Business Research USFSP

Business uses for Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn

2009-09-01T17:05:00.003-04:00

Web Worker Daily recently published a list of "62 Ways to Use Twitter for Business." Scroll down to the bottom of the article for links to articles on business of uses of YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also subscribe to receive daily email updates from Web Worker Daily.

Rural India

2009-08-27T18:33:00.002-04:00

About 700 million of India's 1.2 million inhabitants reside in rural India. The Wall Street Journal and the India Knowledge@Wharton people have put together an electronic collection of articles, video clips, working papers and other resources specific to understanding rural India.

(The collection is hosted at WSJ.com, where you will also find links to other WSJ resources for specific regions and/or countries, such as China, Asia, Russia, Europe, etc.)

New Business and Economics Books in the Library

2009-08-26T16:11:00.001-04:00

New BUSINESS and ECONOMICS books in the Poynter Library, USFSP
(in LC Call Number order, HB-HJ only)
July 29 – August 24, 2009

The following new business and economics books are kept on the “New Books” cart on the first floor in the library for a few weeks, and then moved to the circulating collection on the second floor, unless checked out…

John Maynard Keynes / Paul Davidson.
HB103.K47 D37 2009

The myth of the rational market : a history of risk, reward, and delusion on Wall Street / Justin Fox.
HB3731 .F69 2009

Brazil as an economic superpower? : understanding Brazil's changing role in the global economy / Lael Brainard, Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, editors.
HC187 .B86584 2009

How Ukraine became a market economy and democracy / Anders Åslund.
HC340.19 .A85 2009

Wealth into power : the Communist Party's embrace of China's private sector / Bruce J. Dickson.
HC427.5 .D53 2008

China's rise : challenges and opportunities / C. Fred Bergsten ... [et al.].
HC427.95 .C4566 2008

Dead aid : why aid is not working and how there is a better way for Africa / Dambisa Moyo.
HC800 .M69 2009

The wall behind China's open door towards efficient intercultural management in China / Jeanne Boden.
HD58.7 .B63 2008

The business analyst's handbook / Howard Podeswa.
HD69.B87 P63 2009

The Wiley guide to project organization & project management competencies / edited by Peter W.G. Morris and Jeffrey K. Pinto.
HD69.P75 W5524 2007

India's global powerhouses : how they are taking on the world / Nirmalya Kumar ; with Pradipta K. Mohapatra, Suj Chandrasekhar.
HD2899 .K86 2009

Killing for coal : America's deadliest labor war / Thomas G. Andrews.
HD5325.M63 1913 C736 2008

Going down Jericho Road : the Memphis strike, Martin Luther King's last campaign / Michael K. Honey.
HD5325.S2572 1968 M465 2007

The woman behind the New Deal : the life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and his moral conscience / Kirstin Downey.
HD8073.P38 D69 2009

Food, Inc. : how industrial food is making us sicker, fatter, and poorer-- and what you can do about it / edited by Karl Weber.
HD9005 .F6582 2009

Squeezed : what you don't know about orange juice / Alissa Hamilton.
HD9348.5.O723 H35 2009

China safari : on the trail of Beijing's expansion in Africa / Serge Michel and Michel Beuret ; photographs by Paolo Woods ; translated by Raymond Valley.
HF1611.Z4 C65 2009

Passport to success : the essential guide to business culture and customs in America's largest trading partners / Jeanette S. Martin, Lillian H. Chaney.
HF5389 .M3753 2009

Longing and belonging : parents, children, and consumer culture / Allison J. Pugh.
HF5415.33.U6 C23 2009

Cheap : the high cost of discount culture / Ellen Ruppel Shell.
HF5429.215.U6 S54 2009

Feng shui your workspace for dummies / by Holly Ziegler and Jennifer Lawler.
HF5547.2 .Z54 2003

Creative accounting exposed / Ignacio de la Torre ; translated into English by Bartus Hamilton.
HF5681.B2 T6713 2009

World wide rave : creating triggers that get millions of people to spread your ideas and share your stories / David Meerman Scott.
HF5827.95 .S395 2009

The housing boom and bust / Thomas Sowell.
HG2040.25 .S69 2009

Entrepreneurial finance : finance and business strategies for the serious entrepreneur / Steven Rogers ; with Roza Makonnen.
HG4026 .R65 2009

A more complete list of new books at the Poynter Library can be found here.

Please let me know if there are any particular publications that you would like to see in the library collection. Thank you,
Marcy

The Chinese consumer meets IKEA

2009-08-25T17:08:00.004-04:00

IKEA has been in China since 1999 but the Chinese experience inside the Swedish home furnishings retail is "unique." An article in the Los Angeles Times (8/25), "Beijing loves IKEA - but not for shopping," talks about the popularity of the store as a destination for daylong visits to take photos, nap, read books, and eat a few meals. The photos are entertaining! This is a great starting point for discussions about the Chinese consumer.

Business blogs

2009-08-06T09:47:00.002-04:00

This posting on "Learn-gasm" (?!) is entitled, "100 Awesome Blogs for Your Business Education." The listed blogs include short annotations and are divided by category such as marketing, global business, human resources, women in business, green business, etc.

Following blogs through a blog reader such as bloglines is a great way to stay current on topics of interest.

New Business and Economics books in the USFSP Library

2009-08-03T10:07:00.002-04:00

New BUSINESS and ECONOMICS books in the Poynter Library, USFSP
(in LC Call Number order, HB-HJ only)
June 19 – July 28, 2009

The following new business and economics books are kept on the “New Books” cart on the first floor in the library for a few weeks, and then moved to the circulating collection on the second floor, unless checked out…

Principles of microeconomics / Robert H. Frank, Ben S. Bernanke.
HB172 .F72 2007

Principles of macro-economics / Robert H. Frank, Ben S. Bernanke ; with the assistance of Roger T. Kaufman.
HB172.5 .F69 2007

East Asia and the global economy : Japan's ascent, with implications for China's future /Stephen G. Bunker and Paul S. Ciccantell.
HC462.9 .B852 2007

Minimum wages / David Neumark and William L. Wascher.
HD4918 .N432 2008

Bitter chocolate : investigating the dark side of the world's most seductive sweet / Carol Off.
HD9200.A2 O34 2007

Cities and cars : a handbook of best practices / edited by Roger L. Kemp.
HE355 .C53 2007

Whiff! : the revolution of scent communication in the information age / C. Russell Brumfield with James Goldney and Stephanie Gunning.
HF5415 .B78 2008

KFC in China : secret recipe for success / Warren K. Liu.
HF5429.235.C6 L58 2008

Sudden money : managing a financial windfall / Susan Bradley ; with Mary Martin.
HG179 .B713 2000

The value of money / Prabhat Patnaik.
HG220.A2 P38 2009

Insufficient funds : savings, assets, credit, and banking among low-income households / edited by Rebecca M. Blank and Michael S. Barr.
HG1601 .I67 2009

Risk arbitrage / Guy Wyser-Pratte.
HG6041 .W97 2009

Lottery wars : case studies in Bible Belt politics, 1986-2005 / Randy Bobbitt.
HG6126 .B63 2007

A more complete list of new books at the Poynter Library can be found here.

Please let me know if there are any particular publications that you would like to see in the library collection. Thank you,
Marcy

Dow Jones Economic Sentiment Indicator

2009-08-02T16:37:00.004-04:00

In April of this year, Dow Jones introduced the Dow Jones Economic Sentiment Indicator, which "aims to gauge the health of the U.S. economy by weighing the balance of sentiment in articles published by 15 major American newspapers." The indicator analyzes the occurrences of words in those media using a mathematical algorithm. Dow Jones calculated the indicator back to the 1990s and publishes the most current monthly figure on the last business day of each month. According to Dow Jones:

"The ESI represents one of the most comprehensive and far-reaching examinations of media coverage as an economic indicator. The ESI’s back-testing to 1990 shows that the ESI clearly highlighted the risk that the U.S. economy was sliding into recession in 2001 and 2008 and suggests the indicator can help predict economic turning points as much as seven months in advance of other indicators."

The website for the Dow Jones Economic Sentiment Indicator also includes recent press releases and comparisons to other economic indicators, such as the consumer confidence index from The Conference Board.

emerging markets - manufacturing

2009-07-26T17:23:00.004-04:00

Global-production.com, a consulting firm based in Switzerland, is billed as a "key source of information and research on emerging economies as locations for global production." The web site offers a variety of resources centered around their services:

"The Global Production Scoreboard benchmarks emerging economies as locations for global production. It employs a set of indicators,combining state-of-the-art theory with insights from best-practice research. Listed in leading business information directories, the Scoreboard is today a widely used planning tool by manufacturing companies around the world.

For selected industries, we provide information and reports on the manufacturing competitiveness of emerging economies by product category.

Our research services support client organisations in the alignment of value activities with locations on a global basis."

The web site also provides links to additional resources for research on emerging markets and emerging economies.

Dual language search in Google

2009-07-19T13:45:00.002-04:00

This search tool -- http://2lingual.com/ allows you to conduct a Google search in 2 languages on one screen, simultaneously. So, you can type in a search in English on the left while the right search box is translating and running the same search in Polish, Chinese, Hebrew, or one of about 35 other languages. Very nice!

GlobalEDGE - Hospitality and Travel Industry

2009-07-16T16:40:00.007-04:00

GlobalEDGE from Michigan State University is a resource that I've highlighted in the past but it's worth repeating. The site also has a new look and feel.

The July GlobalEDGE newsletter is focused on the Hospitality and Travel Industry and includes news articles; an industry "risk description" from Coface; and a list of web-based resources for more information.

The newsletter also highlights featured resources such as the "Country Brand Index" and the online course modules which follow the book "A Basic Guide to Exporting" from the U.S. Commercial Service.

You can sign-up to receive the newsletter delivered via email each month. At the main GlobalEDGE web site, you can see more of their resources and also register for free value-added content.

Green labeling at Wal-Mart

2009-07-16T16:05:00.004-04:00

Wal-Mart announced plans to develop a universal rating system for labeling the environmental sustainability of products, including all levels of production and distribution. The giant retailer is working with the University of Arkansas and Arizona State University and collecting data from its over 100,000 suppliers. The goal is to then have all retailers adopt the same system. The ambitious plan aims to inform consumers and, ultimately, compel the manufacture of more sustainable products. (NY Times, July 15, 2009)

Books on the financial crisis...

2009-07-16T15:45:00.004-04:00

Emory University's Goizueta Business Library has witnessed more undergraduate and MBA students interested in reading books about the current financial crisis, outside of their required reading lists. "Reading the Economy: Books on the Current Financial Crisis" is a brief article in a recent issue of Knowledge@Emory that discusses this trend and highlights some recommended reading.

To locate related books in the USF catalog, search "financial crises" as a subject heading. Here are a few current titles in the USFSP library:

House of cards : a tale of hubris and wretched excess on Wall Street / William D. Cohan (2009).
Panic : the story of modern financial insanity / [edited by] Michael Lewis (2009).
The return of depression economics and the crisis of 2008 / Paul Krugman (2009).
The new paradigm for financial markets : the credit crisis of 2008 and what it means / George Soros (2008).
The credit crunch : housing bubbles, globalisation and the worldwide economic crisis / Graham Turner (2008).
The trillion dollar meltdown : easy money, high rollers, and the great credit crash / Charles R. Morris (2008).

Cause Marketing or Consumption Philanthropy or ?

2009-07-15T10:46:00.007-04:00

The Stanford Social Innovation Review has an interesting, timely article "The Hidden Costs of Cause Marketing":

"From pink ribbons to Product Red, cause marketing adroitly serves two masters, earning profits for corporations while raising funds for charities. Yet the short-term benefits of cause marketing—also known as consumption philanthropy—belie its long-term costs. These hidden costs include individualizing solutions to collective problems; replacing virtuous action with mindless buying; and hiding how markets create many social problems in the first place. Consumption philanthropy is therefore unsuited to create real social change."

The article, by Angela M. Eikenberry, assistant professor in the School of Public Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, includes cited statistics, a list of references, and posted comments from readers.

The article was made available through Stanford knowledgebase, an email newsletter from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Ethics for finance professionals at all levels

2009-07-08T17:23:00.002-04:00

"Your Career, Our Economy: Stakes are High When Finance Professionals Let Ethics Slide":

Bernie Madoff, AIG, and Allen Stanford all supply grand-scale 'teachable moments' for discussions about ethics in business. However, ethical behavior applies to all levels of professionals, not just those at the top of financial organizations. That's one of the lessons that professor Marianne Jennings at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University is trying to impart to her undergraduate business students.

Jennings is also the author of the book, "The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse: Understanding What Causes Moral Meltdowns in Organizations."

"Why might some employees sabotage their companies?"

2009-07-02T10:46:00.002-04:00

"Why might some employees sabotage their companies?" -- according to a researcher at Singapore Management University, self-esteem plays a critical role. In a working paper entitled, "When does self-esteem relate to deviant behaviour? The role of contingencies of self-worth," researchers found that it is not simply the level of self-esteem, but also whether an employee's self-esteem is tied to being a competent employee.

"They suggest that if an individual’s self-esteem is contingent upon being a competent employee – what they refer to as having workplace-contingent self-esteem – then regardless of whether self-esteem is low or high, they will be less likely to engage in deviant behaviours."

Read the article summarizing the working paper in the Knowledge@SMU newsletter.

New economics database: RGE Monitor

2009-07-02T09:53:00.003-04:00

The USF Libraries recently added a subscription to the economics database RGE Monitor:

"RGE Monitor, named one of the world's best economic resources by Business Week, The Economist, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal, delivers global economic insights to the business and academic community. Founded in 2004 by a prestigious team of economic and political experts, RGE Monitor defines key economic and strategic debates and presents arguments on all sides. Content and analysis is delivered through a variety of channels. “Spotlight Issues” are identified and set in priority order, searchable by either importance or date. “Global Daily Digests” are available on the website, through email, or by a continuously updated RSS feeds. “Working Paper Series” highlights the most relevant publications from the economic experts from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)."

Note: Requires the creation of an account. Once established, your user name is your email address.

To locate this database, visit http://www.lib.usf.edu and click on "Databases by Title/Subject" to begin.

Adopting IFRS-International Financial Reporting Standards

2009-06-30T13:13:00.002-04:00

"Why do some countries adopt the European Union (EU)-based International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) when others do not?"

A 48-page working paper, available through the Harvard Business School Working Knowledge newsletter and website, explores this question. Some of the conclusions include the following:

"There is evidence that more powerful countries are less likely to adopt IFRS, consistent with more powerful countries being less willing to surrender standard-setting authority to an international body. There is also evidence that the likelihood of IFRS adoption at first increases and then decreases in the quality of countries' domestic governance institutions, consistent with IFRS being adopted when governments are capable of timely decision making and when the opportunity and switching cost of domestic standards are relatively low. We do not find evidence that levels of and expected changes in foreign trade and investment flows in a country affect its adoption decision: thus, we cannot confirm that IFRS lowers information costs in more globalized economies. Consistent with the presence of network effects in IFRS adoption, we find that a country is more likely to adopt IFRS if its trade partners or countries within in its geographical region are IFRS adopters."

Advertising Age - 100 Leading National Advertisers, 2009 edition

2009-06-24T09:47:00.002-04:00

Advertising Age recently released its annual "100 Leading National Advertisers" database and special issue, with facts and figures on U.S. ad spending. You can access the electronic version of this advertising research 'classic' here.

The Futurist: Ten Forces Driving Business Futures

2009-06-24T08:46:00.003-04:00

An article in the July-August issue of The Futurist magazine by Michael Richarme, from the market research firm Decision Analyst Inc., identifies the top ten social trends of the next 20 years, with implications for business:
1) the emergence of China as the world's largest economic power;
2) global demographic and migration shifts;
3) energy and water shortages;
4) managing waste, reusing products;
5) falling education standards, less-skilled thought leaders;
6) brand relationships intensify;
7) instant gratification shopping;
8) on-demand media;
9) customization, personalization, and community experiences; and
10) youth rules.

The July-August issue of The Futurist has other articles of interest, including "The automation of invention," "Assessing global trends for 2025," and "A rendezvous with austerity: American consumers are about to learn new habits." The magazine (full-text, PDF) is available through the USF subscription to the Academic Search Premier database. You can search the magazine or database as needed, or set up an alert to have the table of contents delivered to your email inbox for each new issue.

FASB Codification

2009-06-22T16:50:00.006-04:00

"On July 1, 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is instituting a major change in the way accounting standards are organized. On that date, the FASB Accounting Standards Codification™ (FASB Codification) will become the single official source of authoritative, nongovernmental U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP). After that date, only one level of authoritative U.S. GAAP will exist, other than guidance issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). All other literature will be non-authoritative." (http://aaahq.org/FASB/Access.cfm)

Read about some of the changes here and here. And stay tuned for more information about access to FASB Codification for USF students and faculty.

YourEconomy.org

2009-06-22T16:10:00.002-04:00

YourEconomy.org is a free research tool for examining U.S. business activity at the local level over time. It was developed by the Edward Lowe Foundation and uses data from the National Establishment Time Series (NETS) database by Walls & Associates.

The database begins with Dun & Bradstreet information as its largest data source.

"YourEconomy.org presents a unique lens to view data from: Statistics are first sorted by three unique employer sectors (noncommercial, nonresident and resident establishments). Then, resident establishments are subdivided into four stages that reflect different issues companies face as they grow"

The data can be use for examining business and job growth and movement over the years at the national, state, metro and county levels. There is also an explanation of how the data from NETS differs from data available from BLS-Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau.

New Business and Economics Books in the USFSP library

2009-06-21T17:05:00.004-04:00

New BUSINESS and ECONOMICS books in the Poynter Library, USFSP
(in LC Call Number order, HB-HJ only)
May 4 – June 18, 2009

The following new business and economics books are kept on the “New Books” cart on the first floor in the library for a few weeks, and then moved to the circulating collection on the second floor, unless checked out…

Industrial clusters and innovation systems in Africa : institutions, markets, and policy / edited by Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka and Dorothy McCormick.
HC800.Z9 D55 2007

The politics of food supply : U.S. agricultural policy in the world economy / Bill Winders ; foreword by James C. Scott.
HD9006 .W56 2009

The green-collar economy : how one solution can fix our two biggest problems / Van Jones with Ariane Conrad ; Foreword by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
HD9502.U52 J66 2008

The myth of the oil crisis : overcoming the challenges of depletion, geopolitics, and global warming / Robin M. Mills.
HD9560.5 .M553 2008

The automobile and American life / John A. Heitmann.
HD9710.U52 H39 2009

China and the global political economy / Shaun Breslin.
HF1604 .B72 2009

Africa and the world trading system / edited by T. Ademola Oyejide & William Lyakurwa.
HF1611 .A36 2005

Alibaba : the inside story behind Jack Ma and the creation of the world's biggest online marketplace / Liu Shiying and Martha Avery.
HF5478 .L58 2009

Called to account : fourteen financial frauds that shaped the American accounting profession / Paul M. Clikeman.
HF5616.U5 C575 2009

The king of Madison Avenue : David Ogilvy and the making of modern advertising / Kenneth Roman.
HF5810.O34 A3 2009

The Financial services fact book (2009) / Insurance Information Institute [and] Financial Services Roundtable
HG181 .F643

Managing investment portfolios : a dynamic process / John L. Maginn ... [et al.].
HG4529.5 .M36 2007

A more complete list of new books at the Poynter Library can be found here.

Please let me know if there are any particular publications that you would like to see in the library collection. Thank you,
Marcy

Lithium, electric cars, and Bolivia

2009-06-18T13:00:00.003-04:00

Auto Manufacturers Race for Bolivia’s Lithium Reserves

Bolivia has the world's largest lithium reserves, which are attracting multinational auto manufacturers exploring sources for new electric and hybrid auto technologies. Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, is considering partnerships and other options. A recent article in Knowledge@Wharton summarizes some of the political and social issues involved. Bolivia
hopes to attract international investment yet retain wealth within the country.

U.S. Travel & Tourism - 2005-2008

2009-06-16T09:59:00.003-04:00

"The travel and tourism industry—as measured by the real output of goods and services sold directly to visitors—shrank in 2008 for the first time in 7 years, according to the most recent statistics from the travel and tourism satellite accounts of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)."

A recent article in the BEA's Survey of Current Business looks at data from 2003 to 2008, with revisions to the most current years. Included are trends in output by tourism commodity (e.g., food, transportation, recreation); trends in prices; the composition of tourism demand; and trends in direct and tourism-related employment.

The BEA web site is a wonderful resource for researching or monitoring the U.S. economy. Along with the Survey of Current Business, you'll also find current news releases, interactive data tables, papers and working papers. Review the BEA Customer Guide for some basic guidelines on using their resources.

Trust and the business school

2009-06-15T14:43:00.003-04:00

In the June 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review, Joel Podolny writes about the apparent lack of trust in U.S. business schools in "The Buck Stops (and Starts) at Business School". In order to regain trust, Podolny offers the following recommendations for business schools: foster greater integration; appoint teaching teams; encourage qualitative research; stop competing on rankings; and withdraw degrees for violating codes of conduct.

The June issue of HBR is focused on "trust" and includes several timely articles on related topics.

To locate this article in PDF format through the USF libraries, login to the "Business Source Premier" database and search on "Harvard Business Review" and Podolny. USFSP faculty and students can also set up alerts to receive an email notices of new issues (with citations and embedded links). Drop me a note if you'd like assistance in setting up an e-alert for HBR or other publications or topics.

Online music

2009-06-15T11:43:00.004-04:00

The Pew Research Center is using the ten-year anniversary of its Internet & American Life Project as an opportunity to release retrospective reports on selected topics. "The State of Music Online: Ten Years after Napster" is an 18-page report that looks at the dramatic changes in the music industry:

"While the music industry has been on the front lines of the battle to convert freeloaders into paying customers, their efforts have been watched closely by other digitized industries—newspapers, book publishing and Hollywood among them—who are hoping to staunch their own bleeding before it’s too late. And if the music market is any indication of how consumer expectations will evolve elsewhere, the demands for free content will extend far beyond the mere cost of the product."

home ownership = happiness?

2009-06-11T12:16:00.002-04:00

Research from a real estate professor at Wharton, Grace Bucchianeri, seems to question the conventional wisdom that home ownership leads to happiness. Knowledge@Wharton newsletter profiles her research in the article, "So you think owning a home will make you happy? Don't be too sure." The article provides a link to the 38-page working paper:

"The results show that after controlling for household income, housing quality, and health, homeowners are no happier than renters by any of the following definitions: life satisfaction, overall mood, overall feeling, general moment-to-moment emotions (i.e. affect) and affect at home but instead derive more pain from their house and home. Time use pattern analysis reveals that homeowners tend to spend less time on enjoyable activities. There is little evidence that homeowners are better citizens. Homeowners who live in ZIP code areas with higher rates of homeownership report more positive attitudes only if other owners are similar to them in socio-economic terms, lending some support to the idea of beneficial social interaction among owners."

Internet advertising revenues

2009-06-10T10:10:00.002-04:00

According to the most recent IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, internet advertising revenues in the U.S. reached $23.4 billion in 2008, up 10.6% over 2007.

The 21-page report includes information by advertising format (e.g., display banners, search, classified ads, etc.) and by major industry category (e.g., retail, financial services, automotive, etc.).

The "Internet Advertising Revenue Report" was initiated by the IAB-Interactive Advertising Bureau in 1996 and is conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on an ongoing basis.

Trends: Foreverism, Nowism...

2009-06-03T11:58:00.004-04:00

The most recent briefing from Trendwatching.com is focused on a trend dubbed "Foreverism":

"...Encompasses the many ways that consumers and businesses are embracing conversations, relationships, and products that are never done. Driving its popularity is technology that allows them to find, follow, interact and collaborate forever with anyone & anything."

