COM400 - Strategic management

• Use library databases to find industry overview reports, these cover many aspects of Porter's five forces and PESTEL analysis. 
• Search the web for information created by/for those working in your industry. Look for government websites, industry associations, professional research firms, economic commissions, incubators, and industry specific (trade) publications. See Business Guide | Industry Research page for examples. 
• Search for news or other articles to complement or update reports you've found with the most current industry trends, projections, overall economic conditions, and social factors.

• Look for information created by the company (website, annual report and other documents, advertising, etc.) to get a sense of their actions, operations, strategy, and culture.
• Use library databases to check for company profiles, use these to collect basic information about a company and understand the organizational and historical context. 
• Search for news or other articles to find information written about the company by others (reporters, customers, analysts, etc.)

Looking at relevant industry reports will help you identify competition and how your company is performing in the industry compared to others, it will also help you with some aspects of the PESTEL and five forces analysis.

News is sometimes our only source of external information about a small or private company. News or interviews with CEOs can provide really current and up to date information about a company’s performance, products, problems, actions, and strategy or the most current industry trends, projections, overall economic conditions, and social factors.

• Publications that report/provide opinion on business or industry topics (Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, etc.) 

• Business Source Complete 

• NexisUni

• News databases (depends on your country/region) & Google News

• A general internet search to capture interviews with individuals via podcasts, video, or social media - make sure to evaluate & be critical!

Several library databases provide access to company profiles, use these to understand the organizational context and collect basic information.

Start with the website of the company you are researching. A public company listed on the stock exchange will have a lot of investor information including:

• financials & filings -- especially the company's annual report

• board & executives

• strategy & reporting presentations

• news/press releases + social media/blogs

• stock information

• analyst coverage

• initiatives such as sustainability, EDI, employee engagement etc.

Note: It can be much harder to find information about a smaller, private, or international company.

Learn how to cite ChatGPT and other AI tools using the following guide: