Wardrope’s BADM 3433: Business of Latin America

Hello,

My name is Paul, and we talked on Thursday about library materials to help you research your Country Report. This is a brief review of what we went over, in case you need it later.

I showed you several web and print resources and sorted them into the categories below–you’ll probably recognize them from your assignment. Each resource listed there covers the area it falls under, but it probably covers other areas too, so be sure to explore each of them thoroughly.

Many of the web resources are also available in our Country Information Subject Guide.

All of the print resources (in italics) are available in our Reference Collection on the 1st Floor.

Geography, Typology, and Climate

CIA World Factbook – Fairly complete profiles of every country.

U.S. State Dept. Background Notes – Very good general country info updated yearly.

Population Demographics

U.S. Census Bureau IDB – Has basic demographic data for countries including population projections.

Demographic Yearbook Ref. HA 17 .D45 2005 - Basic population stats put out by the United Nations.

Political and Legal Environment

World Bank’s doingbusiness.org – Main product is a set of objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 181 economies and selected cities at the sub-national and regional level.

Europa World Yearbook – Provides mainly economic and political data on 250 countries.

Economic Environment

Business Source Complete – Mainly periodical info covering all areas of business plus company, industry, and country information.

World Development CD-ROM ( available on the 2^nd floor of Chambers Library in Gov. Docs) – World Bank product with country profiles, social indicators data and population projections.

Illustrated Book of World Rankings Ref. HA 155 .K87 2001 - Arranged by topic (26), this reference resource provides international rankings in cultural, social and economic areas.

Corporate Environment

International Marketing and Data Statistics Ref. HA 42 .I56 2009 – Covers the rest of the world outside Europe

Cultural Environment

Craighead’s Ref. HF 5549.5 .E45D56 – Craighead’s International Business, Travel, and Relocation Guide to 84 Countries. Title says it all.

Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands Ref. 5389 .M67 2006 – Covers cultural differences and business protocols for more than 60 countries.

Strategies for Doing Business with ___________

Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands Ref. 5389 .M67 2006 - (See description above.)

Miscellaneous

GlobalEDGE – Created by the International Business Center at Michigan State University, this website covers a wide range of topics and resources. It is almost a one-stop shop. Very handy.

Reference Collection

Finally, don’t forget to search the library catalog and limit your search to “Reference.” The reference collection is always a great place to begin your fact-based research.

Okay. I think that just about covers it. Please feel free to Ask Us! questions when they come up. We’re always happy to help.

Paul

For Dr. Wardope’s BADM Course 1103

Business Plan Report

Greetings everyone.  Remember, if you ever have any questions, you can Ask Us through chat, e-mail, telephone, or in person; whatever way is most convenient for you.  If you want to direct a question to me specifically, feel free to drop me a line at jcimock@uco.edu.  I’ll be happy to help with whatever you need.

Library Catalog

Use the UCO Library Catalog to search for books, government documents, videos, and other materials we keep in the library that are related to your topic.  Use keywords to search the catalog.  Here are a few example searches:

business AND planning

starting AND business

entrepreneurship

Also, you can use the subject headings to refine your search and locate materials that are more focused on your topic.  The subject headings are hyperlinked in blue and are located towards the bottom of an individual item record.   Here is an example:

Remember to write down the holdings information when you  go to retrieve the item!

Databases

There are several different databases you may want to consult for this assignment. Different databases allow access to different kinds of information, much of which is not freely accessible over the Internet. Below is a list of databases you can search along with a brief overview of the kinds of information each database can search. To access each database, click here to go to the library’s list of databases and use the “Databases by Subject” box in the top-left of the screen to select “Business.” This will provide a list of all the business databases you can search.

