Library

 

Business and Management

Librarian: Megan Fox, fox@simmons.edu 617.521.2742

Below are suggested resources to use when researching a Business and Management topic. For research strategies and techniques, visit the resources linked from the menu at the left.

Getting Started | Finding Articles | Getting Fulltext | RSS Feeds

Specific Research Topics: Company Information | Annual Reports | Company Lists | Industry Information | Industry Norms/Ratios | Statistical Information | Country Information | Course Specific | Women & Business

 

Getting Started

Before jumping in and looking for research, it is a good idea to have a refined topic and to know a little about it. Start with broad resources like encyclopedias, bibliographies, and handbooks to start to get a sense of what is available on your topic in the universe of information.

Finding Articles

Search the following indexes to find articles on the topic of Business and Management. See individual Resources by Subject guides for more specific indexes covering topics within the broader field of Business and Management.

Business Source Premier A comprehensive business periodical database that includes scholarly journals and business periodicals covering topics such as management, economics, finance, accounting, international business and more.  BSP provides more than 2,300 full text scholarly publications, some as far back as 1922, such as the Harvard Business Review. Use the Advanced Search for a more precise search!

  • Type in search terms in the Find search box
    • group similar concepts in ( ) linked with "or"
      For example:       (women or female or gender)
    • truncate word variants with *
      For example:       instead of typing (manage or management or managing or manager) just type manag*
    • link separate concepts with "and"
      For example:       (women or female or gender) and (manag* or executiv*)
  • Consider selecting a specific "Field" to limit the search. The most specific and generally most accurate is a SU Subject Heading search. Also common TI title, AB abstract, CO company.
  • Refine your search with Limits such as: Full Text only, from a specific Journal, Peer Reviewed (more scholarly), Date Published.
  • Refine your search with Expanders To search within the entire fulltext of an article, check the "search with within full text articles". To take advantage of the built in thesaurus, check the box "also search for related words"

 

ABI/Inform Find in-depth coverage of business conditions, trends, corporate strategies and tactics, management techniques, competitive and product information, and a wide variety of other topics from more than 1800 leading business and management publications, most of which are fulltext or page-image.  Primarily academic, theoretical articles. Includes fulltext Wall Street Journal. Less content than Business Source Premier, but more powerful searching. Use the Advanced Search for a more precise search!

  • Type in a word or phrase in the search box (use the * to truncate; and to link separate concepts;or to group similar concepts)
  • Consider selecting a search field name in the drop down menu, or accept "Citation and Abstract" as the default. The most specific search would use the "Subject" field. Other Search Fields include article title, author, company name, personal name, source, SIC code, ticker
  • Click an operator (AND, OR, AND NOT, WITHIN 3, PRE/1) to link your search terms
  • Specify limits such as Date, full text only, or scholarly/peer reviewed
  • Results are available as: citation, full text, text and graphics and/or page image (like a photocopy of article). Articles can be emailed to you

Lexis-Nexis Academic Provides more current news and press releases than any other source. Good for facts and events related to companies and industries. 1970- present for many periodicals, all fulltext.  Includes PR Newswire and many other sources for company press releases.

  • Choose Power Search tab
  • Search tips:
    • use AND / OR grouped in parentheses ( )
    • ! for truncation and * for wildcard
    • w/# for within a certain number of words - especially good for authors. Also W/S for within sentence and W/P for within paragraph

Getting Fulltext

Because not all indexes are fulltext--or 100% fulltext--you may have to elsewhere to find an article for which you have a citation. Consult the resources below to find out how to get access to the articles you need.

Finding information on Specific Research Topics

For more information on more specific topics within the discipline, contact a librarian.

Company Information

Hoovers short, readable overviews of major companies. Includes information on a company's location, summary financials, top competitors, top officers, and more

Marketline (from Datamonitor): 15 page overviews of 10,000 major public companies. Browse by company, or click on the Advanced Search Tab. Includes a SWOT.

General Business File - company profiles module. Overviews of major companies, including SIC codes. Links to parent companies and articles in selected subject areas.

Valueline: one page financial summaries of major public companies. Includes year-ahead and three- to five-year probable relative price performance, projections of key financial measures, and concise, objective commentary on current operations and future prospects.

Annual Reports

  • Use each company's web sites. Don't be distracted by their marketing - look for a link called Investor Relations, Financials About the Company, etc. If the AR is not available from the company web site, pull the 10K filing from the SEC: http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html

Company Lists

    • Career Search: lists of smaller companies A powerful on-line employment research tool with a database of more than a million employers from every major sector of the business and academic worlds. You can make extensive lists of companies based on broad or specific industries, sizes, and geographic locations.

Industry Information

Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys: Comprehensive overviews of 51 major U.S. industries. Each industry is updated every six months. For each industry, you'll find the Current environment - emerging trends and recent developments; Industry profile - major players and market share data, market/demand developments; How the industry operates - business/economic cycles, distribution, regulation and legislation; Key ratios and statistics - benchmarks of the industry's health; Comparative company analysis - tables listing historical financial data. Choose your industry from the Industry Surveys drop-down on the right.

Marketline (from Datamonitor): Concise overviews of 10,000 companies and 2,000 industries in over 50 countries. Browse by industry, or click on the Advanced Search Tab. Limit Product Type to Industry Reports and search keyword in Fulltext. Limit Geographic Term to "United States" as appropriate.

Global Market Information 4,500 market reports, offering in-depth strategic analysis for consumer, industrial and service sectors.

Encyclopedia of American Industries - overviews of major industries

Industry Norms/Ratios

Industry and Marketing Statistical Information

Tablebase: TableBase specializes exclusively in tabular data on companies, industries, products and demographics. It allows you to locate information such as market share, company and brand rankings, industry and product forecasts, production and consumption statistics, imports and exports, usage and capacity, number of users/outlets, and trends.

PROMT: Use this database to research companies, the products and technologies they produce, and the markets in which they compete. Includes summaries and full  text from nearly 1,000 business and trade journals, industry newsletters, newspapers, market research studies, news releases, and investment and brokerage firm reports.

Country Information

Global Market Information Database

EIU Country Reports and Profiles

Course Specific:

Management 390 Senior Seminar

Beta: search web sites for information on women and business/management

RSS Feeds For New Books

The Simmons College Library RSS feeds are a great way to keep track of the latest additions to the library collection in your area of interest. To subscribe to the School of Management RSS feed, just click on the rss icon next to the feed. More info

Page updated: September 13, 2007

 

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