNOs and the growth of mobile content

U51072 Methods of Enquiry organic food project

These brief notes are intended to provide a few pointers to the most obvious sources of information. The nature of the project means you are also expected to research for yourself.

Look at the EBSCOhost database guide and connect to the Business Source Complete database. To begin, enter organic food in the search box. This retrieves over 1200 articles and it will be worthwhile to scan at least the past year.
However, if you do not go back far enough you will not find the Datamonitor reports on organic food. So, click Industry Profiles just above the first result. This will retrieve Datamonitor Industry reports for many countries in the world including the UK and by continent and globally.
Click on the Internet Explorer back arrow to return to the original search. In the search box below "organic foods" enter Economist and in the drop down menu select SO Publication Name to retrieve a few useful recent articles from the Economist.
Check out the Intute Social Sciences web site linked from our guide to business internet gateways at: http://www.brookes.ac.uk/library/business/integate.html
Intute is produced by a network of subject specialists in UK Universities and partners that lists the best internet sources in different subjects. Entering a search organic food provides a link to a wide variety of useful sites including the Soil Association, Defra etc...
Also look at the Brookes subject page on Nutrition and Food Science Here if you follow through you will find links to internet sources including the British Nutrition Foundation. As always, enter organic food as a search.
From the same subject page look at databases available. We thought Biological and agricultural index plus looked the most promising index and entered organic food. One of the first articles we saw was: Winter, Carl K. and Davis, Sarah F. (2006). Organic foods. Journal of food science Vol.71, No.9, pp. 117-124. Clicking on the Linksource symbol lead to the full text which is billed as the "Institute of Food Technologists scientific status summary to update readers on the organic foods industry". Is that useful? Can you find other useful articles? Any other likely databases?
Enter "Institute of Food Technologists" into Google to see what you can find.
Go into Mintel and enter a search organic food in the search box in the top right of the screen. This retrieves useful reports on organics and health food retailing. Can you find any other reports e.g. on lifestyles that might be helpful?
Then find the web page for Thomson Gale databases, enter this database host and select the PROMT database. Do not enter the search in the Subject Search box, it will not work well. Click on Search in the left blue margin and then select Advanced Search and enter organic food. Nearly 1200 articles can be found at the time of writing. Browse and note that the articles in Agra Europe are quite helpful. Amend the search to organic food and jn agra europe (in this database jn selected from the drop down menu specifies the journal title) to find articles (useful?) in this journal only.
One final recommendation. Enter the Proquest Newpapers database. Click on the Advanced search tab at the top of the screen. Then having entered organic food click on the Multiple databases drop down menu and select Proquest Newspapers. This retrieves over 2700 articles (at the time of writing). Far too many! However note that scrolling down to January retrieves some of the articles on David Miliband's controversial comments on organic food. If you want to select a newspaper that probably has most to say about the subject then select the Guardian by clicking on More search options at the bottom of the screen, then Browse Publications, find and select the Guardian and click on search again.