One example provided is the enormous and growing quantity of online profiles, links, stories, photos, friends of friends..... creating a "forever presence" of individuals online. You will never be more than one or two degrees away from anyone else... and now with Google Latitude you can also follow the physical location of friends as well....

Twitter is an example of the forever and ongoing conversations. Businesses can also use Twitter to communicate with consumers -- Trendwatching.com provides excerpts from some corporate Twitter accounts such as Ford, Whole Foods, Wells Fargo, Jet Blue Airways, and others.

To follow these trends, subscribe to receive free monthly email briefings from Trendwatching.com.

Consumer electronics: Converged v. Dedicated Products

2009-06-03T09:52:00.005-04:00

In the paper, “Technology Convergence: When do consumers prefer converged products to dedicated products”, two professors at Singapore Management University found that while consumers still generally prefer dedicated products, all-in-one products such as the iPhone are increasingly popular. Convenience, rather than performance, is one of the key benefits for converged products. For high performance products, consumers generally look for dedicated products....

"If anything, the study has shown that the contest between converged and dedicated products lie mainly with consumer perceptions. Consumer electronics manufacturers could stand to benefit from innovative products, but perhaps more so, through innovative marketing."

"Do friends influence purchases in a social network?"

2009-06-02T21:18:00.002-04:00

A working paper from the Harvard Business School examines the question, "Do friends influence purchases in a social network?" The short answer from researchers Raghuram Iyengar, Sangman Han, and Sunil Gupta is: it depends.

So, while in general a friend's purchases has a positive impact on the purchase probability of a user, there are great differences across different types of users. For example, "Highly connected users tend to reduce their purchases of items when they see their friends buying them." (In other words, if others are buying it, it's no longer cool...)

You can read the abstract and executive summary here, and then link to the full-text PDF of the working paper.

Loan forgiveness for student loans

2009-05-31T14:17:00.004-04:00

The NY Times recently ran two related articles on loan forgiveness programs used by students to finance their college educations. Loan forgiveness programs are often used to attract students to teaching or other service fields, or to keep qualified graduates working in their home state. The current economic recession has negatively affected many of the state programs and is threatening the education financing plans of former, current, and future students.

The first article, "Recession imperils loan forgiveness programs" focuses on the loan forgiveness program and problems of one couple in Kentucky.

The followup article, "Students relying on loans wonder whether forgiveness will last" broadens the scope to initiate an ongoing exploration of loan forgiveness in other states, at the federal government level, and potentially corporations as well.

"Spent: Sex, Evolution and Consumer Behavior"

2009-05-19T15:52:00.004-04:00

According to Geoffrey Miller, evolutionary psychologist and author of the new book, "Spent: Sex, Evolution and Consumer Behavior, " much of the pleasure that we derive from our spending is linked to our belief that our purchases will reflect on our intelligence or certain personality traits. Some of the author's new work was discussed in a recent New York Times article:

"In a series of experiments, Dr. Miller and other researchers found that people were more likely to expend money and effort on products and activities if they were first primed with photographs of the opposite sex or stories about dating."

The consumerist delusion, according to Dr. Miller, is believing that our purchases will actually affect the way we are treated by others. He also recommends exercises for controlling our consumerism by comparing the costs and pleasures of our purchases. The NYTimes makes these available at: nytimes.com/tierneylab.

Consumer electronics in China

2009-05-14T10:16:00.004-04:00

"Changes Are in Store for China's Electronics Retailers: Which Model Will Win?"

This article from the Chinese edition of Knowledge@Wharton provides an interesting case study of doing business in China. U.S. consumer electronics retailer Best Buy recently announced expansion plans in China. Currently, the company operates 6 stores in Shanghai, 1 in Beijing, and another 150 outlets through a Chinese subsidiary. The Best Buy sales model is in direct contrast to the sales model used by its two major competitors, Gome Appliance and Suning Appliance. Best Buy sells a variety of competing brands using its own trained sales staff. Gome and Suning both use a store-within-a-store model, where manufacturers hire their own staff and then sell their products within their designated store space. The entry and expansion of Best Buy is bringing even more change to the changing consumer electronics marketplace in China. "At stake is a large -- and growing -- consumer market that was worth US$120 billion in China last year."

"Why Economists Failed to Predict the Financial Crisis"

2009-05-14T09:46:00.004-04:00

According to a recent article in Knowledge@Wharton, economists failed to predict the current economic crisis because they traditionally focus on the role of producers and consumers of goods and services in economic cycles, and fail to acknowledge the importance of financial institutions, at the root of the current global economic crisis. A limited understanding of human psychology and a reliance on mathematical models that don't accurately reflect reality are also blamed.

The article cites the recent "Dahlem Report", critical of economists' disconnect from the real world. A need to re-assess business school curricula is also cited.

New Business and Economics books in the USFSP library

2009-05-06T11:41:00.001-04:00

New BUSINESS and ECONOMICS books in the Poynter Library, USFSP (in LC Call Number order, HB-HJ only) March 21 – May 3, 2009

The following new business and economics books are kept on the “New Books” cart on the first floor in the library for a few weeks, and then moved to the circulating collection on the second floor, unless checked out…

Poverty and social impact analysis by the IMF : review of methodology and selected evidence / Robert Gillingham, editor.
HC60 .P662 2008

The impact of fair trade / edited by Ruerd Ruben.
HC79.E5 I4998 2008

Modernizing a slave economy : the economic vision of the Confederate nation / John Majewski.
HC105.65 .M25 2009

Statistical and methodological myths and urban legends : doctrine, verity and fable in the organizational and social sciences / edited by Charles E. Lance and Robert J. Vandenberg.
HD30.4 .S727 2009

Ambush marketing : game within a game / Arul George Scaria.
HD59.35 .S33 2008

Florida's working-class past : current perspectives on labor, race, and gender from Spanish Florida to the new immigration / edited by Robert Cassanello and Melanie Shell-Weiss ; foreword by Richard Greenwald and Timothy Minchin.
HD8083.F63 F467 2009

Railroads in the Old South : pursuing progress in a slave society / Aaron W. Marrs.
HE2771.A13 M37 2009

Trade investment and development in the contemporary Caribbean / Bhoendradatt Tewarie and Roger Hosein.
HF3365.Z5 T49 2007

The career portfolio workbook : using the newest tool in your job-hunting arsenal to impress employers and land a great job / Frank Satterthwaite, Gary D'Orsi.
HF5383 .S27 2003

24 essential lessons for investment success / William J. O'Neil.
HG4521 .O5 2000

A more complete list of new books at the Poynter Library can be found here.

Please let me know if there are any particular publications that you would like to see in the library collection. Thank you,
Marcy

Numbers for Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day....

2009-05-05T11:03:00.003-04:00

The Census Bureau puts together a "Facts for Features and Special Editions" containing news releases with fun facts and numbers for holidays and special events. You can look at the Web page when you're looking for information on a specific topic, or you can subscribe to receive email news alerts when they become available.

The holiday fact sheets always have interesting numbers to report on any given topic: The Mother's Day release includes the number of single moms in the U.S. (9.8 million); the most popular day for giving birth in the U.S. (Wednesday); and the most popular baby names. The Cinco de Mayo release reports that there are 29.2 million U.S. residents of Mexican origin, representing 10% of the total U.S. population and 64% of the Hispanic population.

The news releases include a lot of facts and numbers that can help quantify a subject or provide ideas for further angles on a topic.

2009 Industry Outlook from Deloitte

2009-05-04T14:41:00.004-04:00

Deloitte U.S. recently published its "2009 Industry Outlook". The report covers general and relevant issues such as the economic crisis, globalization, and implementation of the IFRS International Financial Reporting Standards, as well as the outlook for specific industries including automotive, health care, and real estate. You can also download the full 68-page report in PDF format.

Deloitte is a member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. The website for Deloitte Consulting offers reports on a number of current business and management issues such as Corporate Social Responsbility, Sarbanes-Oxley, and doing business in China.

another Google tool....

2009-04-30T11:17:00.003-04:00

I just heard about another Google tool, still very much in beta. Google PublicData is accessed directly through the basic Google search engine and provides quick comparison views of U.S. public data at the state and county level. Currently, only total population data from the Census Bureau and unemployment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is available.

Example:
At the basic Google box, type in: population pinellas.
The first result should be from Google and clicking on the link opens a simple graph with population data over the past 20 years. On the left, you can add in other counties or states. I quickly made a graph that includes 4 counties -- Pinellas and Hillsborough in Florida (Tampa-St. Petersburg); and Ramsey and Hennepin in Minnesota (Minneapolis-St. Paul). The result is a quick overview of population change in two "twin city" metro areas over the past 20 years.

Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a way (yet?) to cut and past the graph, but a link is provided that you can share. And, to date, the only search options for the limited content available are to use either "unemployment" or "population" as the first word of your search.

You can follow Google developments on this feature, and others, at the official Google blog.

Layoffs and Executive Pay

2009-04-27T16:28:00.002-04:00

Two unrelated web sites, one on executive compensation and the other on recent U.S. layoffs, offer useful data and information, particularly for research on the current economic crisis:

2009 Executive PayWatch provides a searchable database and rankings of CEO pay by name, company, and industry. CEO pay for TARP money recipients is also identified. The site is produced by the AFL-CIO so there is a particular perspective but the data is presumably reliable.

The Layoff Tracker from Forbes provides compiled layoff figures for the 500 largest U.S. public companies -- date, name of company, industry, and number of layoffs. For April 24, 2009, the total number of layoffs since November 1, 2008: 536,173.

Social networking for personal branding...

2009-04-27T10:08:00.002-04:00

Musicians, writers and artists have been using social networking sites and services such as MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter to market themselves and create personal brands for some time now. With the current economic recession, other professionals are also looking to exploit all possible networking avenues available to them.

A recent article in Knowledge@Wharton explores personal branding through social networking: "Advertising Yourself: Building a Personal Brand through Social Networks". Some of the specific tips, from various sources cited, include the following:

"...come up with three simple words to define a personal brand -- words that could describe a specialized skill set..."
"You need to seed the right people, to develop a word-of-mouth army.... Everyone should have a list of 20 or 30 people who will act as their ambassadors."
"...it is usually helpful to build a following by giving away something for free -- even if it's just nuggets of information or personal wisdom..."
"Branding is something that does not necessarily come with a short-term payoff. It's a long-term investment. .... it's about building brand awareness."

The article also notes that social networking is a booming business as well -- businesses reportedly spent nearly $2.2 billion on social networking in 2008, primarily through advertising on popular sites.

Blogging for a living

2009-04-24T15:45:00.002-04:00

According to a recent MicroTrends column by Mark Penn in the Wall Street Journal, there are now more people blogging for a living than there are firefighters or computer programmers. Reportedly, there are over 20 million bloggers in the U.S., with 1.7 million of those reporting some income from their blogging and 452,000 using blogging as their primary source of income. And at the same time that the numbers of bloggers is increasing, the number of traditional journalists is decreasing rapidly. The implications are varied, with many unknowns...

"It is hard to think of another job category that has grown so quickly and become such a force in society without having any tests, degrees, or regulation of virtually any kind..... But for how long can nearly 500,000 people who are gradually replacing whole swaths of journalists survive with no worker protections, no enforced ethics codes, limited standards, and, for most , no formal training?"

"Capital Ideas" from the University of Chicago

2009-04-22T12:00:00.003-04:00

The most recent issue of Capital Ideas from The Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory and The University of Chicago includes articles on the racial wage gap, the power of TV for women in India, the economics of prostitution, and climate change policies.

The goal of economic research at The Becker Center is "to show the world that economics–when properly done–can not only help us understand the world around us, but also make it a better place to live."

You can also subscribe to receive the newsletter delivered via email.

Financial and economic crisis ... two articles looking forward

2009-04-19T16:23:00.003-04:00

Two articles in a recent edition of Knowledge@Emory are centered on the current financial and economic crisis.

