Kresge Research Guides: ES 395 Entrepreneurial Management: Getting Started

Resources for your ES395 Project

This Kresge Guide will help you complete your team's Business Plan assignment for ES 395.

Contact me (Librarian Sally Ziph sweston@umich.edu) to get your Team's Librarian Assignment and to set up your team's first appointment. Librarians Mary Catherine Moeller (mcmoelle@umich.edu) and Claire Myers (clairemy@umich.edu) will also be working with the teams.

Note: All Kresge Librarians are familiar with ES 395 and can help you with questions, but try contacting your Team Librarian first.

Instructions for Database Exercise

1. Each group will be assigned a database.

2. You will have 10-15 minutes with your group to try searching the database.

(NOTE: Choose someone to share their screen if anyone has difficulty getting into the database.)

3. Discuss. What kind of information does the database include? (For example, does it have statistics? Markets/Industry information? Consumer information? Supplier info? Financial info/ratios?) How could you use this information in the creation of a business plan?

4. Choose one person to report back to the class (3 min. or less): Name 2-3 reasons why the class might want to use this database for their business plan.

Top Resources for ES395

Associations Unlimited
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Associations Unlimited (previously known as the Encyclopedia of Associations) is a directory of nonprofit professional organizations and societies.

Use policy: When using material from this database in reports and presentations, vendor contract requirements dictate that you must include the phrase, "Used with permission of Associations Unlimited."

ThomasNet.com
- Manufacturers and suppliers
- Product sourcing

D&B Hoovers
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RMA statements provide Industry and company financial ratios help compare a company against other companies in an industry, or generally measure financial performance. Industry ratios are an aggregate measure of performance, often broken down by company size. source of comparative industry benchmark data on small and medium-sized borrowers and our data comes directly from RMA’s member institutions.

Note: To find RMA Statements for your Industry: Select Industry Search from page menu. Change the default from Hoover's categories to NAICS categories/codes. Type in a few words to find closest industry match. View Results. Pick Industry.
Check list of reports. Click on RMA. Not every industry has a report. Ask your Team Librarian for help if you need it.

RMA Statement Industry Ratios Example

NAICS Codes for D&B Hoover's Industry/RMA Search
NAICS industry codes to use for finding RMA statements in D&B Hoover's.

Handout: Finding RMA reports in D&B Hoover's Database

USPTO US Patent and Trademark Office
Patent Public Search (Keywords)
Patent Basics
Trademark Basics
Patents and Trademarks: UM Libraries Research Guide
Includes US Patent & Trademark Office link and handy search guidelines.

IBISWorld Industry Reports
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IBISWorld is a database that has industry research across an extensive range of industries. Reports include main industry activities, key statistics and ratios, SWOT analysis, key external drivers, industry performance and outlook, competitive landscape, products & markets, major companies, supply chain influences, market share concentration, cost structure, key success factors, operating conditions, and trends. iExpert reports are brief executive summaries of broader reports. Risk Ratings reports highlight structural risk, growth risk, and sensitivity risk.

Technical notes:Downloads are limited to 30 reports per session. Exceeding this limit blocks access for the entire University. If you have a research need beyond this limit, please contact us at kresge_library@umich.edu.
Frost & Sullivan
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Frost & Sullivan is a research and consulting firm that tracks trends across a wide variety of industries. Examples include aerospace, agriculture, automotive, banking, electronics, energy, environment, healthcare, information technology, manufacturing, media, materials, oil & gas, security, telecom, With a strong emphasis on technology and markets, research focuses on competitive intensity, customer dynamics, industry convergence, disruptive technologies, global mega trends, new business models, and emerging markets.
Use policy: When using material from this database in reports and presentations, vendor contract requirements dictate that you must include the phrase, "Used with permission of Frost & Sullivan."

Email alerts available
Statista
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Statista includes ready-made statistical charts, graphs and tables on marketing, demographics, communication, technology, politics, health, leisure and public opinion polls.
eMarketer
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eMarketer covers the digital marketplace with reports and charts on advertising spending by media, brand marketing, digital advertising, mobile apps, mobile devices, consumer behavior and experience, Ecommerce, social media usage and other topics.

Technical notes: Please log out of this resource as directed when finished. Failing to log out may prevent others from using the database.
Mintel
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Mintel provides marketing intelligence for a wide scope of industries in the US and abroad. Their reports are downloadable and contain market, consumer and brand/company information. Their databooks allow users to create graphs and tables using the marketing data that they collect.

Downloading in MINTEL: see Tab

Technavio
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Technavio has industry reports covering a wide variety of technologies in the communication services, consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care, industrials, information technology, materials, and utilities industries.

Technical Notes: Downloading reports requires a valid @umich.edu email. Users are limited to 10 downloads per month with unlimited online report viewing.
Data Axle
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White- and yellow-pages directory listings for all US residences and businesses, supplemented with government information from the Bureau of the Census and other agencies. Additionally, Data Axle offers consumer lifestyle information that can be refined by zip code as well as information about the number of people moving into a particular neighborhood, city or state.

Historical data from 1997-2022 is available for download through University Library.

Use policy: When using material from this database in reports and presentations, vendor contract requirements dictate that you must include the phrase, "Used with permission of ReferenceUSA."
Historic company records were created annually from Infogroup's U.S. Business Database; a snapshot of the data is saved each December. Contains company name, mailing address, SIC and NAICS codes, employee size, sales volume, latitude/longitude, and many more variables about each company. Data is available from 1997-2022 in downloadable flat files. Access requires UM login.
Access the Historical Datafiles via University Library
SimplyAnalytics
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SimplyAnalytics is a web-based mapping application that allows you to create thematic maps and reports using demographic, business and marketing data. Data can be downloaded for use with other software such as Excel and GIS. Examples of data included are Census data, Consumer Expenditure Survey and Nielsen Retail Market Power.

Technical notes: Users need to create their own account with @umich.edu email address in order to be able to save work.

Google Scholar
Great for finding scholarly articles from a variety of sources. More info...

ABI/INFORM Collection
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ABI/INFORM contains articles from thousands of newspapers and key business magazines such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Barron’s, the Economist, and the New York Times. It also contains papers from leading academic journals across all major business disciplines.
Email and RSS feed alerts available.
Business Source Complete
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Business Source Complete contains articles from thousands of newspapers, trade publications, and key business magazines such as the Harvard Business Review. It also contains papers from leading academic journals across all major business disciplines.
Use policy: When using material from this database in reports and presentations, vendor contract requirements dictate that you must include the phrase, "Used with permission of Business Source Complete."

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Guide Created By

Sally Ziph

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Librarian

Mary Catherine Moeller

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