U51062 Strategic Management oil exploration assignment

A variety of books on the oil industry have been placed on Short Loan (the red section near the entrance) in Wheatley Library. We are not attempting to particularly recommend any, but everything on oil would be heavily reserved within one week, so at least everyone has an equal opportunity to see them. Full citations can be taken from the book:
338.2728 CUM Cummins. Shell shock: the secrets and spin of an oil giant
338.2728 ROB Roberts. The end of oil: the decline of the petroleum economy and the rise of a new energy order
338.27209538 SIM Simmons. Twilight in the desert: the coming Saudi oil shock and the world economy
338.27282 CHA Davis (ed). The changing world of oil: an analysis of corporate change and adaptation
338.27282 NEW Mitchell (et al eds). The new economy of oil: impacts on business, geoplolitics and society
338.27282 TER Tertzakian. A thousand barrels a second: the coming oil break point and the challenges facing an energy dependent world
338.27282 YEO Yeo. Oil: a concise guide to the most important product in the world
338.272820947 GRA Grace. Russian oil supply: performance and prospects
338.272820973 RUT Rutledge. Addicted to oil: America's relentless drive for energy security
338.272820973 STA Standlea. Oil, globalization, and the war for the arctic refuge
338.27285 STE Stern. The future of Russian gas and Gazprom
Look at the EBSCOhost database guide and connect to the Business Source Complete database. Enter petroleum prospecting as a search and from the drop down menu select SU Subject Term (we clicked on the Thesaurus button and entered the search oil and found that the subject index term used is petroleum prospecting). This retrieves over 3300 articles. It is possible to browse recent ones, but not all. So...
Click on the Industry Profiles link at the top of the results. This retrieves the Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Industry Profile: Global, published by Datamonitor in 2006. This gives a broad view of the global industry. Note the company names in this report and, later, look for them amongst the Datamonitor Company Profiles by clicking on the Company Profiles button in the toolbar (and see Investext below).
Then click on All results at the top of the results and enter (and) Economist in the search box below your original petroleum prospecting search and and select SO Publication Name from the drop down menu. The Economist is a prestigious journal that covers big issues such as the oil industry. The long goodbye discusses the technological difficulties of exploiting reserves in the North Sea. Is that helpful? Browse the other articles.
When we browsed previously we found numbers of articles in a publication World oil, so delete the Economist and substitute World oil and browse the results.
Next, move on to Thomson Gale Databases and select the Investext database. In the Company search box enter the names of any companies you have encountered and in the company index click on it's name to see a list of analysts (usually stockbrokers) reports. Analysts reports give opinions on share prices and therefore cover plcs only. They vary from brief 1 page statements to a full scale analysis of a company's operations with competitor and industry analysis, SWOT analysis etc.. Browse the larger reports to find information (do not bother with 1 page reports).
Moving to the top of the left blue margin, click on Search and then on Advanced Search and enter oil exploration to retrieve reports on the industry. Again browse and select the larger reports.
Click on Thomson Gale Databases in the left blue margin to go back to the Thomson Gale database list and select PROMT . This contains news items from 1000 world publications and will provide more information on companies.

U55051 Kelloggs and India assignment

For information on the Indian economy look at the page connected from the Business and Economics Librarian's web page: Commentary on world economies
Follow the advice on this page and the link available to connect to Business Source Complete Once logged in, click on the Publications button in the top toolbar and in the publications browse box that appears enter India as a search and click on the radar button to the right labelled Match any words. This retrieves every publication with India in the title and at the time of writing the first listed is "Country profile: India". This is the most helpful publication listed. Published by the Economist Intelligence Unit these reports are regarded as some of the most authoritative available on many aspects of countries including their industries and the economic situation. Published annually and available on Business Source Complete 1996-2006, the current issue would cost a member of the public £175.00. Click on the publication title and follow through to obtain the full text. Later, further down the list, you can find India Country Monitor and India Country Profile which might also be useful.
Then click on the Advanced Search button in the top toolbar and enter the search India and select GE Geograhic Terms from the drop down menu. This retrieves over 26000 articles, so in the next box enter (and) economist and select SO Publication name from the drop down menu to retrieve articles on India in the Economist back to 1991. If the titles look obscure, click on them to reveal the abstract rather than trying to browse the full text of all articles or add econom* with SU Subject Terms from the drop down menu as the final part of the search.
Returning to the web page Commentary on world economies look at some of the other URLs connected. In the Globaledge page select India from the drop down menu. Connections to the American CIA country reports and a variety of other useful sites including statistics from the Indian Ministry of Finance can be found if you work through sytematically. The Library of Congress reports are rather old now, but may be helpful for ths project.
Finally from our commentary page check out the two publications in the section on Asia. Asian Development Outlook from the Asian Development Bank is available in full text and has a large section on India and there is also a great deal of information in the United Nations Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific.
Entering a search Kelloggs and India in Business Source Complete and in the PROMT (Thomson Gale Databases) database elicits a few useful snippets.
There is a section on Kelloggs and India in: Haig, Matt (2003) Brand failures : the truth about the 100 biggest branding mistakes of all time. London: Kogan Page p130, which is now in Wheatley Library Short Loan Collection (the red section) at 658.827 HAI.

