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Getting Started:
- Passport - A consumer goods and services database. This resource will give you information on all aspects of your macroenvironmental analysis.
- The Conference Board of Canada - Get economic outlook reports for Canada, provinces and metropolitan areas. Find reports on how technology and regulation are affecting industry. Reports must be accessed on campus.
- Business Source Complete -Look for country and industry reports. Select Country report or Industry Profile under publication type. Then enter your search terms and search.
- OMNI Main Library Search - Find scholarly, business and popular resources.
Government Bodies, Industry Associations and Trade Journals
Use Google to identify relevant government bodies industry associations and trade journals, which may have information on macroenvironmental factors. Examples include:
Industry Association
- Natural Products Canada
- Alternative Proteins Canada
- Protein Industries Canada
- Center for Environmental Sustainability through Insect Farming
Government
Look for Reports from Consulting Firms
Major consulting firms publish reports on trends affecting an industry. These include Macro Environmental factors. Major consulting firms include:
Canadian Demographics
Census of Population (2021/2016) - Demographic - Main Source of Demographic information in Canada. Counts every man, woman and child in Canada and Canadians and their families working abroad for the federal and provincial government. Takes place every 5 years in years ending in 1 and 6 - 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016
Statistics Canada - Demographic and Cultural - Reports and analysis that includes behavioural data.
Passport - Demographic and Cultural
Conference Board - Cultural Data on consumer confidence.
ESRI Business Analyst - Demographic and Cultural - Allows you to create demographic and psychographic profiles based on a selected area in a map.
Attitudinal:
2018-19 Survey of Canadians on Privacy
Search the following for polls and information on attitudes of Canadians:
Conference Board of Canada e-Library
Find - economic trends and forecasting at federal, provincial and municipal levels in Canada
- consumer and business confidence
- industry reports
EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit) - provides national economic data and forecasting as well as disposable income for countries from around the world.
globalEdge (Michigan State University - Broad College of Business)
Passport - Contains sustainability country reports. To access these mouse over Economies in the tip menu. Select Sustainability. Scroll down on the page until you see Country Reports Select Sustainability in Select a Category and Canada in Select a Geography.
Library Databases
Gartner Research - Research reports on technology and IT. Please note Carleton does not have access to all the reports in this resource.
Passport - Search relevant keywords in the search box for trends and new products.
- Top Five Digital Consumer Trends in 2018
explore the View Statistics for data - Technology as a Megatrend Driver 2018
Major Consulting Firms
Magazine and Newspaper Articles
"The State of PAYMENT" Restaurant Business. Sep2018, Vol. 117 Issue 9, p31-34
Trade and popular titles are very useful for industry news, new products, technology, innovations, and trends in a field.
Can you tell the difference between trade or popular journals, scholarly journals and newpapers?
Examples of trade and popular titles available through Business Source Complete
- Electronics Weekly
- Supermarket News
- Marketing News (available online only)
- Advertising Age (available in print and online)
- Marketing
- Electronics Magazine
- Industry Week
Search for articles in trade journals, newspapers, and scholarly titles on your topic using online databases. Many databases will have a button that allows you to limit your search to scholarly or non-scholarly materials.
Recommended databases:
- Business Source Complete - Allows segmentation of results by type of resource. Do a search on your product, company or industry.
- Canadian Business and Current Affairs -provides full text to Canadian business journals and magazines.
- Ei Engineering Village
- Factiva -provides access to global newspapers, trade journals plus scholarly and non-scholarly journals. Full-text of the Globe and Mail and the Wall Street Journal are found here.
Lobbyists (industry associations) are the interface between government and business. They work for the best interests of the industry and try to persuade governments to support them on issues.
Industry associations often provide information and data to the public. To find the relevant association(s) for your industry, search google for the industry + country + association. A few examples:
Many non-governmental organizations are critics of the industry. They act as a watchdog for the public and lobby governments to be diligent in overseeing the activities of an industry. To find relevant NGOs, search google by keyword(s) + protection or organization. A few examples:
- The Cornucopia Institute
- Bureau of Consumer Protection | Federal Trade Commission (search e-commerce)
- Organic Consumers Association
-
Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) (Canada)
Think tanks are independent, nonpartisan, public policy research institutes that are often non-profit such as the C.D.Howe Institute, Macdonald-Laurier Institute, American Enterprise Institute, Brookings Institute, etc. They do not have an agenda as many NGOs have, but conduct research and analysis on current issues and topics. Harvard Kennedy School provides a searchable database of over 600 listings.
