Library Research Guides: BUS C104 Business Presentations: Basics of Business Research

Basics of Business Research

Company Research Databases

Below is a list of recommended research databases to get you started in doing research for the ITP assignment. You may need further assistance in investigating your company or locating credible evidence to support your recommendations at later stages. Use the chat widgets in this guide for questions or schedule a research consultation.

News and Article Databases

Proquest Business
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Provides scholarly, trade, or news articles focused on business. Use these search strategies.
Business Source Complete
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Provides scholarly and trade journal articles focused on business. Use these search strategies.
Provides access to peer-reviewed business journals, covering all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, accounting, banking, finance, and more. Indexing and abstracts and full text are available back as far as 1886.
Factiva
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Provides full-text access to national and international newspapers, trade publications, business newswires, media transcripts, news photos, business-rich websites, investment analyst reports, market research reports, country and regional profiles, company profiles, and historical market data.
Nexis Uni
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Provides access to news articles. Use these search strategies.

Business DEI Guide
Useful for audience analysis and also understanding controversies from media perspectives not often represented in media like the Wall Street Journal or Bloomberg. Check out the Library Resources especially.

Company Analysis and Reports

MarketLine Advantage
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Company reports with history, SWOT, and key competitors.
MarketLine offers a collection of company, industry, financial, product and country information, research and data extending over all major marketplaces and industries. A searchable online business information service using published desk research and secondary data sources to create three different types of profiles. Company profiles include company overviews, business descriptions, company history, executive listings, product listings, locations, news, and commentary. Industry profiles contain: 5-year historical and 5-year forecast market values and/or volumes; market segmentations; company and/or product market shares; explanatory text identifying major trends and significant growth points; and analysis of each market's competitive landscape, including main players, distribution channels, and regulatory issues. Each country profile includes a description of the country's economic performance and GDP, an assessment of its potential for development, and detailed market and industry analysis of the country's business environment. Profiles are supplemented by a "news & comment" section.
Mergent Online
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Database of corporate information covering over 22,000 US and foreign public companies. Includes access to Investext reports written by analysts at investment banks, brokerage houses, and consulting firms. Reports cover financials and analysis on companies and select industries.
Access to U.S. Company Data and International Company Data. Allows users to access reports on companies based around the world, searching by company name or ticker symbol, or searching across all global boundaries to find companies that match specific financial and/or textual search criteria. Also includes detailed information, such as history, property, subsidiaries, officers and directors, long-term debt, and capital stock. Financial statements are presented in "as-reported" form and in native currencies.
Mergent Intellect
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Determine whether your company is public or private or parent or subsidiary.
PrivCo
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Financial information and analysis for private companies. Individual registration with an IU e-mail address required for access.

Consumers and Marketing

Mintel Reports
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Please note: Mintel allows access for IUB faculty, staff, and students only. Market research reports covering US and International markets with an emphasis on consumer products and industries. Note: Users must create a personal profile in order to download content from Mintel. Please see more below for additional instructions.
Mintel Reports offers product and industry market research reports covering US and International marketplaces. Each report combines data and analysis of the competitive landscape, supply chain, market-share size and trends, and consumer profiles. Complex demographic issues are broken into easy-to-understand sections, explaining consumer behavior and demonstrating the structure of the market. Reports may be downloaded as RTF (rich-text format) files; tabular data may also be saved as CSV (comma-separated values) files.

Access and downloading instructions:
1. All users will have to agree to the Academic permissions and prohibitions, which prohibits systematic copying, use without attribution, use for commercial purposes, or distribution to non-IUB students and employees.
2. After accepting the above permissions and prohibitions, you must create an individual profile in order to download reports.
3. Select "Log into your profile..." to create a new (or log into an existing) Mintel profile.
4. After logging in, downloading is available by either using the direct download option for a report or by using the My Presentations feature which also offers the direct download option for the report.
MRI-Simmons Insights
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Data on U.S. consumer demographics, attitudes and behaviors, media use, and buying habits
Simmons Insights (formerly Simmons OneView, and prior to that Simmons Choices3) provides data on adult U.S. consumers based on national surveys. The data includes consumer demographics (age, gender, income ...), consumer psychographics (behavior, attitudes ...) and buying and media habits. The database can be used to create individualized reports for marketing strategies, advertising choices, and other business decisions.
Statista
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Consolidates statistical data on over 80,000 topics from more than 18,000 sources. Includes market research, dossiers, industry reports, and digital market outlooks and forecasts.
Provides access to data from numerous institutes and sources. The portal offers four languages: English, German, French, and Spanish. The German platform focuses on content about DACH-countries; the international platform incorporates international data. The French and Spanish platforms provide country specific data in their respective languages.

Industry Reports and Analysis

IBISWorld
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Comprehensive industry reports that provide company analysis.
Mergent Intellect
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Dunn & Bradstreet First Research industry reports may be accessed from the homepage of Mergent Intellect. Scroll down and select "First Research." Enter your IU email address to access the reports.

General Library Resources

• IUB Libraries Website

Use the "Research" tab to find databases by subject/discipline. The Business subject page has a curated list of business databases, or consult the A-Z Database link for a list of all the Indiana University Bloomington subscription databases. These resources must be accessed through the Libraries website or portals like this guide.

IUCAT This link opens in a new window
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Search for books on your topic owned by the IUB Libraries. Use the Finding Books guide for tips on how to search and use this resource.
IUCAT, Indiana University's online library catalog, provides comprehensive access to millions of items held by the IU Libraries statewide, including books, recordings, US government publications, periodicals, and other types of material. Users can access IUCAT from any Internet-connected computer or device, whether in the libraries, on campus, or off campus.
OneSearch@IU
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Search across thousands of publications (many will not be retrieved in a Google search!) for background information. Use the Database Search Tips for how to effectively search this resource.

• Business/SPEA Citation Guide

Examples of how to cite business information in both MLA and APA citation formats.

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Basics of Business Research

Company Research Databases

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BUS C104 Business Presentations

Basics of Business Research

Company Research Databases

General Library Resources

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Featured Databases

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