U51002 Foundations of Business Tesco assignment

Check out the web page on company information: http://www.brookes.ac.uk/business/company.html This web page is very long, but it's only the first section on electronic databases you need consult.
First look at EBSCOhost databases, one of which is Business Source Complete. Go into this and click on Company profiles in the top toolbar and in the following screen enter tesco then click on the pdf for Tesco plc. The Datamonitor company profile provides a useful summary of Tesco's activities and especially see the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. Other profiles will cover Tesco's rivals: Sainsbury's and Morrisons.
Next, return to the Business Source Complete advanced search screen and enter tesco as a search in the search box and click on the drop down menu in the box alongside where it says "select a field", and select CO Company Entity. This will retrieve about 1772 articles on Tesco from a wide variety of trade journals, but the most recent are listed first. You have to scan and be selective about the articles you read. The article by Anthony Ruback at, or near, the top is a warning to the USA that Tesco is about to move in and summarises Tesco's strengths. A little further down there are articles on Tesco rivalling Sky etc and moving into digital TV. Are these relevant to your assignment? You must be the judge and you must browse to find other useful articles.
Then find the web page for Thomson Gale databases, enter this database host and select the Investext database. Here you will find analysts reports by entering tesco and then selecting Tesco plc. Have a browse and check out some of the larger reports, but the most recent ones at the moment are a little disappointing. You might find many much lengthier more useful ones in future. So, for now, go to the top of the left blue margin and click on Search then Advanced Search and enter supermarket* and UK. The two 20 page reports by Smith Barney Citigroup look particularly helpful in assessing the relative competitive situations of each UK supermarket. Again, you have to judge their usefulness and browse.
You could check out the PROMT database (also in Thomson Gale) for more newspaper and trade journal articles if you have time.
Find the Mintel database and in the search box in the top right of the screen enter tesco. This database contains many market research reports, but also retail sector reports. The reports in the results list all contain references to Tesco, but you might look at the Food Retailing-UK report first. This contains a huge array of information about supermarket companies, their sales, customers and future prospects. This is not to be missed.
Finally look for the Fame database web page if you want to quickly retrieve the basic accounts of supermarket companies for comparison.

U51062 Strategic Management Budget airlines assignment

The Mintel report No frills/Low-cost Airlines - UK (enter a search airlines in the quick search box) although published in February 2005 contains useful information on the European situation and companies as well as the UK. The European industry is dominated by UK airlines.
Business Source Complete contains Datamonitor and Economist Intelligence Unit reports on the airline industry covering the world, Europe and countries. Enter the search airlines and in the Publication type box below click on the drop down menu and select Industry Profile at the very bottom. Browse the titles of the 194 results.
Then restore the Publications type box to the original All and click on the drop down menu next to your entry airlines and select SU Subject Index. Clicking on Search retrieves a huge number of articles, but the most recent are listed first and we found a few useful articles by browsing the first few pages. Add (and) budget to the second line. This is not very scientific searching, but you will perhaps find more relevant articles.
Still in Business Source Complete we found useful articles in the journal Airline Business. Type this in the search box and then click on the drop down menu and select SO Publication Name. As above you could also, perhaps, add (and) budget after browsing.
Then click on Company profile in the toolbar, type in Easyjet to find a useful potted summary of this key player.
Next, move on to Thomson Gale databases and select the Investext database. Enter Easyjet and browse, then Ryanair. The Analysts reports that you will find have no set format, but if you are lucky you might find that some of the longer reports give figures for the entire industry, a competitor analysis etc..
Finally, if you have time check out PROMT (also a Thomson Gale database) and also Proquest newspapers for news items.
A new item recommended by a student: Go into Investext in Thomson Gale databases mentioned above. Do not use the Company search: click on Search in the left blue margin and select Advanced Search. Enter a search ti european low-cost carriers (ti means look in the title). This retrieves an excellent report by BNP/PARIBAS from 2003 that was recommended because, we understand, you have to look back over the past 5 years. Also there is a report from JP Morgan published in 2005.

