BA 330 (Fischer) - Managerial Communications

For this scenario, you may want to explore newspaper/magazine articles about companies who have opened company-run childcare centers and review academic research articles on how providing childcare impacts productivity.

Along with Mardigian Search, some specific database recommendations include: Factiva, ABI/Inform, and Proquest Global Newsstream

When searching, try a variety of keywords to search with. This list includes just a few options for keyword combinations to try: 

Here is an example search in the ABI/Inform database:

For this scenario, you can start by identifying companies with exemplary codes of ethics by searching news sources. One approach would be searching for lists or rankings of ethical companies in one of our news databases. Once you have located promising companies, see if you can find their full code of ethics on their company website. 

Specific database recommendations include: Factiva and Nexis Uni.

Below is an example search in Nexis Uni.

Notice that I changed my range of searches from "all fields" to "title" so I could find articles that had my terms in the title of the article. I also used an asterisk so my results would include both the words "company" and "companies." I also limited the date to the last few years. 

Since this scenario reference's Lockheed Martin's code of ethics, make sure to explore their code. You can find Lockheed Martin's webpage on their ethics code here. 

To compile your list of recommendations, you may wish to explore both news articles and academic journal articles. News sources can help you identify companies who have developed successful talent incentive programs, and journal articles may cover research on how what kinds of incentives yield positive results.

Along with using Mardigian Search, specific database recommendations include: ABI/Inform, ProQuest Global Newsstream, and Business Source Complete.

Below is a sample search in the Business Source Complete database:

When searching, try using a variety of keywords and combinations. This list includes just a few options for keyword combinations to try: 

You may also want to check out Fortune's Best Companies for 2022, mentioned by Prof. Fischer in the scenario description. Please note that this link may require you to log into your UMich account. Once you open the link, select "PDF Full Text" to view the entire issue.

In this scenario, you'll need to conduct some industry and company research in order to find comparable and/or competitor companies. Once you've generated a list of these companies, you can then move on to analyzing their advertising strategies. Along with using library databases, you can also hunt for your comparable companies' advertising strategies on the open web.

For industry and company research, some databases to explore include Statista, D&B Hoovers, and IBISWorld.

For advertising and market research, try Statista, eMarketer, and Vivvix. 

• Note: Vivvix allows you to generate reports on the ad spending of a wide range of companies and industries, breaking down spending by product, platform, etc. While this is a great tool for doing in-depth research on the advertising of your competitor company, it is a little trickier to use than most of our library databases. Please reach out to your librarian if you need help navigating this resource! 

To start finding out more about your chosen company's competitors, I went into IBIS world, searched for "car & automobile manufacturing," and selected their industry report. Although the entire report may be worth exploring for whatever industry you're interested in, I've highlighted to sections of the IBISWorld reports that may be especially helpful in the screenshot below: 

For your research to help prepare for your company's IPO, you can explore sources such as books that provide a comprehensive overview, case studies, and procedural documentation such as government guidelines and regulations. 

Some databases where you could find coverage of real-life IPO examples include Factiva and ProQuest Global Newsstream.

• Note: Recent heavily-reported on IPO's include Airbnb, Bumble, Roblox, and Warby Parker.

The U.S. SEC (Security and Exchange Commission) has lots of helpful information about going public on their website. 

The library has a number of books that discuss the IPO process. I've selected a few titles here, although you can also search for additional books and ebooks in the library catalog. 

Below is a sample search in Factiva: 

This database has quite a few search features that are unique to Factiva. In the example search above, "w/3" means that in my search results, the word "airbnb" must occur within three words of "IPO." This helps get more relevant search results. To see all the different Factiva search options, select "examples" next to the search box. I've also limited the date range to the year surrounding Airbnb's IPO. 

• Note: Once you have viewed your search results, you may want to change the order of results. Factiva defaults to most recent first, but often I find I get better initial results when I sort by relevance instead. 

To help you develop your work from home policy, your research will likely include news articles, trade publications, and academic, peer-reviewed studies. 

Along with Mardigian Search, you may also want to try the ABI/Inform, Factiva, and Business Source Complete databases. One potential challenge of searching on this topic is the numerous terms used to describe working from home. To address this challenge, consider using "OR" to connect synonyms. This will ensure you are not missing articles due to slight differences in the terminology used. 

Below is an example search in ABI/Inform. Note how I used OR to add a number of synonyms for "work from home": 

I used the asterisk after "work" so I would see results that included both "working" and "work." I also limited my results to only those that I have immediate full text access to and narrowed to only articles published in the last three years, since the conversation around remote work has shifted so much due to the pandemic. 

Some keywords to try include: