LibGuides: SOC 1260 Market Research in Public and Private Sectors: Assignment 1

PEST and SWOT Analysis

You have been assigned a research task to perform SWOT and PEST Analysis on a single company. Here are some suggested prompts to get started.

Look up the company website.
Smaller companies don't always have a website. Do they have social media accounts? You can sometimes find websites for smaller companies in databases like AtoZ Databases and Orbis. Once you find their site, look at their products, the company history and news/PR articles.

Read and watch news about the company, as well as any interviews you can find from the CEO or other employees. .
Search efficiently by looking at the news aggregators Access World News and Nexis Uni.

Find Company Profiles.
There are many sources for company profiles which will summarize information like a list of competitors or financial outlook. See the Company Research Guide for an overview of your options. Also consider company reviews from websites like the Better Business Bureau, Yelp, or Charity Navigator.

Identify competitors and how the industry operates.
Look for a variety of sources that describe the company as well as the industry they operate within. Try IBISWorld for big picture trends and Business Source Complete or Proquest Business for a good variety of sources including academic articles, trade literature, news and market research reports. For help identifying the right Industry see the BEO Guide to NAICS and industry trends research.

Look up the political & regulatory environment.
Aggregate sources such as NexisUni and individual publications like The Economist and Financial Times will provide political & regulatory commentary. For public companies, the 10-k report will contain some information about legal or regulatory challenges.

Recommended for Assignment 1

Access World News This link opens in a new window Provides access to more than 7,000 local, regional, national, and international news sources, current
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Access World News Research Collection is a full text news resource consisting over 7,000+ local, regional, national and international sources. Updated daily, it offers researchers and students primary source information on todays issues and events from newspapers, newswires, transcripts, video clips, web only, and blogs. Provides comprehensive news and information on different perspectives on a wide variety of topics, including economics, business, political science, environmental issues, health and welfare topics, social problems, consumer affairs, education, local government, international affairs and defense, laws, sports and much more. Offering a variety of perspectives from all over the world, the important news sources in this collection are ideal for comparing and contrasting views on both local and global issues. New home of the Providence Journal.
AtoZdatabases This link opens in a new window A directory with data on individual businesses in the United States, current.
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Current; AtoZdatabasesis a reference and marketing database including 30 million business profiles & 220 million residents. Ideal for sales leads, mailing lists, market research, employment opportunities, finding friends and relatives, and more.
Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window Search for articles, reports, and news covering all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, accounting, finance, and economics, 1886-present.
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1886-present; Business Source Complete is a database for full text journals in all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics. Additional full text, non-journal content includes financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, book digests, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses and more.
IBISWorld This link opens in a new window Provides access to industry research reports U.S. and select international markets, current.
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Current; IBISWorld provides access to two collections of research reports for business and marketing information. Industry Market Research Reports (typically 30-40 page reports) are available for 700 US industries; reports include key statistics, market segmentation, market characteristics, industry conditions, key factors, key competitors, industry performance, and industry outlook. US Specialized Industry Reports are market research reports for small or new industries. New reports are added every week.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window Nexis Uni is a source for information on U.S. and international companies and executives. Includes print and online journals, television and radio broadcasts, newswires and blogs; local, regional, national and international newspapers; legal sources for federal and state cases and statutes, including U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 1790.
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1790-present; Nexis Uni has more than 15,000 news, legal and business sources including:

Print and online journals, television and radio broadcasts, newswires and blogs
Local, regional, national and international newspapers with deep archives
Extensive legal sources for federal and state cases and statutes, including U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 1790
Business information on more than 80 million U.S. and international companies and more than 75 million executives
Orbis by Bureau van Dijk This link opens in a new window Provides information on corporate structures, credit default swaps, credit and supplier risk, compliance and financial crime, transfer pricing analysis, financial ratios.
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Use Orbis to find, analyze and compare more than 310 million companies across the globe. Discover information on corporate structures, credit default swaps, credit and supplier risk, compliance and financial crime, transfer pricing analysis, financial ratios, and more. Excellent resource for business development, M&A, peer bench-marking, and competitive intelligence research.

Turn on VPN to use this resource.

Database: Pitchbook
by Emily Ferrier Last Updated May 2, 2023 2069 views this year

ProQuest Business Collection This link opens in a new window Provides access to articles, trade publications, market research reports, as well as major news publications for business, marketing and entrepreneurship research and practice
Current; a comprehensive business offering, comprising all content from ABI/INFORM Complete, Accounting & Tax, Asian Business & Reference, Banking Information Source, Entrepreneurship, and the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences. Featuring thousands of full text journals, dissertations, conference proceedings, and working papers as well as trade publications, industry reports, and key periodicals such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Economist. Strong U.S. and international coverage in business and the social sciences.

To look up individual newspapers or journals, use the Journal Search:

Journals at Brown
Browse or search the full A-Z list of Brown's journal subscriptions in all subjects.

Research Strategies

Using IBISWorld for SWOT
Some reports in IBISworld will provide a SWOT Analysis, but this page provides you with a diagram that aligns sections of IBISWorld reports with the SWOT framework.
Using IBISWorld for PEST(LE)
PESTLE is a PEST report, plus it adds Legal and Ethical or Environmental research to the framework.

Published SWOT Analysis

You can find SWOT Analysis for large companies - mostly publicly traded companies - in some of the library business databases. It is unlikely that there will be a published SWOT or PEST analysis for the company you have been assigned, however, it is helpful to know how to find these. You can look up a SWOT Analysis for a similar company, and find valuable information about the industry and market that is transferable to your smaller assigned company.

If you are assigned: A local coffee shop
Look for: Peet's Coffee or Starbucks

If you are assigned: A small solar energy company
Look for: Tesla or NextEra Energy

How to find company SWOT reports in each database:

ProQuest Business Collection This link opens in a new window
Use Advanced Search
Type Company Name & select the “Company Name” field type
Type SWOT in the second box & select “Anywhere”
Current; a comprehensive business offering, comprising all content from ABI/INFORM Complete, Accounting & Tax, Asian Business & Reference, Banking Information Source, Entrepreneurship, and the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences. Featuring thousands of full text journals, dissertations, conference proceedings, and working papers as well as trade publications, industry reports, and key periodicals such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Economist. Strong U.S. and international coverage in business and the social sciences.
Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
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Use Advanced Search
Select “SWOT Analysis” under Publication Type
Type Company Name & Select “Company Entity” field type
1886-present; Business Source Complete is a database for full text journals in all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics. Additional full text, non-journal content includes financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, book digests, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses and more.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
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In the main search bar, type: company(company name) and swot analysis
On the search results page, select the filter for “Company and Financial”
1790-present; Nexis Uni has more than 15,000 news, legal and business sources including:

Print and online journals, television and radio broadcasts, newswires and blogs
Local, regional, national and international newspapers with deep archives
Extensive legal sources for federal and state cases and statutes, including U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 1790
Business information on more than 80 million U.S. and international companies and more than 75 million executives