BCOR 1010: Introduction to Business
This is the guide for the BCOR 1010, Introduction to Business. This guide walks through the resources to use when conducting your research. This guide can be used to find resources or to remember the research process, each tab can be used independently, but it is recommended that everyone start on the "Getting Started" tab.- Getting Started
- Context
- Marketing
- Accounting & Finance
- Operations
- HR/Management
- More Help
- All the Resources in this Guide
- Business Library Home Page
The Business Library web site links to all of the resources (and much more) mentioned in this guide, in addition you can browse for specific resources using the drop down menu at the top to find resources on a particular topic. - How do I...?
These guides provide quick tips on how to find books, cite resources, and much more. - Off-Campus Access
The majority of resources mentioned on this guide are subscription based and you need to download the VPN to access them from off campus. This page explains how to set up your laptop or mobile device to access these resources off campus. - Chinook, the library catalog
While the majority of your research will be conducted in databases, you may want to check out the library catalog to see if there are any books, government reports or anything else that might be able to assist you with your project.
Before starting your research, there are a few steps that will make it much easier.
Get started by filling in this table, which you will continue to update as you search.
| Your Company: | |
| Industry: | |
| Competitors/Similar Companies |
Identify your Industry
My company: I want to start a company that will make dog toys and then sell them online and to retail stores.
My industries: I am a dog toy manufacturer and online dog toy store.
BUT...
You need to be prepared to get more or less detailed depending on the resource being searched. Think about what stores are (retail) and try that term. You can also try another word for your company's area (in this case, pet instead of dog). Not all industry reports distinguish between online and physical stores, so try eliminating online when searching for industries.
Identify Similar Companies
If you are having trouble identifying your industry, often you can approach the issue sideways. Think about similar companies and researching the industries they belong to.
My company: I want to start a company that will make dog toys and then sell them online and to retail stores.
Similar companies: Kong, Nylabone
This only works if you know of similar companies, see the context tab for help researching this question using ReferenceUSA CU.
Choose from the databases listed below for help finding the resources you need for your project.
You can search across all the tabs or search for a particular company or industry by using those tabs.
A few highlights on Industry Index:
Companies List: Having trouble finding names of similar companies? Check this out for a list of companies that operate in this industry (the companies are linked to full company profiles).
Associated Industry Codes: These are the SIC and NAICS codes for your industry. These codes can be used to search in databases and will take you more quickly to the resources you are looking for.
A few highlights on Company Index:
Competition: This provides information on the competitors, but sometimes the results are less useful. Depending on the SIC and NAICS for your company, these results can end up with a mix of holding companies or even companies with only a slight relation to the aspect you are interested in. It is important to look at what codes Hoovers assigns under Industry Information.
Industry Information: This provides links to all the industries the company belongs to as well as their SIC and NAICS codes for the industries.
While you can browse a particular area of interest (case studies, companies, etc.), the easiest option is to search and then use the filters to refine your results.
Want to start an advertising agency in Colorado? The video below demonstrates how to browse the company finder to find your local competitors:
Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage CU provides information on selected industries and detailed company financials.
Industry Surveys
S&P NetAdvantage's has fewer industry surveys than Hoover's and Business Insights: Global, and they tend to be focused on bigger industries. Despite that, if your industry is covered by S&P you will find a deeper analysis, for example:
One nice feature of this report is the "How to Analyze a..." section. This report is for determining the value of a particular company, but it also outlines factors that potential investors will consider.
Tip: If you can't determine your industry try going at the problem sideways. Search a company similar to yours (for example, Amazon for a major online retail company) and see which industry they are a part of.
The University of Texas at Austin has created a great video demonstrating how to make a list of companies in ReferenceUSA:
Tip: Remember the SIC and NAICS codes you found in some of the other sources? You can use those here as a search term to guarantee relevant results.
This search for 453910 and SWOT brings us back all the SWOT analyses on Pet and Pet Supplies Stores.
Tip: Search the basic search box at the top with corporate social responsibility and the name of your industry or company.
Want more information on social responsibility issues? Check out the Business Library's Business Ethics / Social Responsibility page.
Choose from the databases listed below for help finding the resources you need for your project.
Mintel CU provides market research containing information on consumer trends, demographic profiles, brand share dynamics and market drivers. There are over 800 individual reports now available in 13 categories, with data covering US and select International Markets.
You need to register using your colorado.edu email address to use this database.
