Cambridge Judge Business School

Information, data, and support during your MStKatie Hughes @KatherineAnneH

k.hughes@jbs.cam.ac.uk

email: infolib@jbs.cam.ac.uk

MFin – Equity Research Project

Cambridge Judge Business School

today’s session

• website tour• effective Google searching• database demos • ten tips & techniques• types of support available

Information & Library Services

tour time

https://flic.kr/p/7a1pmx

tour time

https://flic.kr/p/7a1pmx

The CJBS website can be found at: http://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/faculty-research/information

-library-services/

Cambridge University library catalogue:http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/camlibraries/catalogues.html

time to... explore the data

...think about evaluating information and ideas

https://www.flickr.com/photos/_pichenettes_/4097104870/

how much of the web does

index?

0.3%

information that you can rely on

So how do you access the

99.7%?https://www.flickr.com/photos/rietje/76566707/

More data than you’ll ever have again

UK trends and economy

Exports:Exports represented just 15.3% of GDP in 2015, a much lower level than in other large EU member states. Exports (in dollars) fell by 9.8% in 2015 while gains of 4.3% are forecast in 2016.

Employment: The services sector accounts for 78.7% of GDP. The services sector will continue to be the main engine of UK growth for both output and employment, with manufacturing growth having slowed due to renewed stagnation in key European export markets.

Higher education:The UK’s 2015 higher education rate was the seventh highest in the world. This rate rose steadily since 2010, as the job market increasingly requires people that have attained higher education. However, costs per year to obtain higher education are rising and are expected to rise further, as the government plans to raise the ceiling for annual tuition fees of £9,000 in 2016 for domestic students. This could potentially make access to higher education difficult;.

Infrastructure:National Infrastructure Delivery Plan (2016-2021) was commissioned by the government, with over £12.6 billion to be invested in improving the infrastructural competitiveness of the economy. This would further reinforce the competitiveness of the UK business environment..

R&D:Expenditure on R&D was lower than certain countries of the developed world, such as France, Germany and the USA. The government has been investing in R&D via initiatives, such as Innovate UK since 2007, which was allocated a budget of £1.5 billion for 2015-16.

Source: Euromonitor

Business Source Complete: Great database for academic journals, publications, company profiles, and news.

IBIS World: In-depth industry reports incl. supply chain, key success factors, competitive landscape, outlook. Cool graphics.

Factiva: Global news. All the major UK newspapers, trade magazines and newswires. Indexed company and industry content.

Databases 1 - Summary

tips and techniques

10. That expensive market research reportYep those expensive reports do exist, but... we don’t have a spare £16,000 lying around just for your assignment. Sorry. Not sorry.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rgt3/4457946751/

9. Great Google searches – using inbuilt search functionality

Don’t just ‘basic search’Search tools: sort by date, sort by relevance, narrow by countryfiletype: .pdf, .ppt, .xlssite: .edu, .govdefine: DSCRstocks: IBM

https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/2531535355/

8. it might not be the database...

8. zero results? it might not be the database that sucks...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/proimos/4199675334

7. quality in-depth reliable research takes a long time

https://www.flickr.com/photos/45605988@N03/5713582241

7. quality in-depth reliable research takes a long time

you can’t get all the data from just one or two sources, you need to cast your net wider (think supermarket shopping)don’t expect to be able to find everything you need immediately

build in contingency time

don’t duplicate activity

https://www.flickr.com/photos/45605988@N03/5713582241

6. search strategy

your results will only be as good as your search strategystop using just one keyword!brainstorm a list of keywords and synonymsread widely to familiarise yourself with the language used in your sector

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikechen-metalman/4586185761/

5. Evaluating data/triangulation triangulation: ‘two (or more) methods are used in a study in order to check the results’

approach the data you locate with an enquiring mind

can you rely on the source?

can you follow their argument?

can the research be corroborated?

if the data looks wildly different between sources, can you work out why ?

4. Comparables and proxiessome of the data you need may not be available (or only available at a price we/you can’t afford)you can get around this by identifying a similar... industry/company/market/country (there are more parallels than you’d expect between wildly different sectors)

3. gaps and problems as opportunities

https://www.flickr.com/photos/chalo84/5657162521

gaps and problems point up opportunities- gaps for new research/markets/productsby identifying gaps you can offer solutions or identify areas for further researche.g. unable to fit furniture into a car (IKEA)e.g. expensive phone calls to family members abroad (What’s App)e.g. ugly computer interfaces(Apple) e.g. no-one punting beyond September (Scudamores themed punting)

2. don’t leave the references until the endbe organized – note down page numbers for direct quotes

the more you do in the beginning the less headaches you will have at the end

1. don’t go it aloneplay to your strengths

work smart

exploit the premium data and analysis available to you

leverage your existing contacts

https://www.flickr.com/photos/e3000/256560692/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/keoni101/5145003933/

Access anywhere (provided you have your RavenPassword)

Academic use only

https://flic.kr/p/7EtvYA

Academic use only

https://flic.kr/p/7EtvYA

The databases are strictly for private, non-commercial, research purposes only.

You can browse the databases online as much as you like but please refrain from downloading more than 25

reports from a single database in 24 hours.

Please do not post any PDFs on the VLE as this will break our copyright agreements (posting the link is fine).

support... the team

1-2-1 and small group teaching

Referencing Support