LibGuides: BUS 5000 Foundations of Business Administration: Getting Started with Business Research

BUS 500 Research

Business Research @ CSULA

As a student, business research involves three broad tasks:

Researching the business literature
Research companies
Researching industries

When researching the literature for management you are typically looking for peer reviewed or scholarly articles about processes, trends, or theories and their relation to the way companies are lead, organized, and managed as well as the business practices they employ in order to be successful. There are several databases for this type of research. Studies can be quantitative research or ones that involved data gathering and interpretation or they can be purely theoretical expositions on ideas or concepts related to management of an enterprise. These same databases also include popular articles (magazines and newspapers) as well as industry press like newsletters that explore business problems in a more practical way and can be useful for understanding a specific company or its industry. The best databases for searching the scholarly and popular literature of business are ABI Inform Global and Business Source Premier.

Researching industries and companies requires the use of many specialized databases. There are several of these including Mergent, Factiva, IBIS World, Marketline, and ValueLine. They are listed on this page as well as under the specific tabs that can guide you in these two tasks.

Research Resources for BUS 5000

Welcome! This Research Guide is for MBA students enrolled in BUS 5000.

List of Business Databases

Business Literature Databases

The resources below are useful for searching the business literature (peer reviewed articles, magazines, trade publications).

Google Scholar with Linked Cal State LA Content
Use Google to find scholarly materials with links to content that we already subscribe to in the library.
University Library OneSearch
Search all of the library's holdings at once in an easy to use interface.
Business Source Premier
ABI Inform Global
Similar to Business Source Premier. News, articles, reports and intelligence about a company, industry or current event.
Gale Virtual Encylcopedias
Use this database to get background information and overviews of topics. Like Wikipedia but authoritative, credible and can be cited.

Company Research Databases

The databases below are used to find information about companies.

Industry Research Databases

The databases listed below are used to find information about industries.

Data & Statistics

Use the following databases to gather data and statistics on a geographic area or product.

Statista Pro This link opens in a new window
Statistics and data platform that focuses on the economic, business, and marketing fields. The sources for the statistics come from a wide range of fields, including energy and the environment, advertising, health, hospitality, consumer goods, and many more.
SimplyAnalytics This link opens in a new window
A web-based mapping application for creating maps, charts, and reports with demographic, business, and marketing data. It offers over 200,000 data variables. Some of the features include: interactive maps, ranking tables, local data, visual maps, and a business and competitor finder.
The maps can be exported as high-resolution images for use in reports and presentations, and data can be exported into Microsoft Excel worksheets and Microsoft Word documents. It includes target marketing, advertising campaigns, commercial and residential real estate development, retail store site selection, ranking studies, and social and demographic analyses.

Access Limitation: This database allows five concurrent access at a time. Instruction faculty: please contact your liaison librarians should you need to use the database for class instruction.

Help
- SimplyAnalytics Help Center
- SimplyAnalytics Data Documentation
MarketLine This link opens in a new window
Quality business reports encompassing company profiles, market reports, industry outlooks, and economic and demographic conditions globally, covering all continents and major industries.
MarketLine provides statistical modelling functions, interactive reports and databases along with an integrated news service updated on a daily basis. It is a dynamic access point to the world of market intelligence. It can be used in management and marketing courses, especially those with an innovation, entrepreneurship or global focus. In terms of student use: it would provide critical information for drafting assignments related to market plans or new business plans. This database could also be useful for finance classes that deal with investing, especially investing in global markets or emerging economies and industries. The country information could additionally be useful in economics classes.
MarketLine Tutorial

Portable MBA

The Portable MBA

Great E-book that can fill in the gaps or refresh your knowledge regarding most business concepts. Excellent chapter on business analysis and valuation of companies as well as good information regarding all functional areas (marketing, strategy, accounting, financce, cis etc.)