Business Source Complete

You can use Business Source Complete (BSC) to obtain a variety of information. BSC contains loads of different news and scholarly articles on different industries and companies, information on business planning, entrepreneurship, and marketing. Like most databases, use keywords to search for your topic. Example search:

business planning AND marketing

You can also find SWOT analyses of different companies by typing:

Your Company AND SWOT

To obtain industry profiles, type the name of the industry into the search box,
and use the “Publication Type” box below to limit the search to industry profiles.

Also, don’t forget to use the list of words under “Narrow Results by Subject” on the left-hand side to make your search more specific.  These can be extremely helpful in finding the information you need.  Here is what the “Narrow Results by Subject” looks like.  NOTE: It only appears after performing a search.

You can use Business Source Complete (BSC) to obtain a variety of information.  BSC contains loads of different news and scholarly articles on different industries and companies, information on business planning, entrepreneurship, and marketing.  Like most databases, use keywords to search for your topic.

Example search:

business planning AND marketing

You can also find SWOT analyses of different companies by typing:

Your Company AND SWOT

To obtain industry profiles, type the name of the industry into the search box,
and use the “Publication Type” box below to limit the search to industry profiles.

Also, don’t forget to use the list of words under “Narrow Results by Subject” on the left-hand side to make your search more specific.  These can be extremely helpful in finding the information you need.  Here is what the “Narrow Results by Subject” looks like.  NOTE: It only appears after performing a search.

Standard & Poor’s

Standard & Poor’s (SP) is great for industry analysis, company profiles, and financials.  Once you log in, you can search for specific companies or use the “Quick Links” box to find information on a specific industry.  Definitely consult this database for your assignment once you’ve identified type of business you’ll be starting for your assignment.

Mergent Online

Mergent is a powerful database, most useful for company financials.
Mergent also allows you to create custom reports where you can select
different data sets to include.  You can even compare multiple companies.  Try it out and create a comparison report with different companies within the industry you have selected.

ReferenceUSA

ReferenceUSA is kind of like an electronic version of the Yellow Pages on crack.  Use this database to find geographical business data.  For example, you could use ReferenceUSA to search for all the different pizza joints with a 73034 zip code in their address.  Make sure to use the custom search.

Lexis Nexis

Use LexisNexis for several different kinds of information.  First, you can use LexisNexis to perform business news searches.

LexisNexis is also good for company financials, company profiles, and SEC
filings.  To access all of these, make sure to click on the “Business”
link on the left-hand side of the LexisNexis homepage.

Web Sites

There are a variety of different web sites you also should consult to obtain valuable information for this assignment.  These are just a few important ones.  You may need to search the Internet for more information.

• American Factfinder – Extremely useful site for researching demographic information and Economic census data.
• Oklahoma Department of Commerce- Find information about
  licenses and permits required to start a business in the state of
  Oklahoma, workforce salary and demographical information, tons of
  statistical information, and much more.  All of you should
  consult this web site for your assignment.
• Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce – Here you can find market analysis and economic forecasts concerning OKC metro area.
• OklahomaCity Economic Development Information System (OKCEDIS) – “Generate economic, business, planning,geographic, and demographic information in real time via the web. Our website application allows users to view, create, and print maps; perform site selection searches; and customize and analyze demographic and business data.”
• Oklahoma Business Incentives and Tax Information Guide 2009 Great PDF document providing information about state taxes and tax incentives.

Okay, that’s all I have.  The rest is up to you.
Please feel free to Ask Us if you have any questions at all.  We are more
than happy to help.  Good luck with the assignment.

BADM 3433– Wardrope’s Business of Latin America

So…

You are being asked, by your professor, to write a feasibility report, or an analysis, of doing business in Latin America.

Therefore, you will need access to resources on the economic, legal, political, and cultural aspects of those countries in the Latin America region.

So, what does the library have and what do the librarians know that can help you?

Well, lots!

Killing lots of questions with a single source!

First, when you need a general overview of a particular country (the economic, legal, political, cultural, etc), a reference source is the best place you can start. Sources such as a general encyclopedia (good old print copies on are on the first floor near the north-east bathrooms) will provide you with basic information.

