Library Guides: MBA 798/799: External Environment & Economic Trends

Identifying Trends in the External Environment

External environment analysis is useful in identifying trends that impact a business and its ability to operate - and can also reveal new market opportunities. The sources below are 'best bet' tools for this kind of research.

Business Source Complete
Access full-text content from scholarly journals, trade publications, company profiles, industry reports, and magazines across business disciplines.
Access full-text articles from thousands of scholarly business journals, magazines, and trade journals from the fields of marketing, management, accounting, finance, and economics. Plus company and industry profiles, SWOT analyses, country economic reports, financial data, and investment reports. This database includes rigorous curation and indexing of open access (OA) journals. Full-text non-journal content includes company profiles, informational records, case studies, industry reports, business executive interviews, working papers, and over 75,000 videos from the Associated Press.
IBISWorld
Industry research database providing comprehensive industry reports for NAICS and specialized industries, including performance metrics, product and market trends, statistics, and detailed information for competitive and external environment analysis.
This industry research database contains reports on industries in the China, Global, and U.S. markets. The U.S. content is further subdivided into: Industry Reports classified by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), Specialized Industry Reports for industries not adequately covered by NAICS, US Industry State Reports, US State Economic Profiles, US Industry iExpert Summaries, US Specialized Industry iExpert Summaries, US Business Environment Profiles, and US Business Environment State Profiles. Global industry reports are strong in the manufacturing sector. Each report contains an “at a glance” overview (including SWOT analysis), performance data, outlook data, products & markets analysis, competitive landscape analysis, lists of major companies, operating conditions, and key statistics. Statistics include financial ratios and industry averages from the Risk Management Association.
Legal Collection
Access full-text legal publications, including law journals, case studies, and reports, covering various aspects of law and legal studies.
This source provides information on current issues, studies, thoughts, and trends of the legal world via law journals, documents, and case studies. Full-text access is provided to more than 140 journals. Subjects covered include administrative, antitrust, business, constitutional, criminal, family, intellectual property, insurance, landlord/tenant, and tax law; food, drug, and cosmetic law; internet and information science law; sports and entertainment law; banking; estate planning; domestic relations; legal librarianship; non-profit and multinational corporations; patent and trademark; probate; securities; and trade regulation.
Mintel Academic Access
Market reports providing insights & analysis on consumer behavior, market trends, product innovations, & industry opportunities, offering data to support academic research & business strategies.
Search reports, industry trends, expert insights, and national & international news to analyze market drivers, sizes & trends, market segmentation, and consumer attitudes & purchasing habits for the United States and European marketplaces. Filter searches by global regions, trend drivers (experiences, identity, rights, etc.), demographics (ex. age range / generation, marital status), or category (health & nutrition, retail & apparel, travel, leisure & entertainment, and more). Each report combines data and analysis of the competitive landscape, supply chain, market-share size and trends, and consumer profiles.
NetAdvantage
A professional company and financial research platform offering in-depth company profiles, industry reports, analysis tools, and data on stocks, industries, and economic indicators to support investment and business decisions.
Updated daily. Provides a comprehensive, professional source of investment information and analysis on industries and companies. Full text coverage includes stock, bond, and mutual fund guides and reports; earnings and dividends reports; comprehensive company information; industry surveys for 52 major U.S. industries; and directories of companies, executives and security dealers

Pew Research Center Social & Demographic Trends

Analyzing Economic Trends

The statistical information needed for economic trends analysis is largely available on the open internet. A wide array of U.S. and international economic data is published by government entities and international agencies such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Commonly used sources of data are linked below.

Beige Book
The Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District, also known as the Beige Book, is a report published 8 times a year providing information on current economic conditions by District. Information includes summaries of anecdotal reports of consumer spending and labor market.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) compiles extensive data on gross domestic product (GDP), personal income, and corporate profits.
U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
The CBO produces independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues, providing recurring economic forecasts, budget reviews, projections for Social Security, analysis of federal debt, and more.
U.S. Economy at a Glance: BLS
National and state-level data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, including unemployment, payroll and earnings information, and price indices.
Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED)
Trusted source for economic data. Download, graph, and track 817,000 US and international time series from 108 sources.
globalEDGE
World Bank Open Data
Economic profiles of over 200 countries and data related to international socioeconomic development.