U51002 Foundations of Business Innocent assignment

The Innocent web site will give lots of useful information, and we found this article on the BBC web site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/business/3014477.stm However, do not depend on free internet sources only. The Library can offer much more.
Now in the Short Loan section of Wheatley Library: Britains Top employers 2007: best examples of HR management R 338.74094 BRI It will be issued from Short Loan for use in the Library only. This book contains over 3 pages on Innocent under headings such as Pay and benefits, Promotion and development, Company culture, Diversity and social responsibility, Corporate governance, Environmental record.
Mintel has a rather old report on Smoothies. Enter a search Smoothies in the Quicksearch box in the top right corner. Note the other reports listed on fruit juices, soft drinks, yoghurt and chidren's attitudes to food and drink. Will they provide evidence of brand extensions? If you click on ...Display all my reports in the initial Mintel screen you can browse the entire list of Mintel reports. Will the reports on Healthy Lifestyles and Healthy Food Retailing provide evidence of changing customer tastes and attitudes? Are there other useful reports?
Business Source Complete will probably have information for every assignment you are given. The Datamonitor company profile (click on Company profiles in the toolbar) gives sparse information on Innocent. So, enter Innocent in the search box, and because this alone would retrieve far too many accidental hits of the word "innocent", click on the drop down menu and select CO Company Entity. At the time of writing 114 articles are retrieved. Note the articles from Marketing Week, Marketing and Campaign. These are standard trade journals of the marketing and advertising industries that give news about companies and campaigns. Print copies are available at Wheatley Library on the journals shelves at 658.8 and 659. However, although useful for keeping up-to-date with the industry, it would impossible to browse the print copies to find relevant articles, so you still need to search in Business Source Complete. Before leaving this database, enter smoothies as a search.
If you have time a few articles on Innocent can be found by entering the Thomson Gale host and selecting the PROMT database. There are no reports on the Investext database which covers quoted companies only.

U55000 Introduction to Marketing Gap assignment

Business Source Complete has a Datamonitor company profile, including a SWOT analysis on Gap. Click on Company profile in the top toolbar and enter Gap to find it. Next, enter Gap in the main search box, and because this alone would retrieve far too many accidental hits of the word "gap", click on the drop down menu and select CO Company Entity. At the time of writing this retrieves 1391 articles, but they are presented in reverse chronological order, so browse. Note that clicking on any title retrieves an abstract (summary) of the full text, so there is no need to wade through all the full text first. Finally, enter the search womenswear (set the drop down-menu to the default) and in the Publication type box below click on the drop down menu and select Industry Profile at the very bottom. This will retrieve global reports on these industries that might be helpful and reports for major western countries. Then try menswear.

Mintel Entering Gap in the Search box in the top right corner of the first Mintel screen produces a list of reports. The first on the Clothing Retailing has the maximum number of hits, but others in the list will be useful.

Next, move on to Thomson Gale databases and select the Investext database. Enter Gap and in the list of companies presented select Gap Inc. and browse. The Analysts reports that you will find have no set format, if you are lucky you might find that some of the longer reports give figures for the entire industry, a competitor analysis and much more besides. The PROMT database will give news items about Gap from all over the world.

Entering Gap as a search in the Euromonitor database retrieves sections of many different reports (click on the Search within text button below the search box). Scroll down to find the various sections from the report "Clothing retailers in the UK September 2005" and other useful reports.

If you have time it is always worth looking at Newspapers on Proquest Direct for company news, but for a company such as Gap there will always be many items from the fashion columns. Follow the instructions on using this databases carefully. It is always a good idea to specify that you search through the Financial Times only. The same news story will often be repeated in many other newspapers.