Legal Environment
In Canada the regulatory framework plays an important role
- Office of the Privacy Comissioner of Canada
- Regulations (Canada Business Network)
- Industry Sector Intelligence example - Consumer products - see Regulations and standards in the side-bar
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency
- Agriculture and Food Market Information by Region
- BizPal (all levels of government)
- Canlii (Canadian Legal Information Institute) - access to the full text of federal and provincial/territorial statutes and regulations
- Small Business: Advice, Support Services, Regulations (Ontario)
International
Search the business literature and business news sources for information on companies and articles on trends within an industry.
If the company is publicly traded, you may find a SWOT analysis
- Go to Business Source Complete and search for your company name. Scroll down and limit by Company Report and SWOT Analysis.
- Try Passport. Select Companies from the top tab and key in your company name. Select relevant segment and open the profile. Look in the table of contents for a SWOT analysis.
Look to the company's website for valuable information: Read the Management Discussion and Analysis - (MD&A) section of the Annual Report or 10k. Read the letter to the shareholders from the CEO in the company's annual report.
Look for information on the industry
Begin by selecting Industries on the top toolbar.
Example: Consumer Foodservice
Explore the reports: The Future of the Meal: Mapping a New Fresh Food Economy
Scroll down to Country Reports and choose the category
Consumer Foodservice - provides aggregate analysis, data and statistics on food service
Full-Service Restaurants
Next, Select a Geography - USA
Look for valuable information and data from trade associations
Google the industry + country + associations to find trade associations
Additional company and industry data can be found
- Factiva Mouse over Companies/Markets from menu bar at top of page. Key in the company or select industry from the list provided. Published profiles are found under Analysis and Profiles from menu on left.
- Conference Board of Canada e-Library Browse by topic -> Industry Sector Economics for industry profiles or enter industry name in the search box.
- CardOnline Canadian Advertising Rates and Data
- Passport
Look for articles and podcasts to find advertising trends and strategies. Search by keywords.
For example - using the search box, search keywords marketing or advertising to find:- Generation Z: The Next Wave of Consumers
- The Rise of Food & Drink E-Commerce: Digital Baskets Replace Supermarket Trolleys
- Survey Results: 8 Global Consumer Types for Marketing in 2018
- The Ungendered: Marketing to a Non-Binary Generation
- Shifting Market Frontiers August 2017
- Special Report: Online Advertising Surges in Developing and Emerging Markets While TV Advertising Remains Popular
- Marketing to Inbound Travellers: Strategies For Canadian Retailers
- Conference Board in Canada
- Browse by Topic to see Marketing reports
- Browse reports in Passport under Consumers - Digital Consumer
- Interactive Advertising Bureau
- Business Source Complete - Trade publications on marketing
Online Advertising
- Business Source Complete - Indexes, business news magazines, and scholarly journals.
- Factiva - (Globe and Mail, The Economist, and The Wall Street Journal live here)
- Canadian Business & Current Affairs - Provides full text to Canadian business journals and magazines.
- Canadian Newstream - Access to over 280 Canadian news sources
- Eureka.cc - Covers papers and media sources from small towns and communities
- PressReader - Provides pdf access to newspapers from 97 countries in over 55 languages. The collection currently has over 2,300 titles.
- Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe - Canada
Trade journals are indexed in Business Source Complete.
Look for titles relevant to your industry or to marketing.
The following business news and magazines are available online through the Library catalog:
- Canadian Business
- The Economist
- Financial Times (London)
- Forbes
- Fortune
- The Globe and Mail
- National Post Online (includes the Financial Post)
- Wall Street Journal
From the internet
Also, use Passport for industry news.
Citing your sources
It is essential to understand how and when to use citations in your essays and projects to ensure the Academic Integrity of your work. Good help is available!
- Research and Citation - Guides to citation styles from OWL.
- APA from OWL
- Chicago from OWL
- APA Citation For Business - York University
- Chicago for Business - McMaster University
- Citing Your Sources - Carleton's general guide to resources on all the main styles including video links.
- The Chicago Manual of Style Online
- Citation Guide - A guide to citing business resources in Chicago from Western University.
- Citing Data & Statistics
