1. LI KA SHING LIBRARY STAFF TRAINING Introduction to Business Research Ruth A. Pagell July 2010 Singapore Management University Research Guide

9. WHY DO BUSINESS RESEARCH Business Research

10. BUSINESS RESEARCH TRIANGLE Country and Trade Resources Company Resources Industry Resources News Periodical Articles Research Reports People Data Business Research

13. RESEARCH Conceptual Questions Q: Explain the fundamental theories of TQM Q: What are the underlying assumptions for Porter’s 5 forces? Business Research

14. RESEARCH Analytical Questions Q: What effect do integrated resorts have on the economy of Singapore? Q: Does the Singapore real estate market behave like the economic theories of supply and demand? Q : How do Porter’s 5 forces apply to competitive intelligence? Business Research

15. RESEARCH Historical Questions Q: What was Singapore’s position in world trade in the early 20 th century? Q: Track the rise and fall of the U.S. steel industry in the 20 th century Business Research

16. RESEARCH Factual Questions Q: Who are Singapore’s Top 1000 companies? Q: Is it true that Singapore has more internet users then any other ASEAN country? Q: What companies are importing and exporting soybeans in Southeast Asia? Business Research

17. RESEARCH Data / Statistical Questions Q: List the monthly Sing$ / US$ exchange rate from 1990 Q: How many internet users are there in Singapore? Q: How many soybeans are being imported into Singapore? Malaysia? Q: What is Singapore’s GDP? Business Research

18. RESEARCH Evaluation of Questions Data - Is it answerable? I want monthly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Data – is it correct? I want 2009 GDP data for Singapore Is it reasonable? I want free commercial market research reports How current is current? I want breaking news Is it from a reliable source? Business Research

21. INFORMATION RESOURCES Timeliness of Business Sources Investment Bank Report CPI Unemploy-ment Journal to Database Trade Magazine Monthly Stock Quotes Press Releases Company filings Company Annuals Market Research Report Foreign Exchange GDP Quarterly National Annual Data IGO Compiled Data; GDP actual Website Indexing Working Paper Academic Article Academic Journal Media News News – paper Web Directory Trade Book Print Directory Academic Book Hourly to Real Time Monthly to Daily Less than a year 1 to 2 Years > 2 years

22. INFORMATION RESOURCES Journals Top Business Publications downloaded from EBSCO or Proquest Business News Magazines Economist Business Week Forbes Fortune Newspapers USA Today (Top Download - >12,400) Wall Street Journal Eastern Edition Financial Times Trade & Industry Publications Advertising Age WWD (Women’s Wear Daily) Computerworld downloaded between January – April 2010

23. INFORMATION RESOURCES JOURNALS Top Business Publications downloaded from EBSCO or Proquest or Science Direct Popular Business Journals Harvard Business Review (>11,000) Scholarly Journals Academy of Management Journal ( >1100 in EBSCO ) Journal of Business Ethics Management Science Journal of Marketing (>540 in EBSCO ) Journal of Financial Economics (SD) Journal of Asian Studies

24. INFORMATION RESOURCES Books Characteristics of the Business Book Popular : “How To”, written by consultants; ephemeral for latest trends, basic understanding How to tell anyone anything Scholarly : Written by academics and researchers; often dated; for conceptual, historical and analytical questions The rule of three

25. INFORMATION RESOURCES Books Characteristics of the Business Book Popular : “How To”, written by consultants; ephemeral for latest trends, basic understanding Scholarly : Written by academics and researchers; often dated; for conceptual, historical and analytical questions Reviews and the Business Book Favorable and unfavorable book reviews : A quantitative study (1995) “ Previous writers have consistently found a high percentage of favorable book reviews in trade and scholarly journals. “

26. INFORMATION RESOURCES Specialized Reports Market Research Reports Investment Bank Analysis Industry Surveys White Papers

27. INFORMATION RESOURCES Finding Aids Indexes & Abstracts Research guides FAQs

38. YAHOO Google Straits Times

39. INFORMATION RESOURCES News 13:03 Singapore Standard Time, 12 June BBC Factiva

40. AVAILABILITY of Business Information Free Public Information A company phone number A listed company’s sales figures Information for a price: A private company’s sales figures/credit rating Proprietary Information - not available for any price - Coca-Cola’s formula * The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, June 26, 1999, Inspector Clouseau strikes again! Coke recipe found, Charles W. Holmes,

41. AVAILABILITY of Business Information Origin : Press release, government, internal document; private citizens on the web CONTINUUM Industry: Major manufacturing (textiles)…..wholesale/retail/service …..sector Organization Type: Listed company… Private company… SME…Partnership… Nonprofit Country of origin : US, EU, Asia / Group of 8 / developing Cost : Free… free with registration…commercial rates