BUEC Buzz

OK, this isn’t really business or economics related (although, really, isn’t everything about bus/econ…?), but it sounds so cool that I wanted to share:

The SFU Library and SFU Public Square, in co-operation with Vancouver’s US consulate, invite you to an intimate dialogue with Mark and Cora Lijek, two of six Americans represented in the 2013 *Best Picture* Argo. The Lijeks will tell their story of the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis, when they took refuge with staff of the Canadian Embassy in Tehran and fled Iran with CIA assistance. A moderated Q&A and book signing will follow.

Mark Lijek recounts the experience in his recent book The Houseguests: A Memoir of Canadian Courage and CIA Sorcery.

Thursday, 16 May 2013, 7:00 PM

SFU Surrey, Room 2600 (Westminster Savings Lecture Theatre)

The event is FREE, but registration is required.

I remember the news stories at the time, and I saw the movie — I’d love to hear a version with less media, government, and Hollywood filtering.

I was researching Sun Rype (“a Canadian juice and fruit snack company based in Kelowna, BC“) recently and noticed that my explorations were taking me into a very wide range of our resources.  I thought I’d post about the things I found as a way of highlighting some of our more obscure resources (plus some that I hope you all know!).

A. Starting off with our core Business journal/magazine database: Business Source Complete

A quick search for Sun Rype in the Company Name field gets me just over 20 hits, most from BC Business, Canadian Business, and Marketing Magazine.  Not that many hits, but broadening the search out to all articles with either Fruit juice or Fruit drinks in the Subject field gives me thousands of articles, many of which touch on trends and competitors. (Did you know there are some new caffeinated juices on the market?)

Publications on my initial result list range from business news (Forbes, etc.) to industry publications such as Nutraceuticals World and Beverage World.  And there are many industry profiles such as this global one, and this one focused on the United States.

B. The mention of things like caffeinated juices and nutraceuticals in my initial Business Source searches gets me thinking about Business Insights, a database of marketing  strategy reports (all from 2012 or earlier – no updates, I’m afraid).

A quick search for juices and I find:

1. a 106-page report from 2010 on “Innovations in Fruit and Vegetable Juices: Emerging opportunities in premiumization, sustainability and positive health“; and
2. a 109-page report from 2008 on “Emerging Opportunities in Fruit and Vegetable Juices: New markets, key innovation trends and development of health brands“.

C. And now over to our main marketing database for fast-moving-consumer-goods: Passport GMID

Passport GMID is almost too rich on this topic to summarize the results.  A few quick searches for things like Sun Rype or juice and I find:

1. a beautiful dashboard on fruit/vegetable markets in Canada and globally: Market size, growth rates, and more in one interactive image;
2. detailed stats (often with forecasts) on the company & brand shares, distribution methods, pricing, ingredients, and market size by volume and value, again for both Canada and dozens of other countries;
3. a recent briefing (14 pages) on Fruit/Vegetable Juice in Canada (trends, competitive landscape, etc.), as well as reports on related areas: bottled water, concentrates, carbonates, etc.;
4. global reports and articles on trends in juice ingredients and packaging; and
5. company reports on hundreds of fruit juice companies, including Sun Rype, each with details on strategic direction and competitive positioning.

D. How about IBISWorld, one of our newer industry resources?

Although IBISWorld doesn’t have Canada-specific reports, it does offer very focused US reports that are often relevant to the Canadian industry, as well as a smaller selection of global and China reports.  A simple search for juice gets me reports such as:

1. Juice Production in the US – 31211c
2. Global Fruit & Vegetables Processing – C1112-GL
3. Juice Production in China – 1533

E. So what if we needed info on the company’s financials?

Sun Rype is publicly traded, so it’s pretty easy to get financials directly from their site.  However, we can also use databases such as Informart or MINT Global to get data from multiple years laid out for easy comparison, as well as  extras such as reports on the company and on Juices in Canada, both published by MarketLine and available in MINT Global.

F. OK, so how about more data on consumer trends?

I next use our Print Measurement Bureau (PMB) Reports to find out that the Canadian consumers who report choosing Sun Rype most often among all fruit drinks tend to be female professionals with a trade or certificate of some sort, to have kids at home, and to live in Western Canada.  Most of that isn’t surprising, although it’s interesting to note that the people who report being the most frequent fruit juice drinkers overall are in Atlantic Canada and Quebec City.

Intrigued by the geographic/demographic variation in fruit juice sales, I jump over to SimplyMap-Canada to create a map of neighbourhoods in Western Canada colour-coded by the percentage of the population in the PRIZM category of Starter Nests. (Locally, neighbourhoods in East Van, Yaletown, Surrey, and NE Richmond seem to be the main areas for that demographic group.)

G. My initial search in Business Source covered many industry and business news sources, but I’d like to look in even more industry magazines, as well as in Canadian newspapers…

1. LexisNexis: Great for general news published globally, but also for industry mags. I start by going to Sources > Browse Sources > Industry > Food & Beverage, where I find the Food and Beverages file which contains publications such as The Progressive Grocer and BMI Food & Drink Report.
2. Canadian Newsstand: Covers major Canadian newspapers, as well as local papers in BC.  A quick search for “Sun Rype” gets me hundreds of hits, many of them on M&A activity involving the company over the years (remember that news articles often talk about the strategic implications of mergers and acquisitions!).  Narrowing to just the last few years gives me only a few dozen articles, but many of them appear to have useful information on consumer trends and the company’s recent actions.

H. Thus far I’ve been focused on the resources that the SFU Library subscribes to, but of course there are many resources available on the open web. I’ll just highlight a few that come to mind immediately:

1. Government: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada provide great reports on Fruit Juices in the United States, The Canadian Soft Drink Industry, and A Snapshot of the Canadian Fruit Industry. Similarly, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service often has stats and reports such as this one on Citrus: World Markets and Trade.  Or, more locally, how about BC’s Ministry of Agriculture and reports like the Tree Fruit Industry Profile?
2. Associations: The Agri-Food Canada site mentioned above also provides a list of relevant industry associations.  Associations can be great places to find things like statistics and reports.

And all that is just an initial fast look at the resources available!  I’m not expecting you all to be as interested in Sun Rype and juice as I am (well, except for a certain 400-level class happening this summer…), but you may find these same resources and strategies will work for your product/industry.

Note that almost all the resources listed here can also be found listed in our Business research guides, especially the ones on Industry Surveys, Marketing Research, International Market Research, and Company Information.  Let me know if you don’t find what you need: Mark Bodnar – mbodnar@sfu.ca

When we buy business books here at the SFU Library, we tend to focus on ebooks — partly as a reflection of the reading habits of many of our readers, and partly so that we can support the three campuses more efficiently.  However, we do still buy books in print format in many cases.

I was just scanning the print format business books that have arrived this week.  All three look very relevant to the questions I get lately, so I thought I’d post about them…

(Note that all three of these books are still being processed (labelled, etc.) as of today.  If that’s still the case when you read this, you can click on their titles below to get to their catalogue records and Request that you be next in line to get them when they are ready.)

1.  Storytelling in business : the authentic and fluent organization / Janis Forman.
Stanford, California : Stanford Business Books, an imprint of Stanford University Press, [2013]

From the publisher’s description:

Focusing on the role of storytelling at the enterprise level, this book provides a research-driven framework for engaging in organizational storytelling. Forman presents original cases from Chevron, FedEx, Phillips, and Schering-Plough. [...] To show the reach of storytelling, Forman conducted 140 interviews with professionals ranging from CEOs in small and thriving firms, to corporate communication and digital media experts, to filmmakers—arguably the world experts in visual storytelling.

2. The complete guide to business school presenting : what your professors don’t tell you– what you absolutely must know / Stanley K. Ridgley.

Note: If you like this one, check out our guide to resources on Business Presentation skills.

From the publisher’s description:

The guide identifies the seven verities of speaking that form the bedrock of superior presenting in the twenty-first century, and which imbue any speaker with power, energy and confidence: stance, voice, gesture, expression, movement, appearance and passion. [...]

The book also discusses the utility of business analysis tools, such as “SWOT,” “PEST,” “value chain analysis” and Porter’s “Five Forces,” and demonstrates how to work seamlessly and effectively with PowerPoint to deliver concise and persuasive presentations. It also addresses the innate challenges of working as a group and preparing group presentations – a requirement of all business students and a highly sought-after skill amongst corporate recruiters. In addition, a section on preparing for case competitions – a major rite of passage for business majors and MBAs – is included. The result is a masterpiece of business school wisdom and practicality.

3.  Managing human resources for the Millennial generation / edited by William I. Sauser, Jr., Ronald R. Sims.

This one is an edited book, with each chapter written by a different academic researcher on a different aspect of the broader issue.

Partial table of contents (from the publisher’s site):

Who Are the Millennials and How Are They Challenging Modern Human Resources Management?

PART I: CHARACTERISTICS AND VALUES OF THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION.

Millennials Break Out as the Me Generation: Their Attitudes, Expectations and Fears
Millennial Work Expectations and Organizational Incentive Systems: “Carrots” for the New Millennium
Just What Is Important to Millennial Job Candidates: It’s Not What We Assumed
Giving Voice to Values: Engaging Millennials and Managing Multigenerational Cultures

PART II: MILLENNIALS AND THE TRADITIONAL FUNCTIONS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.