"A Historical Look at the Power and Impact of Stimulus" compares the Obama stimulus plan with Roosevelt's New Deal during the Great Depression and Japan's economic crisis in the 1990s. Of course, academics differ on the lessons to be learned....

"Is Finance by Any Other Name Still as Sweet?" looks at brand-building and re-branding possibilities for financial firms such as AIG and Bank of America. Some options include the 'house of brands' strategy (Procter & Gamble); 'branded house' strategy (Citibank), and the 'master brand' strategy (Coca-Cola).

A business school library in a developing country...

2009-04-15T11:03:00.013-04:00

Last week, I was in El Salvador and paid a visit to the ESEN - Escuela Superior de Economia y Negocios, a private, non-profit business school. Unfortunately, the school was closed for Holy Week but I had pre-arranged a visit and tour of the library with the Director of the Library, Maria Teresa de Velasquez. The school serves about 600 undergraduate students in a beautiful new and well-equipped facility. The library operates under what it calls the 'Chilean model', in which the student body is divided into groups of 5 or 6 students and one set of textbooks is purchased for each group and then maintained in the library. In addition to purchasing and maintaining textbooks, the library has a collection of magazines, reference books and a circulating collection, access to some electronic databases (in English), and a strong community service program in collaboration with the students. The ESEN is very different from some of the other Salvadoran universities that I've visited over the years.

Although the library does not have a separate Web page, you can visit the ESEN's web site here.

BDS Business Dynamics Statistics from the Census Bureau

2009-04-15T09:50:00.005-04:00

There is a 'new' data series available for researchers interested in job creation and job loss in the U.S. -- the "BDS Business Dynamics Statistics" from the Census Bureau.

"BDS are created from the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD), a confidential database available to researchers throughout the network of Census Research Data Centers.... A unique feature of the BDS is its longitudinal source data that permit tracking establishments and firms over time. The public use BDS tabulations are an effort to make information from the confidential LBD accessible to a broad range of data users. "

The BDS series provides annual data for 1976-2005, down to the state level, for the number of establishments, job creation and job loss by establishment age and size, and other statistics on business dynamics. Data can be downloaded in SAS, Excel, CSV formats.

Statistical briefings on the data will also be produced. The first briefing, entitled "Jobs Created from Business Startups in the United States, is available here.

The Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500

2009-03-28T11:03:00.003-04:00

Management author and consultant Gary Hamel, on his Management 2.0 Wall Street Journal blog, writes about "The Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500". He calls this emerging, young adult generation, Generation F, to follow Generations X and Y.

Hamel lists 12 features of work-relevant social networking behavior that has implications for more traditional management practices found in large companies. Included are the following: 1. All ideas compete on an equal footing; 2. Contribution counts for more than credentials; 3. Hierarchies are natural, not prescribed..... Interesting to read some of the posted comments as well.

New Business and Economics books in the Poynter Library, USFSP

2009-03-24T09:01:00.001-04:00

New BUSINESS and ECONOMICS books in the Poynter Library, USFSP (in LC Call Number order, HB-HJ only)
February 24 – March 20, 2009

The following new business and economics books are kept on the “New Books” cart on the first floor in the library for a few weeks, and then moved to the circulating collection on the second floor, unless checked out…

A guide to econometrics / Peter Kennedy.
HB139 .K45 2008

Fatal misconception : the struggle to control world population / Matthew Connelly.
HB883.5 .C65 2008

China's dilemma : economic growth, the environment and climate change / Ligang Song and Wing Thye Woo, editors.
HC427.95 .C4557 2008

Markets of dispossession : NGOs, economic development, and the state in Cairo / Julia Elyachar.
HC830.Z7 C338 2005

A class with Drucker : the lost lessons of the world's greatest management teacher / by William A. Cohen.
HD31 .C589 2008

Redefining global strategy : crossing borders in a world where differences still matter / Pankaj Ghemawat.
HD62.4 .G474 2007

Forces for good : the six practices of high-impact nonprofits / Leslie R. Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant ; foreword by Steve Case.
HD62.6 .C78 2008

How do we spend our time? : evidence from the American time use survey / Jean Kimmel, editor.
HD69.T54 H665 2008

Capitalists, workers, and fiscal policy : a classical model of growth and distribution / Thomas R. Michl.
HD75 .M53 2009

Uncharitable : how restraints on nonprofits undermine their potential / Dan Pallotta.
HD2769.15 .P35 2008

The corporate takeover of Ireland / Kieran Allen.
HD2848 .A635 2007

Voice, visibility and the gendering of organizations / Ruth Simpson and Patricia Lewis.
HD6060.6 .S56 2007

Juki girls, good girls : gender and cultural politics in Sri Lanka's global garment industry / Caitrin Lynch.
HD6073.C62 S755 2007

Harlan miners speak : report on terrorism in the Kentucky coal fields / Prepared by members of the National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners: Theodore Dreiser [and others].
HD8039.M62 U6465 2008

Factory girls : from village to city in a changing China / Leslie T. Chang.
HD9734.C55 C53 2008

The world's scavengers : salvaging for sustainable consumption and production / Martin Medina.
HD9975.D442 M43 2007

Discovering the hidden listener : an assessment of Radio Liberty and western broadcasting to the USSR during the Cold War : a study based on audience research findings, 1970-1991 / R. Eugene Parta.
HE8697.45.S65 P37 2007

Communicating with the world of Islam / edited by A. Ross Johnson ; principal report by George P. Shultz.
HE8697.45.U6 C664 2008

U.S. trade preference programs / Government Accountability Office.
HF1756 .U5 2008

Beginning your career search : a hands-on approach to building your career portfolio /James S. O'Rourke, IV.
HF5382.7 .O77 2007

The career portfolio workbook : using the newest tool in your job-hunting arsenal to impress employers and land a great job / Frank Satterthwaite, Gary D'Orsi.
HF5383 .S27 2003

Social marketing : influencing behaviors for good / Philip Kotler, Nancy R. Lee.
HF5414 .K67 2008

The age curve : how to profit from the coming demographic storm / Kenneth W. Gronbach.
HF5415.127 .G76 2008

Mindful economics : how the U.S. economy works, why it matters, and how it could be different / Joel Magnuson.
HG181 .M283 2008

All the money in the world : the art and history of paper money and coins from antiquity to the 21st century / Douglas Mudd.
HG231 .M83 2006

The World Bank and the gods of lending / Steve Berkman.
HG3881.5.W57 B47 2008

A more complete list of new books at the Poynter Library can be found here.

Please let me know if there are any particular publications that you would like to see in the library collection. Thank you,

Data minimization.... storing and purging

2009-03-19T13:00:00.004-04:00

News stories of data security breaches suggest that large amounts of detailed customer data can become liabilities for companies. "Data minimization" is a concept which seeks to balance company and marketer needs for detailed customer data on the one hand, with privacy and data security concerns on the other hand. Of course, one of the difficulties becomes knowing what to keep and what to toss.... and when. Wharton marketing professors Eric Bradlow and Peter Fader discussed the concept of data minimization at the Wharton Information Security Best Practices Conference and their research is summarized in a recent Knowledge@Wharton article, "Time for a Data Diet? Deciding What Customer Information to Keep -- and What to Toss"

Your secret Swiss bank accounts may be in jeopardy...

2009-03-16T13:03:00.003-04:00

"Swiss banking as we have known it is dead," says Wharton professor Maurice Schweitzer, quoted in a recent edition of Knowledge@Emory.

"The Other Banking Drama: Those Secret Swiss Accounts" discusses a recent agreement by UBS to release client information on 250 U.S. clients. U.S. tax authorities had demanded UBS release the names of 52,000 Americans suspected of opening secret Swiss accounts to evade taxes. Although 250 is a small number, the action could still damage the trust placed in the secrecy of Swiss accounts. And if Swiss banks were to falter or fail, the global banking system would suffer more damage. The battle between U.S. tax laws and Swiss banking laws is expected to continue...

Capitalism - historical and cultural context...

2009-03-16T10:56:00.002-04:00

During economic crises, some may ask "Does capitalism work?". In this recent article from Knowledge@Wharton, this question is revisited by the author of a 1980 cover story from Time magazine. George Taber discusses the concept of "creative destruction", life cycles of large corporations, the innovation of entrepreneurs, the business cycle of boom and bust, and cultural differences in applying solutions to economic problems. He concludes:

"As Washington policymakers search for ways to solve the current economic crisis, it is crucial that they keep in mind their country's heritage and tradition. The American brand of capitalism rests on creative destruction, innovation and, ultimately, entrepreneurs. It is impossible to rebuild the superstructure of U.S. prosperity by destroying its foundation."

Family business...

2009-03-13T07:31:00.003-04:00

"Family Business" is a trade magazine and a "guide for family companies". Family Business recently published a ranking of the top 100 U.S. family companies with multi-billion dollar revenues, last published in 2003. The current research was conducted in the summer of 2008. The ranking includes publicly-owned companies, such as Wal-Mart (#1), as well as private enterprises such as JM Family Enterprises (#27) in FL.

A family business, as defined here, differs from a home-based business, which would normally also be family-owned and a considerably smaller enterprise. One useful resource for researching home-based businesses is the ReferenceUSA database, to which the USF libraries subscribe.

international marketing - Starbucks in China, etc....

2009-03-07T15:57:00.003-05:00

A recent article in the China edition of Knowledge@Wharton focuses on some of the challenges faced by U.S. marketers in China and India. For example, Starbucks was marketing coffee drinks to a world of tea drinkers with a different sense of brand loyalty. In India, Staples had to 'explain' their product offering to consumers who use the word "staples" only for foodstuffs.

For students interested in international marketing, subscribing to the Knowledge@Wharton newsletters is a convenient way to keep current on some of the larger trends and issues.

"Eco Bounty" - green marketing in a recession

2009-03-03T15:52:00.005-05:00

The March 2009 briefing from Trendwatching.com is dedicated to "Eco Bounty" -- consumer trends in environmental marketing during a recession:

"While financial woes may hold back some green initiatives, the future has never looked greener. Mainly because creating a more sustainable economy is not an option, but a necessity. And we all know that necessity is the mother of invention. Which is why this month, amidst crumbling banks, G20 meetings and stimulus plans, we highlight 12 eco sub-trends that any marketer or entrepreneur can act on today...."

The report identifies and discusses the following 12 eco sub-trends:

ECO-FRUGAL; ECO-STATUS; ECO-INTEL; ECO-STURDY; ECO-FEEDERS; ECO-GENEROSITY; ECO-SUPERIOR; ECO-EMBEDDED; ECO-EDU; ECO-TRANSIENT; ECO-VERTISING; ECO-EXPECTATIONS.

The report is also available as a 20-page pdf format document.

Cuba!

2009-02-26T07:25:00.005-05:00

I'm back..... after an 8-day trip to Cuba on the "Librarians and Bibliophiles Havana Book Fair Tour". It was my first visit to Cuba and I found it fascinating, completely unique. I had obtained a U.S. "research license" in order to enter the country for library work yet it was still a bit of a challenge. Most of the time I was with a group of librarians and a Cuban tour guide -- we attended the book fair and also visited a publisher of handmade books, the writer's union, the University of Havana, Casa de las Americas, literacy campaign museum, the National Library, and many other book-related places and events. Some of us also managed to attend the Buena Vista Social Club at the National Hotel and the Spanish Ballet of Cuba performing La Casa Alba. I'm still processing it all and trying to get caught up but I wanted to post a few thoughts relevant to business and economics....

Many of the Cubans I spoke with expressed the hope that President Obama will make changes in U.S. - Cuba foreign and economic policy. The embargo or "bloqueo" dominates the economy and daily life in Cuba. As a generalization, it seems that Cubans are proud of their accomplishments, yet also pragmatic and worn-down from the struggle. Cuba will most certainly change in the near future and it will be fascinating to see how it plays out....

