Business and Economics Library

Are you looking for marketing data on the top grocery, drug, or mass merchant industries? Try starting with our printed edition of the Marketing Guidebook which is THE place to find in-depth profiles of over 1,300 supermarket chains, drug store chains, dollar store chains, supercenters, wholesale clubs, mass merchandisers, category killers and grocery wholesalers.
 
This guidebook contains thousands of key buyers and executives for the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico; updated financial figures, including exclusive sales estimates with three year sales trends; and inside company details including store counts, expansion and remodel plans, operating names, preferred suppliers, county-level statistics, in-store programs/services and more.
 
To see if it is available please click HERE

Check out the Encyclopedia of Major Marketing Campaigns in the Gale Virtual Reference Library to learn about the most recent and influential advertising campaigns.  Companies from Adidas to Yahoo! are represented with an in-depth look into the marketing strategies for their products.

The EMMC is in alphabetical order by company.  Each listing gives company contact information, an overview of the campaign, historical context, target market, competition, marketing strategy, and outcome.  Advertising strategies were selected based on innovation, importance of the company, and success of project.

Click here to go to the encyclopedia.  You can also find it by searching for Gale Virtual Reference Library and clicking the plus sign on the drop-down menu for business.  Searches by company or product can be run using the box on the right side of the screen after clicking on the Encyclopedia of Major Marketing Campaigns or you can browse by company using the table of contents.

Interested in learning about the histories of the world’s most important companies?  The International Directory of Company Histories in the Gale Virtual Reference Library provides profiles on 11,370 public, private, and non-profit companies.

Each company profile provides contact information, number of employees, sales volume, ticker symbol, and NAIC industry code.  This resources also gives a detailed description of a company’s history as well as an overview of the products or services it provides.  Along with this information, the articles give a list of further reading to assist in company research.

The International Directory of Company Histories can be found here.  It can also be accessed by searching for the Gale Virtual Reference Library in the “Find a Database” toolbar. After clicking the plus sign next to the business category, various editions of the IDCH can be located.  Search by company in the toolbar on the left side of the screen after opening the directory to find full articles.

Have a great idea for a company but need some help making it come to life?

The Business Plans Handbook offers examples of business plans from entrepreneurs in a range of endeavors. If you’re thinking about creating your own landscaping service, marketing consulting firm, apartment complex, steak house or even something else, this resource from Gale Virtual Reference Library is the perfect way to understand what is required in a business plan.

It shows various ways to effectively organize the plan, gives ideas of what kind of market analysis to conduct while investigating your plan’s feasibility, and outlines the data that the financial world expects when you apply for loans. The appendix includes a host of other useful resources as well.

To access this resource, click here.

Or search Gale Virtual Reference Library in the “Find a Database” toolbar. After opening the database, click on the plus sign next to the business category, and select the most recent edition of “Business Plans Handbook.”

To view the plans available in other editions, click on the cumulative index in the eTable of Contents, and search for your idea. The number next to the company name gives the volume number in which the plan appears.

What are the chances of BYU’s football team making it to the national championship next year?

There’s a new kind of options market where the answer to questions like that could earn you a nice return on investment. The Allstate Sugar Bowl, which hosts next year’s game, is selling what amounts to options on the game’s tickets. For as little as $30 you can buy an option to purchase tickets at face value should BYU make it into the championship game. No refunds, should BYU fail to make the championship.

Want a less risky investment? Starting at $115 you can buy options for this year’s teams, Oregon or Auburn. Of course, if BYU were to be 12-0 at the end of next season, how much profit do you think you could make by selling your $30 options to other BYU fans?

They’re calling these “Team Ticket Reservations,” and you can find the market here.

So whether you’re willing to part with $30 just in case BYU somehow makes it to the championship and you want a guaranteed spot at low cost, or whether you’re willing to spend $85 for options on Alabama, knowing that if they make it to the game you could gain a huge return selling your options to the Crimson Tide faithful, in either case we have one more reason to pay as much attention to ESPN as NYSE.

Download the handout.

Do you want to find information on a subject but don’t know where to begin? Try one of our  subject guides! (right hand column of this page)

We have subject guides on everything from Marketing to Bloomberg as well as on specific courses like Mcom 320. If you are unsure how to use a database suggested by the subject guides, please feel free to visit our video tutorials on various databases (top left of this page).

You may have read the latest blogs, online news, and recent tweets about certain business topics, but when is the last time you really dug deep into a new topic by reading a book on our current economy, the latest ideas of how to be a successful entrepreneur in today’s world, or how to build your own business using new social media?  To get started, here is a brief list of the some of the new business and economics books that we have acquired this year for you to read.

Instant entrepreneur : the faster way to start-up success

Sams teach yourself LinkedIn in 10 minutes

The Facebook era : tapping online social networks to build better products, reach new audiences, and sell more stuff

33 million people in the room how to create, influence, and run a successful business with social networking

Business and professional ethics for directors, executives & accountants

Big business, big responsibilities : from villains to visionaries : how companies are tackling the world’s greatest challenges

Business plans for dummies

Download the handout.