When searching you can browse or search for reports on your industry's market. When searching, try using broad terms for your industry, then you will get reports not only on your industry, but also on the consumers as well. See the results below:
These results not only talk about the market for pet food, supplies, and retail establishments, but also give information on pet owners.
This database is purely tables, thus the table in the name, so if you are looking for in-depth reports this is not the place to go.
A few highlights on Company Index:
Competition: This provides information on the competitors, but sometimes the results are less useful. Depending on the SIC and NAICS for your company, these results can end up with a mix of holding companies or even companies with only a slight relation to the aspect you are interested in. It is important to look at what codes Hoovers assigns under Industry Information.
Industry Information: This provides links to all the industries the company belongs to as well as their SIC and NAICS codes for the industries.
You can search this database for resources, but their browse and topic features are the easiest to use and can be found on the sidebar.
If you select one of the topic areas it will provide the ability to focus in more closely by providing only the browse areas that contain resources.
You will find reports, PowerPoint, charts, articles, tables, interviews and even webinars.
Tip: One of the keys to remember when looking for accounting and financial information is the public versus private company issue. Private companies are not required to share their financial information. If your major competitor is a private company and these resources do not help, please click the More Help tab and contact the library for additional resources.
Choose from the databases listed below for help finding the resources you need for your project.
You can search across all the tabs or search just for a particular company or industry by using those tabs.
A few highlights of Industry Index:
Financials: This resource gives you basic information on the financials of this industry along with some nice charts.
Associated Industry Codes: These are the SIC and NAICS codes for your industry. These codes can be used to search in many of the other databases and will like you more quickly to exactly what you are looking for.
A few highlights of Company Index:
Financials: You will get not only detailed information on the financial operations of your company, but also information on their prospective financial outputs and comparison to the industry as a whole.
Industry Information: This provides links to all the industries the company belongs to as well as their SIC and NAICS codes for the industries.
Industry Surveys
S&P NetAdvantage's has fewer industry surveys than Hoover's and Business Insights: Global, and they tend to be focused on bigger industries. Despite that, if your industry is covered by S&P you will find a deeper analysis, for example:
You can find financial information under Key Industry Ratios and Statistics and you can compare company financials under Comparative Company Analysis.
Tip: If you can't determine your industry try going at the problem sideways. Search a company similar to yours (for example, Amazon for a major online retail company) and see which industry they are a part of.
Company Profiles
Where S&P NetAdvantage CU really shines is their statistics on individual companies. You can make charts comparing stocks to various indices time frames from 1 day to 10 years, find vital statistics such as valuation, dividends, estimates, financials and even reports comparing them to their major competitors.
Sounds great? The disadvantage to Mergent versus the other sources is that their industry reports are only available in PDF and the company information is mostly only available in html, without a download option. That being said, the reports are up to date, relevant and very comprehensive.
On the home page you will need to click on the Search Mergent WebReports button to get to the materials.
From the search screen you can search within any of the categories listed above, but for this class the most relevant are the Company Search and Industry Report Search.
Company Search
One of the nice features of the company search in Mergent is that if you have a company that works in multiple industries all of those industries will be listed in the Industry Reports tab.
You will also find financial reports on profitability, liquidity, and stocks. You will also find under Equity Reports an analysis of the company itself with buy, sell or hold recommendations.
Industry Reports
This database, unlike others, actually let's you search by company name for an industry report or browse the industry and/or region. If you using the drop-down menus we would recommend choosing your region, unless you are planning on foreign markets.
Choose from the databases listed below for help finding the resources you need for your project.
Under Department choose "Operations" (as seen in the image) and then type in the issue you are interested in, for example if you want information on shipping you could put "Shipping" in the title box.
Tip: Use the term "Operations Research" in Subject Terms in the drop down in combination with your topic to discover articles focused on operations issues.
Industry Surveys
S&P NetAdvantage's has fewer industry surveys than Hoover's and Business Insights: Global, and they tend to be focused on bigger industries. Despite that, if your industry is covered by S&P you will find a deeper analysis, for example:
The nice feature of this report is the "How the Industry Operates" section. This report provides information on the roles of various sectors of the industry and how they function.
Tip: If you can't determine your industry try going at the problem sideways. Search a company similar to yours (for example, Amazon for a major online retail company) and see which industry they are a part of.
Choose from the databases listed below for help finding the resources you need for your project.
Under Department choose "Management" (as seen in the image) and then type in the issue you are interested in, for example if you want information on shipping you could put "diversity" in the title box.
This means that you can find here the number of employees in similar businesses as well as information in business demographics on expenditures, such as office supplies and equipment.
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