A librarian in our group ran across this article ("Che: The Ronald McDonald of Revolution") and I thought it might be of interest to those who follow Cuba... Che is everywhere! (but even more so in Cuba is Jose Marti).

New Business and Economics books in the library, Jan 31-Feb 23, 2009

2009-02-25T14:47:00.003-05:00

New BUSINESS and ECONOMICS books in the Poynter Library, USF-St Petersburg (in LC Call Number order, HB-HJ only) January 31 – February 23, 2009

The following new business and economics books are kept on the “New Books” cart on the first floor in the library for a few weeks, and then moved to the circulating collection on the second floor, unless checked out… (Also, please note the DATES of publications – some are donations)

Panic : the story of modern financial insanity / [edited by] Michael Lewis.
HB3722 .P36 2009

A people's history of poverty in America / Stephen Pimpare.
HC110.P6 P56 2008

Global information systems : the implications of culture for IS management / Dorothy E. Leidner and T. R. Kayworth.
HD30.35 .G56 2008

Management / Peter F. Drucker, with Joseph A. Maciariello.
HD31 .D772 2008

Doing business beyond America's borders : the do's, don'ts and other details of conducting business in 40 countries / Lawrence W. Tuller.
HD62.4 .T85 2008

Blue-green coalitions : fighting for safe workplaces and healthy communities / Brian Mayer.
HD6510 .M39 2009

Global efforts to combat smoking : an economic evaluation of smoking control policies / Rajeev K. Goel and Michael A. Nelson.
HD9130.6 .G63 2008

The big rich : the rise and fall of the greatest Texas oil fortunes / Bryan Burrough.
HD9567.T3 B873 2009

Where am I wearing? : a global tour to the countries, factories, and people that make our clothes / Kelsey Timmerman.
HD9940.A2 T56 2009

Two billion cars : driving toward sustainability / Daniel Sperling, Deborah Gordon.
HE5611 .S67 2009

The U.S. policy on Cuba / Amy Francis, book editor.
HF1500.5.U5 U53 2009

The career performance portfolio system : build your ladder to career success / Rick Nelles.
HF5383 .N378 2005

The mobile marketing handbook : a step-by-step guide to creating dynamic mobile marketing campaigns / Kim Dushinski ; foreword by Laura Marriott.
HF5415.1265 .D87 2009

Accounting trends & techniques 2008 / AICPA.
HF5681.B2 A35

The ascent of money : a financial history of the world / Niall Ferguson.
HG171 .F47 2008

Lords of finance : the bankers who broke the world / Liaquat Ahamed.
HG172.A2 A43 2009

A more complete list of new books at the Poynter Library can be found here.

Please let me know if there are any particular publications that you would like to see in the library collection. Thank you,

XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language)

2009-02-13T10:41:00.003-05:00

XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is an open standard computer language for the electronic communication of business and financial data. The concept is to uniformly identify and tag specific data items within financial documents to facilitate and improve analysis, reduce errors, and ultimately reduce costs for companies as well.

The XBRL standard is being developed by XBRL International, an international non-profit consortium, and is being adopted by countries and jurisdictions around the world. In the U.S., the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) is undertaking a "21st Century Disclosure Initiative", which will include requiring public companies to add XBRL tags to their financial filings.

XBRL International and XBRL U.S. also offer education and training, as well as a wealth of quick information, informative reports and links to other XBRL-related information on their website.

While accounting and finance students will likely see the most immediate impact of these changes, XBRL will also bring changes important to all business students, researchers, and users of financial data.

business professor blogs

2009-02-13T09:29:00.003-05:00

The "Top 50 Business Professor Blogs" list from Biz.edu includes the Gary Hamel blog on management; Carpe Diem (economics); the John Quelch Marketing KnowHow blog, and other well-read business blogs.

If you're not a regular blog reader, this might be a good list to get you started. With a blog reader such as bloglines, you can select blogs to follow and then read the most current postings when you have the time, and all in one place. It's a fast and easy way to stay current and follow paths you may not have considered otherwise.

think tanks

2009-02-12T08:53:00.005-05:00

Think tanks are organizations that conduct research and publish reports and analysis on public policy and other issues. Think tanks are often political and serve specific agendas or ideologies. However, the research they produce may still be of great value in understanding public policy issues, including issues affecting business. Better-known U.S. think tanks include the Brookings Institution and RAND Corporation.

SourceWatch, a project of the Center for Media and Democracy, discusses the nature of think tanks and offers a long list of think tanks in the U.S. and Europe, and other related links.

...in defense of marketing

2009-02-10T10:32:00.002-05:00

In a recent issue of Working Knowledge from the Harvard Business School, John Quelch writes "In Praise of Marketing":

"... marketers still do a surprisingly poor job of marketing Marketing. They do not appreciate, let alone articulate, the economic and social benefits of marketing. Marketplace exchanges are based on mutual trust between buyers and sellers. They create value for both parties. .... Good marketers offer consumers choices. Choice stimulates consumption and economic growth and facilitates personal expression....."

So, if you're a marketer and feeling a little defensive about the value of your work, this might be a good narrative for you to try.

NYT: "In Florida, Despair and Foreclosures"

2009-02-08T13:46:00.003-05:00

The New York Times recently profiled Lehigh Acres, Florida and the impact of the real estate crisis and economic downturn in this community outside of Fort Meyers.

Manufacturing in China reacts to global economic downturn

2009-02-05T16:00:00.003-05:00

An article in the China edition of Knowledge@Wharton looks at the impact of the global economic downturn on manufacturing in Guangdong, China. According to "Restructuring Guangdong's Economy: Moving up the Value Chain as Exports Go Down":

"As Western consumers’ spending power has shrunk, orders have fallen and the pain inflicted on Guangdong’s manufacturers has intensified. According to official figures released in early January, as many as 62,400 companies went bankrupt and 600,000 migrant workers left the province in 2008. The situation continues to deteriorate on a daily basis. Local governments have been forced to compensate thousands of angry unemployed workers out of their own coffers...."

There is also an interesting article about development in China and some of the fundamental differences between conducting business in China and in India: "What Will Be the Next Chapter in China's 'Impressive Story' of Development?"

Morningstar - Where to Invest in 2009

2009-02-05T11:01:00.005-05:00

At a recent library conference I attended, Morningstar was promoting their booklet, "Where to Invest in 2009". They are encouraging electronic distribution so I am providing a link to the PDF here. Topics covered in the booklet include: 10 Best Companies in the World, The Best Funds for 2009, and Clip and Save: 20 Common Investing Mistakes.

New Books in Business and Economics, USFSP Jan 12-30, 2009

2009-02-03T13:08:00.001-05:00

New BUSINESS and ECONOMICS books in the Poynter Library, USF-St Petersburg (in LC Call Number order, HB-HJ only)
January 12 - 30, 2009

The following new business and economics books are kept on the “New Books” cart on the first floor in the library for a few weeks, and then moved to the circulating collection on the second floor, unless checked out…
(Also, please note the DATES of publications – many are donations)

Density-related public costs / American Farmland Trust.
HB1953 A4 1986

Population movements, conflicts, and displacements in Nigeria / edited by Toyin Falola and Okpeh Ochayi Okpeh, Jr.
HB2126.7.A3 P67 2008

State of the world : a Worldwatch Institute report on progress toward a sustainable society.
HC59 .S766 2009

Appalachian aspirations : the geography of urbanization and development in the Upper Tennessee River Valley, 1865-1900 / John Benhart Jr.
HC107.A135 B46 2007

Survey team final reports / Biscayne Bay Partnership Initiative.
HC107.F53 B572

A bright, great bay / Biscayne Bay Partnership Initiative, Policy Development Committee.
HC107.F63 E525 2001

Vault career guide to consulting / Laura Walker Chung, Eric Chung and the staff of Vault.
HD69.C6 C478 2007

Principles of geographical information systems for land resources assessment / P.A. Burrough.
HD108.15 .B87 1986

Unstoppable : Finding hidden assets to renew the core and fuel profitable growth / edited by Chris Zook.
HD2746 .Z664 2007

My life and the ICU; the autobiography of a Black trade unionist in South Africa / edited, with an introduction by Stanley Trapido.
HD8799.S73 K33 1970

Minerals yearbook. Volume III, Latin America and Canada : Area reports: international.
HD9506.L29 M56 2002

South Africa's city of diamonds : mine workers and monopoly capitalism in Kimberley, 1867-1895 / William H. Worger.
HD9677.S63 K568 1987

Historia de la navegación en la Ciudad de México / Carlos J. Sierra.
HE636.Z7 M497 1996

Selling ASAP : art, science, agility, performance / Eli Jones, Carl Stevens, Larry Chonko.
HF5438.25 .J658 2005

Human resource management / Gary Dessler.
HF5549 .D4379 2005

Long-term financial planning : creative strategies for local government / edited by Jeffrey I. Chapman.
HJ275 .L66 1987

A more complete list of new books at the Poynter Library can be found here.

Please let me know if there are any particular publications that you would like to see in the library collection. Thank you,
Marcy

"Sweatshop Labor is Wrong Unless the Jeans are Cute—Motivated Moral Disengagement"

2009-02-02T10:40:00.003-05:00

Although many U.S. consumers say they are concerned about moral issues such as the use of sweatshop labor, there is still only a very small demand and market for goods guaranteed to have used no sweatshop labor in their production. One explanation for this discrepancy is that consumers adopt 'moral disengagement tools' when confronted with products that may conflict with their moral standards. Two researchers at Harvard examined these phenomena and present their findings in the working paper, "Sweatshop labor is wrong unless the jeans are cute -- motivated moral disengagement". According to the researchers:

"....beliefs about sweatshop labor use moderates the impact of desirability on purchase intention, and moral disengagement mediates this process. Thus, moral disengagement can drive people to like products they believe to be made with sweatshop labor even more. Desire-driven moral disengagement is relevant in moral psychology, and may broadly contribute towards the tolerance of harm in our social and economic systems."

This work is an interesting commentary on the moral judgments we make on a daily basis and how we might justify harmful behavior.

Privacy on the Internet

2009-02-02T09:02:00.002-05:00

Have you ever searched for yourself on the Internet? - more than typing your name in Google but actually trying different search engines and following the leads to see what information about you is 'out there'? A reporter from Computerworld did just that and found more than he hoped, including a local government site with his social security number. He conducted free and fee-based searches and also contacted a private investigator to dig deeper. In his article, Robert Mitchell discusses the results of his efforts, evaluates the effectiveness of different tools, and offers some advice for protecting your privacy on the Web.

Small Business Survival - entreprenurial environment by state

2009-01-29T15:07:00.005-05:00

The SBE (Small Business and Entrepreneurship) Council recently published the 13th annual Small Business Survival Index 2008: Ranking the Policy Environment for Entrepreneurship Across the Nation. The analysis looks at the entrepreneurial environment by state, ranking states on 34 factors such as personal income tax rates, property taxes, sales taxes, worker's compensation costs, crime rate, etc. South Dakota ranks as the friendliest policy environment for entrepreneurship; Washington, DC ranks as the least friendly. Florida ranks as very friendly for entrepreneurs at number four overall. The 44-page publication includes appendices with rankings and scores on each of the separate criteria.

IBISWorld macroeconomic briefing paper

2009-01-22T13:13:00.003-05:00

IBISWorld recently released a 14-page macroeconomic briefing paper entitled "Economic Crisis: When will it End?". Forecasts from the report include the following:

"The US economy will decline by 1.6% in 2009 and will not return to its normal course until 2011.
Unemployment will continue to rise into the first quarter of 2010 and peak at 8.9%...."

IBISWorld is a business research and database provider to which USF subscribes. The company specializes in industry research reports. If you haven't taken a look at these reports, you can locate them from the main USF libraries page under the "databses by title/subject" link.

MBA entrepreneurs design baby incubator for poor nations

2009-01-22T09:26:00.002-05:00

Stanford University magazine reports on a group of Stanford MBA students from the "Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability" class who designed a non-electric incubator for underweight babies in poor nations. They formed a nonprofit organization, Embrace, which plans to sell the $25 incubator concept worldwide.