Also, visiting the library’s Find Facts (Reference) page and selecting Country Information from the left-side dropdown menu will give you access to the Europa World Year Book and the Statesman’s Yearbook plus various websites and reference sources.

The Europa World Year Book is an excellent source for political and economic information plus recent history, government, economic affairs, etc.

You may also want to look at the World Bank website. This website will not only provide country profiles but also a “Data and Research” portion that will give you access to key statistics and information and analysis on global trends in today’s economy.

Yet another source is the business database Business Source Premier, which offers country (and company!) profiles that will provide you with important key information. To search for a country profile, just enter your country’s name in the keyword search, hit “enter” then click on the “Country Reports” link underneath the Results’ bar.

Economic

If the economic information you pulled from the various sources outlined above were not enough, you may then want to turn to a government publication and/or website for information pertaining to economic indicators such as trade, labor, etc.

One such publication would be the Foreign Labor Trends which is published via the International Bureau of Labor Affairs.

These reports will give your key labor indicators, a description of the labor scene in that country, and information about the economy of a particular country.

The Foreign Labor Trends can be accessed two ways: paper copies on the 2nd floor of the library in the Government Documents section or online.

Yet another avenue to find pertinent economic information about doing business abroad is to use a government database such as GLOBUS & NTDB (Global Business Opportunities and National Trade Data Bank) via STAT-USA.

**One thing to remember about STAT-USA is that it is accessible ONLY in the Reference area on the 1st floor and in the Government Documents area on the 2nd floor in the library. Sorry! But access to certain databases is, truly, beyond our control.**

Doingbusiness.org will also give you regional reports for doing business abroad. Just click on “Get Reports” and look under “Regional Reports” for information regarding Latin America, East Asia, etc., etc.

Legal

Now, when you need to find out specific information such as labor or tax laws for certain countries one great place to check is with the International Finance Corporation’s doingbusiness.org

Here, you can find rankings on such things such as ease of doing business, starting a business, obtaining licenses, etc. by clicking on the “Rankings” link in the top menu.

If you click on “Law Library,” you will find pertinent legal information from banking to trade laws.

Please remember that some of the laws you encounter on this page may be in that country’s language.  You could try using a free translation site such asBabel Fish to get a feel for the laws but Babel Fish is very “crude” in its translations.

Political

Need information about the political make-up of a certain country? You may want to turn to the CIA World Factbook. This source will give you information pertaining to your country’s particular legal system, government type, current political leaders, and current transnational issues.

Cultural

When you need specific information about the cultural makeup and the culturally-correct ways of doing business within a particular country, you might want to search our catalog for relevant titles.

For example:

Say you are interested in expanding your natural gas business in Russia. Before you meet with your future Russian colleagues, it may benefit you to know more than some “thing” about Russian culture, life, literature, etc.

Thus, if we visited the library catalog and entered the following keywords:Russia and culture We would come up with a listing of different materials (books, dvds, etc.) dealing with Russia and culture.

One book I highly recommend about business culture and etiquette abroad is Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands which is available in the Reference collection on the first floor.  It will give you country background information, cultural orientation information, business practices, protocols, etc.

—

You might also check out the U.S. Department of State’s Doing Business in International Markets page.

Still craving more?  Than you may want to look at this research guide put together by the Library of Congress on International Business and Economic Resources.

Alrightie. Well, I wish you luck on your research!

And, please remember, if you’re ever at a loss as to where to turn to find your information, please remember that you can visit the Reference desk on the 1^stfloor AND the Government Documents Reference desk on the 2^nd floor.

You can also chat with a Reference librarian online, email us, and call us (405-974-2878).

Have a lovely evening,

Amanda

Dr. Anderson’s BADM 1103 Class

Here is a summary of the different library resources the library holds for business students.  Remember, if you have any questions at all, please don’t be afraid to ask.  We are more than happy to help with anything you may need.

Locating Books

The Library Catalog

Use the library catalog to find books or other materials in the library.  The catalog will NOT search for articles.  Type in a couple of keywords to find materials on your chosen topic.  Don’t forget the results are automatically sorted by publication date, not relevance, so make sure to scan the entire list or change the sort on the right hand side.  You may miss something really good if you only look at the first few!!

Locating Articles– Library Databases:

LexisNexis

Use LexisNexis for several different kinds of information.  First, you can use LexisNexis to perform business news searches.  Lexis Nexis, however, is NOT where to turn for scholarly articles.

LexisNexis is also good for company financials, company profiles, and SEC filings.  To access all of these, make sure to click on the “Business” link on the left-hand side of the LexisNexis homepage.

Standard & Poor’s

Standard & Poor’s (SP) is great for industry analysis, company profiles, and financials.  Once you log in, you can search for specific companies or use the “Quick Links” box to find information on a specific industry.  Definitely consult this database for your assignment once you’ve identified the industry you’ll be researching.

Mergent Online

Mergent is a powerful database, most useful for company financials.  Mergent also allows you to create custom reports where you can select different data sets to include.  You can even compare multiple companies.  Try it out and create a comparison report with different companies within the industry you have selected.

Business Source Premier

You can use Business Source Premier (BSP) to obtain a variety of information.  BSP contains loads of different news and scholarly articles on different industries and companies.  You can also find SWOT analyses by typing:

Your Company SWOT

Ex.: Target Corporation SWOT

To obtain industry profiles, type the name of the industry into the search box, and use the “Publication Type” box below to limit the search to industry profiles.

Wanna search *some* of our stuff through Google Scholar? You can!

Yeppers?

Google Scholar will allow you to link to our library’s holdings (think stuff) with just a few simple clicks.

1. Go to: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_preferences

2. Type in University of Central Oklahoma into “library links”.

3. Check the box next to “University of Central Oklahoma Library (Full Text@IngentaConnect)”

4. Set your preferences, then hit “save prererences”

And voila!  Next time you conduct a search in Google Scholar, you’ll see a nifty lil’ **Get it at UCO Library** link for the library’s stuff.

** Please remember that this won’t search ALL of our stuff though!

Ok, that’s about it.  Remember, if you have any questions, you can always contact us at the Reference desk via email, phone (405-974-2878), chat, or text!

See you around the library!

Amanda Lemon

P.S. Need some help with citing?

Library’s APA Handout

OWL (Online Writing Lab at Purdue) – Offers examples of citing sources using APA.

APA Website Gives updated information not included in the latest APA print manual.

Knight Cite and Son of Citation Machine

Always check results with the APA manual!!

Dr. Wardrope’s BADM 1103–

Hey everyone,

Here is a summary of the different library resources the library holds for business students.  Remember, if you have any questions at all, please don’t be afraid to ask.  We are more than happy to help with anything you may need.

Library Catalog

Use the library catalog to find books or other materials in the library.  The catalog will NOT search for articles.  Type in a few keywords to find materials on the industry you have selected.  Don’t forget the results are based on the date, not relevance, so make sure to scan the entire list.  You may miss something really good if you only look at the first few.

Also, remember to check out some of the books on the Business Tables on the 1st floor in the reference area.  They may be especially useful.  Please also consult our “Business Resources” handout.

Library Databases:

LexisNexis

Use LexisNexis for several different kinds of information.  First, you can use LexisNexis to perform business news searches.

LexisNexis is also good for company financials, company profiles, and SEC filings.  To access all of these, make sure to click on the “Business” link on the left-hand side of the LexisNexis homepage.

Standard & Poor’s

Standard & Poor’s (SP) is great for industry analysis, company profiles, and financials.  Once you log in, you can search for specific companies or use the “Quick Links” box to find information on a specific industry.  Definitely consult this database for your assignment once you’ve identified the industry you’ll be researching.

Mergent Online

Mergent is a powerful database, most useful for company financials.  Mergent also allows you to create custom reports where you can select different data sets to include.  You can even compare multiple companies.  Try it out and create a comparison report with different companies within the industry you have selected.

Business Source Premier

You can use Business Source Premier (BSP) to obtain a variety of information.  BSP contains loads of different news and scholarly articles on different industries and companies.  You can also find SWOT analyses by typing:

Your Company AND SWOT

To obtain industry profiles, type the name of the industry into the search box, and use the “Publication Type” box below to limit the search to industry profiles.

Conclusion

Ok, that’s about it.  Remember, if you have any questions, you can always contact us at the Reference desk via email, phone (405-974-2878), chat, or text!

See you around the library!

BADM 3433 – Business of Latin America – Wardrope

Hello Students,

What a fun group!  I hope you found the library instruction useful.  I have posted some of the information from class to help refresh your memory after the holiday break.  If you need more assistance remember you can contact us through the Ask Us! link on the library homepage (after January 6th).  Good luck and have a great break.

Tonya L Holt – Reference & Instruction Librarian

For country information select Find Articles (Databases) then Country Information from the Database by Subject drop down menu.  The Country Information subject guide will lead you to most if not all the sources you need to complete your assignment. 

Reference

Europa World Year Book (1 concurrent user) – political and economic information in over 250 countries and territories

Statesman’s Yearbook (1 concurrent user 1st floor of the library only) – brief profiles of every country in the world, highlighting key historical events and describing their form of government and social organizations.

Print Resources
Craigheads International Business, Travel, and Relocation Guide to 71 Countries (library referencecollection)  HF5549.5.E45D56                                                                                                                

Illustrated Book of World Rankings (1 copy at reference statistics table and 1 copy on reserve at circulation desk)   HA155 .K87 2001

Statesman’s Yearbook (libraray reference collection)  JA51 .S7

Goverment Information

CIA World Factbook (free government website) – general information and statistics similiar to other reference materials  including  economic information

(IDB) International Data Base (free government website) – statistical tables of demographic, and socio-economic data for 227 countries and areas of the world

Databases

Business Source Premier – Type in your country name and then click on Country Reports, Industry Profiles or any of the other links at the top to get articles about your country.

Lexis Nexus – Select the Business tab at the top then Country Profiles on the right then Source Type from the drop down menu. Type in your country name.

Websites

Global Edge: Global Business Knowledge – A directory of international business resources categorized by specific orientation and content.

UCO Catalog

Doing business in the new Latin America HF3230.5.Z5 B43 2004

Kiss, bow, or shake hands (library reference collection) HF5389 .M67 2006

For books related to your topic type “Business Etiquette” into UCO catalog.  Remember to use the quotation marks.  If you need additional books, try typing in the name of your country and cultur? (or substitute culture with politic?, econom?, business, etc.)..  You could also try typing in “latin america” and cultur? (or substitute culture with politic?, econom?, business, etc.).

BADM 5005 — Clinton/Carlon & Epstein/Buchanan

Use Business Source Premier to find:

Articles about businesses and business generally

Company Profiles, including SWOT analyses

Country Information

Use Mergent Online to:

Compare Companies financials & other information

Do complex searches on companies

Locate SEC filings

Use Standard & Poors  to find:

Industry Surveys

Bond Information

Company Profiles

Use Lexis-Nexis to find:

Articles from international, national, and local

newspapers

Articles from trade publications

SEC Filings

Use Valueline to find:

Current stock information & Industry Analysis

Investment advice

Use Chambers Library Catalog to find books and materials

owned at Chambers Library

Useful Handouts:

Library Basics

APA Style Guide

Wardrope BADM 1103 – Wednesday, July 11, 2007 @ 11:00 AM

Hey everyone,

As promised, here is the Review Guide I talked about in class.  Click here to access it.  Enjoy, and good luck with the assignment.

Jason Cimock
jcimock@ucok.edu
405-974-2947