1. A Selection Of Business Information Sources For
Purchasing & Procurement BSMM-8350
Winter 2019
Instructor: Fouzia Baki

2. Introduction
I’m going to cover a few business resources that will help you with this course, and others in the MOM program. If you need further help, please contact me: Katharine Ball at (519) , ext or
Some of the resources are freely available on the web. Others are Leddy Library ( subscriptions and so, if you are off-campus, you will need to sign on with your University of Windsor ID and password.
You can get back to all the business databases and guides on the Business Administration page (
This presentation powerpoint is available online at:

3. Today We Will Cover:
How to find books and journal articles
How to find industry and company information
How to find additional statistics

4. How to find books and journal articles on a topic
Look for books if you want more of an overview of a subject
You can find books in the Library Catalogue:
Look for journal articles if you want to focus on specific aspects of a subject
You can find journal articles in databases:
Business Source Complete
ProQuest Business
Google Scholar

5. How to find books and journal articles on a topic
Try searches such as:
automo* AND (purchasing OR procurement OR logistics)
Toyota AND (just in time OR logistics)
supplier* AND sourcing
“materials management”

6. How to enter keywords into databases
Boolean Logic OR
Returns results that contain any, some, or all of the keywords
Capitalization is often optional (but not with Google or Google Scholar)
Often used to broaden a search by linking synonyms
e.g. fruit OR vegetables
e.g. pot OR cannabis OR marijuana
e.g. recruitment OR hiring OR employment
AND
Returns only results that contain all of the keywords
Capitalization is often optional
Narrows your search
e.g. rivers AND salinity
e.g. sport AND marketing
e.g. millennials AND workforce
NOT
Returns results that contain the first keyword but not the second
e.g. fruit NOT apples
e.g. pets NOT cats
e.g. retention NOT promotion
Truncation
Returns results that begin with the same keyword stem
The *is the most common symbol used
e.g. manag* Will retrieve manage, manager, managers, managing, management, etc.
e.g. work* Will retrieve work, workplace, worker, workers, working, workforce, etc.
Phrase Searching
Returns results that contain the keywords together
Quotation marks are used to denote a phrase
e.g “electronic commerce”
e.g “generation y”

7. How to find Industry and Company Information
Industry and Market Research Reports
Some of the more popular databases are:
IBISWorld
Canadian, U.S. focused; covers many goods and services; manufacturing, wholesaling, and retail
Global Market Information Database (GMID): Passport
Many countries; consumer goods and services focused
MarketResearch.com Academic
U.S./globally focused; covers many goods and services
Economist Intelligence Unit
Many countries; broader industrial sectors

8. How to find Industry and Company Information
From the company’s viewpoint:
The company website is the obvious place to start. For public companies, look for headings such as Investor Relations, Corporate Governance, Company Profile. You should find the annual and quarterly reports, financial statements, and information on their history, philosophy, operations, products/services, etc.
SEDAR Covers publicly traded companies. Contains annual reports, annual information statements, md&a reports, interim statements, and other financial documents. It often supplements information on company websites; filings are up-to-date; began in 1997, so there is a 20 year archive. EDGAR ( is the American equivalent.

9. How to find Industry and Company Information
From an outside viewpoint:
Business Source Complete and ProQuest Business
and
Type the name of your company in the search box. Limit by date, if appropriate. You will find articles about your company and company profiles for larger companies.
Thomson One
use the Internet Explorer browser; detailed company information, including analysts' research reports; also information on corporate governance, financial data, deals, share ownership, and officers and directors.

10. How to find additional statistics
Statistics Canada
is the main government agency that produces data and statistics
Census Program
Conducted every 5 years in years ending in 1 and 6
Includes variables such as age, sex, marital status, education, income, immigration, labour, language, etc.
Many uses, e.g. consumer profiles in marketing
Census 2016 profile data
Detailed profiles for cities, towns, and much smaller geographic areas, e.g. Census tracts and dissemination areas
Topic-based tabulations

11. How to find additional statistics
Statistics Canada continued…
In addition to the census, Statistics Canada conducts hundreds of other surveys, including many of interest to business and commerce.
One of the easiest approaches to finding information from these surveys is to
Browse/search by Subject:
See under headings such as: Business and consumer services and culture, Business performance and ownership, Manufacturing, Retail and wholesale, etc.
Statistics Canada data also gets used and re-worked by other levels of government and other federal government departments:
e.g. Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada
See for example: Industry Sector Intelligence
Statistics Canada data also gets used and re-worked by companies and other non-governmental organizations, e.g. Conference Board of Canada

12. So…Today We Have Briefly Covered:
How to find books and journal articles
How to find industry and company information
How to find additional statistics
Do you have any questions?