Read about their project and see photos of the design here.

Business etiquette and negotiation in China

2009-01-20T10:28:00.004-05:00

Two working papers addressing Chinese negotiation and business etiquette were recently posted to the Harvard Business School Working Knowledge newsletter website: "Cultural Notes on Chinese Negotiating Behavior" and "Etiquette and Process Puzzles of Negotiating Business in China: A Questionnaire". Both papers are by HBS professor James K. Sebenius and research associate Cheng (Jason) Qian. The second paper includes a questionnaire with 36 multiple choice questions on doing business in China. The questions themselves offer important issues to consider: establishing first contact; setting priorities; meeting times; greetings; socializing; and contract disputes. (Unfortunately, no answers are provided!).

New Books in Business and Economics, USFSP, Dec 8, 2008-Jan 9, 2009

2009-01-12T13:18:00.004-05:00

New BUSINESS and ECONOMICS books in the Poynter Library, USF-St Petersburg (in LC Call Number order, HB-HJ only)
December 8, 2008 – January 9, 2009

The following new business and economics books are kept on the “New Books” cart on the first floor in the library for a few weeks, and then moved to the circulating collection on the second floor, unless checked out…

Suzhou : where the goods of all the provinces converge / Michael Marmé.
HC428.S8 M37 2005

State of the world : a Worldwatch Institute report on progress toward a sustainable society.
HC59 .S766 2007

From the slave trade to 'free' trade : how trade undermines democracy and justice in Africa / edited by Patrick Burnett and Firoze Manji.
HC800 .F765 2007

Low-carbon energy : a roadmap / Christopher Flavin ; Lisa Mastny, editor ; Amanda Chiu, Researcher.
HD9502.A2 F528 2008

Mineral commodity summaries.
HD9506.U6 M56

African land questions, agrarian transitions and the state : contradictions of neo-liberal land reforms / Sam Moyo.
HD966 .M69 2008

Writing your resumé / Simon Howard.
HF5383 .H69 1999

The world's business cultures and how to unlock them / Barry Tomalin and Mike Nicks.
HF5389 .T66 2007

Marketing ethics / George G. Brenkert.
HF5415 .B637 2008

The international monetary system, the IMF, and the G-20 : a great transformation in the making? / [edited by] Richard Samans, Marc Uzan and Augusto Lopez-Claros.
HG3881 .I5715 2007

A more complete list of new books at the Poynter Library can be found here.

Please let me know if there are any particular publications that you would like to see in the library collection. Thank you,

Novels in business education...

2009-01-12T10:16:00.005-05:00

Reading novels in the business classroom has been promoted as way to better understand human behavior and explore business issues in a globalized society. For example, students at the Pace University business school in NYC read the novel "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri to explore immigration and adaptation to new cultures (BizEd, Nov/Dec 2007, p. 12).

I just read the novel, The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga and would highly recommend it for recreational reading or in the classroom. It's the story of self-proclaimed business entrepreneur Balram Halwai, born in the poorest "darkness" of India, and his rise to success. From the front cover: "Balram's eyes penetrate India as few outsiders can: the cockroaches and the call centers; the prostitutes and the worshippers; the ancient and Internet cultures; the water buffalo and, trapped in so many kinds of cages that escape is (almost) impossible, the white tiger..." This book is a must-read for anyone doing business in India and a powerful story for those seeking to better understand poverty, morality, and the new globalized world cultures.

We have a copy of the book in our Recreational Reading collection (shelved by author) on the first floor of the USFSP library (PR9619.4 .A35 W47 2008).

Household products database

2009-01-10T17:50:00.003-05:00

The "Household Products Database" from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is a useful database for both consumer and business information needs. The database includes health and safety information on household products such as cleaners, pesticides, home office, personal care, and automotive care. You can search or browse by product name, types of products, manufacturers, or ingredients. Direct links to the National Library of Medicine TOXNET database for toxicity information on specific ingredients is also provided.

So, if you need a list of products that contain "attapulgite"; or if you'd like to know if the Elmer's glue stick contains toxic ingredients, this database will answer those questions.

GAO report on financial regulatory system

2009-01-10T17:32:00.003-05:00

The GAO (Government Accountability Office) recently released a 107-page report, "Financial Regulation: A Framework for Crafting and Assessing Proposals to Modernize the Outdated U.S. Financial Regulatory System" (GAO-09-216, January 08, 2009). The report is currently posted on the main page of the GAO web site, by date. Rather than provide specific recommendations for reform, the report outlines the issues that need to be addressed.

"....To help policymakers better understand existing problems with the financial regulatory system and craft and evaluate reform proposals, this report (1) describes the origins of the current financial regulatory system, (2) describes various market developments and changes that have created challenges for the current system, and (3) presents an evaluation framework that can be used by Congress and others to shape potential regulatory reform efforts. ..."

The report includes review comments from organizations such as the American Bankers Association, the Consumers Union, FDIC, and the Mortgage Bankers Association.

You can also subscribe to receive email alerts of new GAO reports and publications on a daily or monthly basis.

Madoff and the price of lost trust....

2009-01-08T17:33:00.005-05:00

I think most of us were amazed by the reach and depth of the Bernard Madoff ponzi scheme -- $50 billion (!) -- as well as the duration of the con.

The Knowledge@Wharton newsletter recently discussed the Madoff case with two Wharton professors. The podcast and transcript can be accessed here. The brief analysis includes a discussion of the influence principles at play, the failure of regulation, the need for diversification and transparency, and the loss of trust. Loss of trust has a price:

"....Trust is like lubrication. It makes transactions easier, faster, cheaper. It fuels the economy, so we can trade. And we've lost some of that trust. So now the costs are going to go up. There's more friction, as we have to do more due diligence. I think that's necessary. And clearly, it was necessary before this. So perhaps the silver lining is that we're going to get back to these basic principles of oversight and diversification."

The email newsletter, Knowledge@Wharton is a useful resource for staying current with trends in business research.

"At Siemens, Bribery Was Just a Line Item "

2008-12-22T21:01:00.003-05:00

The New York Times recently ran an article discussing the global bribery case of German- based corporate giant Siemens AG. The breadth and depth of the bribery is astounding:

"....In Argentina, a different Siemens subsidiary paid at least $40 million in bribes to win a $1 billion contract to produce national identity cards. In Israel, the company provided $20 million to senior government officials to build power plants. In Venezuela, it was $16 million for urban rail lines. In China, $14 million for medical equipment. And in Iraq, $1.7 million to Saddam Hussein and his cronies...."

More astounding is how bribery is seen as commonplace for doing business globally:

"For his part, Mr. Siekaczek is uncertain about the impact of the Siemens case. After all, he said, bribery and corruption are still widespread.
“People will only say about Siemens that they were unlucky and that they broke the 11th Commandment,” he said. “The 11th Commandment is: ‘Don’t get caught.’ ” "

According to the article byline: "This article is a joint report by ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, PBS’s "Frontline" and The New York Times. A related documentary will be broadcast on “Frontline” on April 7."

2009 U.S. Statistical Abstract

2008-12-18T13:08:00.002-05:00

The new 2009 edition of the U.S. Statistical Abstract is now available, in print and electronically. This U.S. Census Bureau publication is arguably the #1 starting point for statistical information of any type. If you remember no other statistical resource, let this be the one. Here's the write-up from the Census Bureau:

The Statistical Abstract of the United States is the standard summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. It is also designed to serve as a guide to other statistical publications and sources. The latter function is served by the introductory text to each section, the source note appearing below each table, and Appendix I, which comprises the Guide to Sources of Statistics, the Guide to State Statistical Abstracts, and the Guide to Foreign Statistical Abstracts.

A press release included some sample statistics:

... the average length of stay for patients at community hospitals declined from 7.2 days in 1990 to 5.5 days in 2006. Yet over the same period, the average cost per patient stay climbed 81 percent, from $4,947 to $8,970....

Lottery sales increased from $51.6 billion in 2006 to $52.4 billion in 2007, with $29.7 billion in sales for instant scratch-off tickets. (Table 432)....

Violent crime per 100,000 people decreased from a rate of 597 in 1980 to
474 in 2006. The property crime rate in 1990, 5,353 per 100,000, decreased to 3,335 in 2006. (Table 295)....

IMF International Monetary Fund databases

2008-12-18T08:13:00.003-05:00

The USF Libraries recently acquired subscriptions to 3 IMF/International Monetary Fund databases that might be of particular interest to USFSP COB faculty and students. Here is the announcement we received:

International Financial Statistics Online is a standard source of international statistics on all aspects of international and domestic finance. It reports, for most countries of the world, current data needed in the analysis of problems of international payments and of inflation and deflation, i.e., data on exchange rates, international liquidity, international banking, money and banking, interest rates, prices, production, international transactions, government accounts, and national accounts. This database contains time series data from 1948 and contains approximately 32,000 time series covering more than 200 countries. One can browse the database, select series of interest, and display and save the selected series in a spreadsheet format, such as Microsoft Excel.

The Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS) present, for most member countries of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), current figures on the value of exports and imports with the most important trading partners, providing current figures for about 158 countries. Smaller countries appear in the area and world tables. The information on exports and imports by trading partners that countries report to the IMF varies in terms of frequency and currency. Reported data, including total imports and exports reported for publication in the IMF International Financial Statistics (IFS), are the basis of all estimates in DOTS. The entire DOTS database is continuously supplemented with estimates.

Balance of Payments Statistics summarizes, for a specific period, the economic transactions of an economy with the rest of the world. It reports total goods, services, factor income, and current transfers an economy receives from or provides to the rest of the world. The database contains time series data from 1948 and approximately 100,000 time series covering more than 170 countries and areas.

For these databases and other library resources visit http://www.lib.usf.edu. Click on Databases by Title/Subject to begin.

"The Future of the Internet" report from Pew Internet

2008-12-15T12:42:00.002-05:00

The Pew Internet and American Life Project recently released its third annual forecast of "The Future of the Internet”. "A survey of experts shows they expect major tech advances as the phone becomes a primary device for online access, voice-recognition improves, and the structure of the Internet itself improves. They disagree about whether this will lead to more social tolerance, more forgiving human relations, or better home lives."

Some of the findings include the following:

* "The mobile device will be the primary connection tool to the Internet for most people in the world in 2020.
* The transparency of people and organizations will increase, but that will not necessarily yield more personal integrity, social tolerance, or forgiveness.
* The divisions between personal time and work time and between physical and virtual reality will be further erased for everyone who’s connected, and the results will be mixed in terms of social relations."

See the full 138-page report for more details.

American Community Survey data from Census Bureau

2008-12-12T12:20:00.003-05:00

This month, the Census Bureau, through the American Community Survey program, released its first multi-year estimates (2005-07) for geographic areas with a population of 20,000 or more. The American Community Survey is an ongoing demographic survey conducted nationwide by the U.S. Census Bureau since 2000. The idea is to supplement the data provided by the decennial census with more current data, including data for smaller geographic areas.

So, for example, you can now find official 2005-07 population estimates for places such as Tarpon Springs, FL (23,074), that are more current than the 2000 census figures (21,003).

You can access the American Community Survey directly or through the American Factfinder database, which is also linked through the USF databases page. The USFSP library also has an online tutorial on using the American Factfinder database.

New Books in Business and Economics, USFSP, Nov 24 - Dec 5, 2008

2008-12-08T12:40:00.002-05:00

New BUSINESS and ECONOMICS books in the Poynter Library, USF-St Petersburg
(in LC Call Number order, HB-HJ only)
November 24 – December 5, 2008

The following new business and economics books are kept on the “New Books” cart on the first floor in the library for a few weeks, and then moved to the circulating collection on the second floor, unless checked out…

Reflections of a political economist : selected articles on government policies and political processes / William A. Niskanen.
HC106.83 .N57 2008

Economic policy options for a prosperous Nigeria / edited by Paul Collier, Chukwuma C. Soludo and Catherine Pattillo.
HC1055 .E2814 2008

Ethics of global development : agency, capability, and deliberative democracy / David A. Crocker.
HD75 .C76 2008

Cuba's sugar industry / José Alvarez and Lázaro Peña Castellanos ; foreword by John M. Kirk.
HD9114.C89 A6288 2001

The business of wine : a global perspective / Per V. Jenster ... [et al.].
HD9370.5 .B87 2008

Al-Jazeera : the inside story of the Arab news channel that is challenging the West / Hugh Miles.
HE8700.9.Q22 M55 2005

Africa rising : how 900 million African consumers offer more than you think / Vijay Mahajan ; with Robert E. Gunther.
HF3876.5 .M34 2009

Working world : careers in international education, exchange, and development / Sherry L. Mueller, Mark Overmann.
HF5382.7 .M84 2008

Ethics in finance / John R. Boatright.
HF5387 .B63 2008

The snowball : Warren Buffett and the business of life / Alice Schroeder.
HG172.B84 S37 2008

Beyond greed and fear : understanding behavioral finance and the psychology of investing / Hersh Shefrin.
HG4515.15 .S53 2002

Understanding government budgets : a practical guide / R. Mark Musell.
HJ2051 .M87 2009

A more complete list of new books at the Poynter Library can be found here.

Please let me know if there are any particular publications that you would like to see in the library collection. Thanks,

Google, free speech, technology....

2008-12-01T09:28:00.003-05:00

An article in today's NY Times entitled "Google's Gatekeepers" provides a good starting point for discussions about not only free speech, censorship, and new technologies, but also international business, cross-cultural concerns, privacy, and business and society. The article is focused on Nicole Wong and other key Google executives who make global public policy decisions:

"Given their clashing and sometimes self-contradictory missions — to obey local laws, repressive or not, and to ensure that information knows no bounds; to do no evil and to be everywhere in a sometimes evil world — Wong and her colleagues at Google seem to be working impressively to put the company’s long-term commitment to free expression above its short-term financial interests....."

BELL: The Business Ethics Links Library

2008-11-30T17:43:00.003-05:00

BELL: The Business Ethics Links Library is from the business school library at the University of Colorado at Boulder. While the database is ongoing and growing, there are also links to other web resources, including lists of related journals, business school programs, nonprofit organizations, and other relevant resources.

"BELL is a comprehensive starting point for research in corporate ethics and social responsibility. The database provides access to codes of ethics for U.S. companies and trade and professional associations, ethics sites at college and university business programs, industry information resources, and company promotion of social responsibility covering such topics as arts assistance, environmental clean up, charitable giving and community programming."

Analyst reports through LexisNexis

2008-11-25T16:52:00.006-05:00

Analyst reports (aka broker reports or investment reports) can be valuable resources when researching a publicly-held company. These company reports are written by firms such as Oppenheimer, William Blair, and Gabelli, to provide information for current and potential investors. The bottomline is the buy, hold, or sell recommendation for the stock, along with estimates of future performance. The reports are focused on financial and stock performance but also often include a good discussion of strategic direction and current issues affecting the company. Report length can range from 1-10 pages or more.

To access investment reports through the USF LexisNexis Academic subscription:
From the opening screen, click on the "business" tab at the top; and then "company profiles" on the left. On this search screen, type in the ticker symbol of the company you are researching and under "sources", scroll down and select "Investext Current Reports". You should be returned the two most current reports available for your company.

Analyst reports are also currently available through the Investext Plus database and the Business and Company Resource Center database.

New Books in Business and Economics, USFSP Nov 10-21, 2008

2008-11-25T15:01:00.002-05:00

New BUSINESS and ECONOMICS books in the Poynter Library, USF-St Petersburg
(in LC Call Number order, HB-HJ only)
November 10-21, 2008

The following new business and economics books are kept on the “New Books” cart on the first floor in the library for a few weeks, and then moved to the circulating collection on the second floor, unless checked out…

The credit crunch : housing bubbles, globalisation and the worldwide economic crisis / Graham Turner.
HB3722 .T87 2008

How rich countries got rich ... and why poor countries stay poor / Erik Reinert.
HC21 .R425 2007

The global economic system since 1945 / Larry Allen.
HC54 .A56 2005

Development redefined : how the market met its match / Robin Broad and John Cavanagh.
HC59.7 .B68846 2009

Unequal democracy : the political economy of the new gilded age / Larry M. Bartels.
HC106.5 .B347 2008

Green : your place in the new energy revolution / Jane Hoffman and Michael Hoffman.
HC110.E5 H625 2008

All the money in the world : how the Forbes 400 make-- and spend--their fortunes / edited by Peter W. Bernstein and Annalyn Swan.
HC110.W4 A436 2007

The new elite : inside the minds of the truly wealthy / Jim Taylor, Doug Harrison, and Stephen Kraus.
HC110.W4 T39 2009

Russia and globalization : identity, security, and society in an era of change / edited by Douglas W. Blum
HC340.12 R828 2008

Myanmar (Burma) since 1962 : the failure of development / Peter John Perry.
HC422 .P466 2007

The art of strategy : a game theorist's guide to success in business & life /Avinash K. Dixit, Barry J. Nalebuff.
HD30.28 .D587 2008

Getting it right : business requirement analysis tools and techniques / Kathleen B. Hass, Don J. Wessels, Kevin Brennan.
HD30.28 .H3824 2008

Philanthro-capitalism : how the rich can save the world / Matthew Bishop & Michael Green.
HD60.B52 2008

The search for social entrepreneurship / Paul C. Light.
HD60 .L544 2008

The entrepreneur's guide to writing business plans and proposals / K. Dennis Chambers.
HD62.5 .C423 2008

The agrarian dispute : the expropriation of American-owned rural land in postrevolutionary Mexico / John J. Dwyer.
HD1333.M6 D99 2008

The coolie speaks : Chinese indentured laborers and African slaves in Cuba / Lisa Yun.
HD4875.C9 Y86 2008

Demanding work : the paradox of job quality in the affluent economy / Francis Green.
HD6955 .G717 2006

Guanxi and business strategy : theory and implications for multinational companies in China / Eike A. Langenberg.
HD6957.C6 .L36 2007

America's food : what you don't know about what you eat / Harvey Blatt.
HD9005 .B628 2008

The banana : empires, trade wars, and globalization / James Wiley.
HD9259.B2 W52 2008

Energy security and climate change : a report to the Trilateral commission / John Deutch, Anne Lauvergeon, Widhyawan Prawiraatmadja.
HD9502.A2 D456 2007

Rising powers, shrinking planet : the new geopolitics of energy / Michael T. Klare.
HD9502.A2 K524 2008

Hell's cartel : IG Farben and the making of Hitler's war machine / Diarmuid Jeffreys.
HD9654.9.I5 J44 2008

Reasonable Rx : solving the drug price crisis / Stan Finkelstein, Peter Temin.
HD9666.4 .F55 2008

Planet Google : one company's audacious plan to organize everything we know / Randall Stross.
HD9696.8.U64 G667 2008

The Warhol economy : how fashion, art, and music drive New York City / Elizabeth Currid.
HD9999.C9473 N49 2007

The Official guide for GMAT review / from the Graduate Management Admission Council.
HF1118 .O33 2005

International political economy : an intellectual history / Benjamin J. Cohen.
HF1359 .C643 2008

International trade and labor standards : a proposal for linkage / Christian Barry and Sanjay G. Reddy.
HF1379 .B375 2008

New frontiers in free trade : globalization's future and Asia's rising role / Razeen Sally.
HF1714 .S25 2008

Accounting information systems : essential concepts and applications / Joseph W. Wilkinson, Michael J. Cerullo.
HF5679 .W523 1997

Wall Street : America's dream palace / Steve Fraser.
HG172.A2 F72 2008

Debating China's exchange rate policy / Morris Goldstein, Nicholas R. Lardy, editors.
HG3978 .D43 2008

The partnership : the making of Goldman Sachs / Charles D. Ellis.
HG4930.5 .E45 2008

A more complete list of new books at the Poynter Library can be found here.

Please let me know if there are any particular publications that you would like to see in the library collection....

LIFE and Google Image

2008-11-20T12:48:00.006-05:00

Many of you have likely used Google Image when searching for photos or pictures to include in your presentations or other projects. And the collection keeps growing.... Google and LIFE magazine just announced the "LIFE photo archive hosted by Google".

"Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google."

(Actually, it looks like the archive currently ends around 1980 but there are some wonderful images...)

You can search the LIFE photo archive directly, or, when running a standard Google Image Search, add the phrase "source:life" to limit your search to the collection.

Research from the GAO - Government Accounting Office

2008-11-13T09:41:00.003-05:00

Many U.S. government departments and agencies publish reports which are often overlooked as a source for business research. The GAO is one such example....

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, non-partisan agency known as "the investigative arm of Congress" and "the congressional watchdog." The GAO conducts research and analysis at the request of congressional committees or as mandated by public law. Reports are available on topics such as homeland security, healthcare, energy, environmental protection, financial institutions, and tax policy and administration. You can search or browse these reports by date, topic, or agency.

As an example of GAO research, one report from September 9, 2008, entitled "Private Equity: Recent Growth in Leveraged Buyouts Exposed Risks That Warrant Continued Attention", is available as a 133-page PDF report.

Kauffman Firm Survey - "the largest longitudinal survey of new businesses in the world"

2008-11-12T10:10:00.003-05:00

For students and researchers interested in entrepreneurship and new businesses in the U.S., the Kauffman Firm Survey is "the largest longitudinal survey of news businesses in the world."

"The Kauffman Firm Survey (KFS) is a panel study of 4,928 businesses founded in 2004 and tracked over their early years of operation. The survey focuses on the nature of new business formation activity; characteristics of the strategy, offerings, and employment patterns of new businesses; the nature of the financial and organizational arrangements of these businesses; and the characteristics of their founders.

Currently, data from the baseline survey, first, and second follow-up surveys are available for analysis. The third follow-up data will be released in spring 2009."

Analyses and reports using Kauffman survey data are available through the SSRN, Social Science Research Network, to which USF subscribes. You can also download a full report (PDF) of the baseline and first follow-up survey from March 2008.

New database "Global Road Warrior"

2008-11-10T13:02:00.002-05:00

USF now subscribes to the database "Global Road Warrior" - a useful resource for international business travel and etiquette. Here's the announcement:

Global Road Warrior is a resource from World Trade Press, a publisher that focuses on international trade, business relations, and business travel. The intent of Global Road Warrior is to foster international commerce and understanding by serving as practical and comprehensive reference tool. Taking a country by country approach, researchers can drill down to an array of content that ranges from content that can be easily found elsewhere such as facts about the country, climate, and geography to content that is uniquely contained within this resource. This unique content includes business etiquette in a country; stereotypes of the country as accepted by foreigners and stereotypes as accepted by the country; information specific to women on the “global road”; information on street crime, organized crime, and social unrest; typical food within the country; religious practices; language; lifecycles; and much more. While an invaluable tool for international business and marketing, this resource could prove useful in sociology, anthropology, women’s studies and more.

For this database and other library resources visit http://www.lib.usf.edu. Click on Databases by Title/Subject to begin.

New Books in Business and Economics, USFSP

2008-11-10T12:49:00.002-05:00

New BUSINESS and ECONOMICS books in the Poynter Library, USF-St Petersburg (in LC Call Number order, HB-HJ only)
October 27 – November 7, 2008

The following new business and economics books (includes recent donations) are kept on the “New Books” cart on the first floor in the library for a few weeks, and then moved to the circulating collection on the second floor, unless checked out…

The philosophy of economics : an anthology / edited by Daniel M. Hausman.
HB71 .P53 2008

Macroeconomics : principles, problems, and policies / Campbell R. McConnell, Stanley L. Brue.
HB171.5 .M473 2005

Microeconomics : an integrated approach / David A. Besanko, Ronald R. Braeutigam.
HB172 .B49 2002

Intermediate microeconomics : a modern approach / Hal R. Varian.
HB172 .V34 1993

Dangerous business : the risks of globalization for America / Pat Choate.
HC103 .C49 2008

The structure of American industry / Walter Adams, James W. Brock, editors.
HC106 .S85 2001

Blue-collar blues : is trade to blame for rising US income inequality? / Robert Z. Lawrence.
HC110.I5 L346 2008

Managerial economics : applications, strategy, and tactics / James R. McGuigan, R. Charles Moyer, Frederick H. deB. Harris.
HD30.22 .M32 2002

Managerial economics : theory, applications, and cases / Edwin Mansfield ... [et al.].
HD30.22 .M354 2002

Managerial economics in a global economy / Dominick Salvatore.
HD30.22 .S247 2004

Outsourcing sovereignty : why privatization of government functions threatens democracy and what we can do about it / Paul R. Verkuil.
HD3861.U6 V47 2007

Labor economics / George J. Borjas.
HD4901 .B674 1996

Illegal people : how globalization creates migration and criminalizes immigrants / David Bacon.
HD8081.A5 B33 2008

Yali's question : sugar, culture, and history / Frederick Errington & Deborah Gewertz ; with a foreword by Anthony T. Carter.
HD9116.P264 R353 2004

Night fire : big oil, poison air, and Margie Richard's fight to save her town / Ronnie Greene.
HD9568.N67 G74 2008

Business statistics demystified / Steven M. Kemp, Sid Kemp.
HF1017 .K43 2004

Children and consumer culture in American society : a historical handbook and guide / edited by Lisa Jacobson.
HF5415.33.U6 C53 2008

Offshore outsourcing of IT work : client and supplier perspectives / Mary C. Lacity and Joseph W. Rottman.
HF5548.2 .L228 2008

Ben Bernanke's Fed : the Federal Reserve after Greenspan / Ethan S. Harris.
HG2563 .H34 2008

A more complete list of new books at the Poynter Library can be found here.

Please let me know if there are any particular publications that you would like to see in the library collection. Thank you,
Marcy

An LED-based communication network...

2008-11-06T10:03:00.003-05:00

Some interesting possibilities for wireless communications from Cellular News in "Lightbulbs Could Replace Wi-Fi Hotspots":

"Boston University's College of Engineering is launching a program, under a National Science Foundation grant, to develop the next generation of wireless communications technology based on visible light instead of radio waves. Researchers expect to piggyback data communications capabilities on low-power light emitting diodes, or LEDs, to create "Smart Lighting" that would be faster and more secure than current network technology."

U.S. Census Bureau - Manufacturing, Mining and Construction Reports

2008-11-04T10:28:00.006-05:00

Most USFSP business students are familiar with the American Fact Finder database from the U.S. Census Bureau for locating general demographic, social and economic characteristics of the U.S. population. The MCD - Manufacturing and Construction Division - is another division of the U.S. Census Bureau with a wealth of statistics for business research projects. Here you'll find construction statistics such as new residential permits and sales, the Construction Price Index, and Characteristics of New Housing (e.g., square footage, number of bathrooms, etc.). You'll also find manufacturing statistics such as the CIR-Current Industrial Reports, which provide monthly, quarterly, and annual production and shipment data on selected products manufactured in the U.S. (textiles, paints, aircraft engines, etc.) Government statistics are essential starting points for most industry and marketing research.

"Green" MBA Programs...

2008-11-03T10:27:00.002-05:00

NetImpact published its third annual "Business as UNusual Guide", which surveys students and then profiles and rates MBA programs on social and environmental themes. GreenBiz.com has a brief article about the report, which is over 200 pages (and free).

Immigrant "brain waste"

2008-10-28T10:30:00.002-04:00

According to a new report from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI),

"More than 1.3 million college-educated immigrants living in the United States are unemployed or working as taxi drivers, dishwashers, security guards or in other unskilled jobs because they are unable to make full use of their academic and professional credentials..."

The press release also provides a link to the full 70-page report, Uneven Progress: The Employment Pathways of Skilled Immigrants in the United States.

New Books in Business and Economics, USFSP

2008-10-27T15:50:00.003-04:00

New BUSINESS and ECONOMICS books in the Poynter Library, USF-St Petersburg (in LC Call Number order, HB-HJ only)
October 13-24, 2008

The following new business and economics books are kept on the “New Books” cart on the first floor in the library for a few weeks, and then moved to the circulating collection on the second floor, unless checked out…

Cold intimacies : the making of emotional capitalism / Eva Illouz.
HB501 .I565 2007

The bridge at the edge of the world : capitalism, the environment, and crossing from crisis to sustainability / James Gustave Speth.
HC79.E5 S6652 2008

Capital, power, and inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean / edited by Richard L. Harris and Jorge Nef.
HC125 .C32 2008

Hitler's beneficiaries : plunder, racial war, and the Nazi welfare state / Götz Aly ; translated by Jefferson Chase.
HC286.4 .A613 2007

How the Chinese economy works / by Rongxing Guo.
HC427.92 .G86 2007

India arriving : how this economic powerhouse is redefining global business / Rafiq Dossani.
HC435.3 .D67 2008

Managing for stakeholders : survival, reputation, and success / R. Edward Freeman, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Andrew C. Wicks.
HD31 .F752 2007

Linking education policy to labor market outcomes / Tazeen Fasih.
HD5852 .F376 2008

The gender impact of social security reform / Estelle James, Alejandra Cox Edwards, and Rebeca Wong.
HD6080 .J36 2008

Beyond the fields : Cesar Chavez, the UFW, and the struggle for justice in the 21st century / Randy Shaw.
HD6515.A292 U548 2008

No small change : pension funds and corporate engagement / Tessa Hebb.
HD7105.45.U6 H43 2008

The Federal Communications Commission : front line in the culture and regulation wars / Kimberly A. Zarkin and Michael J. Zarkin.
HE7781 .Z367 2006

Taking Southeast Asia to market : commodities, nature, and people in the neoliberal age / edited by Joseph Nevins and Nancy Lee Peluso.
HF1040.9.A785 T35 2008

Choose and focus : Japanese business strategies for the 21st century / Ulrike Schaede.
HF1601 .S34 2008

Kiss, bow, or shake hands. Latin America : how to do business in 18 Latin American countries /Terri Morrison and Wayne A. Conaway.
HF5389.3.L3 M67 2007

Kiss, bow, or shake hands : Asia : how to do business in 12 Asian countries / Terri Morrison and Wayne A. Conaway.
HF5389 .M667 2007

How to measure anything : finding the value of "intangibles" in business / Douglas W. Hubbard.
HF5681.I55 H83 2007

Almanac of business and industrial financial ratios / Leo Troy.
HF5681.R25 T68

Capitals of capital : a history of international financial centres, 1780-2005 / Youssef Cassis ; translated by Jacqueline Collier
HG3881 .C33413 2006

Principles of managerial finance / Lawrence J. Gitman.
HG4011 .G5 1985

A history of the global stock market : from ancient Rome to Silicon Valley / B. Mark Smith.
HG4551 .S568 2004

A more complete list of new books at the Poynter Library can be found here.

Please let me know if there are any particular publications that you would like to see in the library collection. Thank you,
Marcy
email: mcarrel@nelson.usf.edu

"globalEDGE Business Review"

2008-10-23T09:44:00.005-04:00

globalEDGE Business Review is an e-newsletter published by the globalEDGE group at Michigan State University. Each month, the newsletter features concise 2-page articles on international business topics. For example, Volume 2 (2008) includes articles on CAFTA, fair trade, and running a global corporation.

You can also register to receive the globalEDGE newsletter (free) via email. GlobalEDGE offers country profiles, news, and links to international business resources from many sources.

Corporate Social Responsibility - Forbes.com

2008-10-21T10:06:00.002-04:00

This special report on Corporate Social Responsibility from Forbes.com includes rankings of companies on charitable giving and links to related articles such as "The History of Doing Good" and "Six Figure Green Jobs".

"How the Credit Crisis Could Forge a New Financial Order"

2008-10-16T15:59:00.002-04:00

From the October 15, 2008 issue of Knowledge@Wharton, "How the Credit Crisis Could Forge a New Financial Order" predicts:

"Individuals and businesses will have a harder time getting loans in coming years, but also may be less eager to take on debt. There will be "more" financial regulation or "better" regulation, but definitely not less regulation. There will be intense efforts to see what is going on inside previously opaque areas like hedge funds, derivative markets and subsidiaries set up to evade restrictions...."

The article also provides links to other related articles on the financial crisis...

New Books in Business and Economics, USFSP

2008-10-14T13:34:00.000-04:00

New BUSINESS and ECONOMICS books in the Poynter Library, USFSP
(in LC Call Number order, HB-HJ only)
September 22 – October 10, 2008

The following new business and economics books are kept on the “New Books” cart on the first floor in the library for a few weeks, and then moved to the circulating collection on the second floor, unless checked out…

A floating city of peasants : the great migration in contemporary China / Floris-Jan van Luyn ; translated from the Dutch by Jeannette K. Ringold.
HB2114.A3 L8913 2008

Bad money : reckless finance, failed politics, and the global crisis of American capitalism / Kevin Phillips.
HC106.7 .P52 2008

Hispanic customers for life : a fresh look at acculturation / M. Isabel Valdés.
HC110.C6 V34 2008

Saga of African underdevelopment : a viable approach for Africa's sustainable development in the 21st century / Tetteh A. Kofi & Asayehgn Desta.
HC800.Z9 E5475 2008

Reinventing project management : the diamond approach to successful growth and innovation / Aaron J. Shenhar, Dov Dvir.
HD69.P75 S493 2007

Land, protest, and politics : the landless movement and the struggle for agrarian reform in Brazil / Gabriel Ondetti.
HD1333.B6 O53 2008

Visions of black economic empowerment / edited by Gill Marcus ... [et al.].
HD2358.S6 V57 2007

Global brands : the evolution of multinationals in alcoholic beverages / Teresa da Silva Lopes.
HD9350.5 .L66 2007

Petrostate : Putin, power, and the new Russia / Marshall I. Goldman.
HD9502.R82 G65 2008

Tupperware, unsealed : Brownie Wise, Earl Tupper, and the home party pioneers / Bob Kealing.
HD9662.C664 T865 2008

Economic tsunami : China's car industry will sweep away western car makers / Kevin Baker ; foreword
HD9710.C52 B35 2007

The geography of the world economy / Paul Knox, John Agnew and Linda McCarthy.
HF1025 .K573 2008

Business in Kenya : institutions and interactions / edited by Dorothy McCormick, Patrick O. Alila, Mary Omosa.
HF3893.Z5 B87 2007

The speed of trust : the one thing that changes everything / Stephen M.R. Covey with Rebecca R. Merrill.
HF5387 .C677 2006

Futures markets : 200 questions & answers / by Sunil K. Parameswaran and Shantaram P. Hegde.
HG6024.A3 P36 2007

Origins of American health insurance : a history of industrial sickness funds / John E. Murray.
HG9396 .M87 2007

A more complete list of new books at the Poynter Library can be found here.

Please let me know if there are any particular publications that you would like to see in the library collection. Thank you,
Marcy

Marcy Carrel
727/873-4404
email: mcarrel@nelson.usf.edu

digital quality of life...

2008-10-14T10:56:00.000-04:00

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation recently published a 185-page report entitled "Digital Quality of Life: Understanding the Personal and Social Benefits of the Information Technology Revolution." Last year, the report looked at IT as the principal driver of economic growth in the U.S. and other nations. This year, the report finds that "IT is the key enabler of many, if not most, of today’s key innovations and improvements in our lives and society—from better education and health care, to a cleaner and more energy-efficient environment, to safer and more secure communities and nations."

The ITIF is a think tank "whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washington and in the states."

From the ITIF web site, you can locate other research and reports on technology and IT policies. For example, a report dated September 11, 2008, compares the technology and innovation policies for the two presidential candidates, McCain and Obama.