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TSC 455: Managerial Communication

Recommended Library Resources

Databases (for searching company and industry information)

Business & Company Resource Center

Use for finding detailed information on industries and companies.  Also a gateway to periodical articles, directory of business profiles, industry overviews, and more. Includes directory listings for over 300,000 companies as well as company profiles, industry rating, product brands, company performance ratings, investment reports and ratings, industry statistics, financial overviews, financial ratios, etc.  Most user-friendly business database for finding company information.

Factiva

Use to find detailed company and industry overviews, including a charting feature.  Excellent source for searching major business publications, as well as keeping up-to-date with daily versions of Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Barron’s, etc.

Business Source Premier

Provides access to country economic reports, detailed company profiles, market research reports, industry reports, country reports, company profiles and SWOT analyses.  Also a source for indexing and full text for periodicals and news sources covering all aspects of business, including full text for more than 1,100 peer-reviewed business publications. 

Other Business Databases

Associations Unlimited

Information about associations, professional societies, and listings for nonprofit membership organizations of U.S.; national, regional, state, and local, or international in scope.

Business Plans Handbook

Online version of the print resource; a collection of actual business plans that can be used as templates.

Print Resources (financial)

Almanac of Business & Industrial Financial Ratios

REF HF5681.R25 T68 2002 (kept at Reference Desk)

Financial statements an overview by industry; organized by NAICS.  Useful for comparing a company’s strength against an industry.

Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios.  Dun & Bradstreet

REF HF5681.R25 I53 (kept at Reference Desk)

Ratios from 800 types of businesses arranged by major groups such as manufacturing, retail services, wholesaling, etc.

Annual Statement Studies. Robert Morris Associates, 1985- .
Ref HF5681 B2 R6
Contains ratios for 425 lines of business (by 4 digit SIC number) including manufacturers, retails, and services.

Other Print Resources

Business Plans Handbook

REF HD62.7 B865 1995-

Collection of actual business plans that can be used as templates.  Later volumes contain plans for Internet and e-business as well as traditional brick-and-mortar businesses.  Business Plans Handbook is also available as an online database through the database pages.

Directory of Corporate Affiliations

REF HG4057 .A219 

Use to find information on parent companies and subsidiaries; “who owns who.”  Volumes cover public, private, and international corporations.

Encyclopedia of American Industries

REF HC102.E53 2001

Encyclopedia of Emerging Industries

REF HD2324.E528 2001

Profiles of industries, including overviews, structure, background, current conditions, leaders, workforce, U.S. competitiveness, research and technology, and information sources.  Emerging Industries provides information on 90 newer industries.

International Directory of Company Histories St. James Press, 1988- .

Ref HD2721 D36
This growing set now covers over 2,500 companies with over $100 in sales. Each signed article begins with the address, telephone/fax numbers, ownership, employees, sales, relevant SICs, and concludes with sources for further reading. In between is an historical sketch which highlights corporate development, strategies, and people. The last volume contains a cumulative index to companies and industries.

Standard and Poor's Industry Surveys. 1984- .

Ref HC106.6 S74
Profiles and analyzes 55 basic industry groups. Trends and projections are detailed. Composite comparative data appears in each section as well as the current analysis of the industry's leading performers.

Also take a look at the Business Librarian’s Research Guides, particularly the ones for Company Research and Industry Research.  They cover both print and e-resources, and are more extensive than this guide.

Managerial Communication

Getting Started with SIC/NAICS Codes

Many business sources (including databases) are organized or accessed by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC).  To find your SIC, go to:  http://osha.gov/oshstats/sicser.html

The SIC system is an old one and is currently being replaced by the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS).  To find your industry class by NAICS class, you can search:  http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html   The conversion to the NAICS system will take at least ten years to complete, so be prepared to search using both class numbers.

There are no rules about assigning SIC or NAICS classification; they are self-assigned by companies.  Companies may fall in two or more SIC/NAICS classes.

Finding more books on business communication:

Not all business resources are in the Reference Area.  Use LEO to find books on business plans, business communication, presentations and other topics.

Suggested subject headings:

            Business Writing

            Business Writing Handbooks, Manuals, Etc.

            Business Presentations

            Corporate Culture

            Mission Statements

Finding articles on business topics:

Suggested databases:

ABI Inform

Business & Company Resource Center (use the article search function)

Business Source Premier

Factiva

Lexis-Nexis Academic

 Reba Leiding

Liaison Librarian for TSC

Leidinrm@jmu.edu