Leveraging Web 2.0 Technologies in the Recruitment of Millennial Job Candidates
New Selection Methods for a New Generation
Considering Generational Differences in Assessing Work Values … A Unifying Approach
Employee-Friendly Policies and Development Benefits for Millennials
Texts, Emails, and Google Searches: Training in a Multigenerational Workplace

PART III: BEST PRACTICES FOR MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES FROM THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION.

Best Practices for Managing Generation Y, Susan Eisner. A New Talent Agenda
Implications of Values of the Millennial Generation on HR Infrastructure
Millennial-Centric Strategic HR: Key Practices for Attracting, Developing, and Retaining Millennials

PART IV: SPECIAL ISSUES AND CONTEXTS.

Promises of Telecommuting and Preferences of Millennials: Exploring the Nexus
Millennials in the Workforce: Unions and Management Battle for the Soul of a Generation
Small Businesses, Value Added, and the Millennials

PART V: CONCLUDING THOUGHTS.

Building Bridges Between the Millennials and Other Generations

Every now and then I browse through one of our many business databases to see if there are any new treasures (or old treasures that I hadn’t noticed before).

I was just exploring our Knotia.ca database — our source for incredible detail on accounting standards (IFRS & CICA Handbooks) — when I noticed some links to Ernst & Young resources.  Most of these extra resources appear to be ones that are available at the E&Y site, but they can sometimes be buried and hard to find.  The Knotia.ca access route is much smoother.

The main E&Y resource that caught my eye was EY/Passport. It includes:

• > Quick access to all the E&Y “Doing Business In” guides on a wide range of countries (good for BUS 447 and for our many competition teams)
• > Worldwide Personal Tax Guide (“summarizes the personal tax systems and immigration rules in more than 150 countries”)
• > Worldwide Corporate Tax Guide (“summarizes corporate tax rules and treaty withholding tax rates in more than 150 countries”)
• > Worldwide VAT and GST Guide (“summarizes the value added tax and goods and services tax systems in 63 countries and the European Union”)
• > Global Oil & Gas Tax Guide (“summarizes the oil and gas corporate tax regimes in 40 countries and also provides a directory of oil and gas tax contacts”)

And, since we’re in the midst of tax return season, I’ll add that the Knotia db also includes a link to E&Y’s Managing Your Personal Taxes.

Yup – this is what I do when I’m avoiding my huge to-do list…

– MarkB

I was just scanning a list of upcoming Plagiarism Education Week webcasts that will be presented by Turnitin, in partnership with The International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI), The School for Ethical Education (SEE), and Plagiarism Today.  Some great topics will be addressed, including several that I suspect will be of interest to SFU instructors.  Register soon!

• Monday, April 22nd: Students and Plagiarism: Exploring the Disconnect Between Morals and Behavior
• Tuesday, April 23rd: Plagiarism Spectrum Drill Down
• Wednesday, April 24th: Responding to Plagiarism: Lesson Plans and Strategies
• Thursday, April 25th: Policy to Practice: Developing Effective Academic Integrity Policies
• Friday, April 26th: Teaching Originality, Creativity, and Critical Thinking

And if you can’t wait until April 22, consider registering for this webcast coming up tomorrow (April 11th): How Students Perceive Plagiarism.

And now for a brief word about local resources…

• Check out the SFU Library’s guide to What is Plagiarism? as well as our interactive tutorial: Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism.
• And try the SFU Learning Commons page on Ensuring Academic Integrity.

We’re at that magical time of the semester when those students in courses with no exams will finish up their last assignments, tease their exam-bound colleagues, and take off for some R&R.

If you’re one of those lucky few, consider returning your library books before you leave.  And if you happen to have accumulated some <ahem> fines over the term, maybe drop off some items for the SFU Food Bank to clear your account.

The SFU Library’s Food for Fines event is back! From April 1 to 22, you can stop by any SFU Library branch and donate non-perishable food and/or selected non-food items (toothpaste, diapers..) in exchange for a $2 waiver on your fines per item (to a maximum of $30).  See the library’s page on the Spring 2013 Food for Fines Drive for more details.

Talk about a win-win situation!

I’m very pleased to announce that SFU researchers now have online access to 2012 Clean Capitalism: Canadian Edition, a report, published by CK Capital, the research and financial products division of Corporate Knights, Inc.

From the Forward:

Based on the constituents of the S&P/TSX 60 index, this report shows how Canada’s largest companies by market capitalization are performing on 12 of the most important business metrics of our age.

Essential reading for investors, corporate executives, sustainability managers, regulators and institutions, this report provides an inside track of detailed information and analysis on the “clean capitalism” status of the S&P/TSX 60 companies. Included in this report are:

• • A complete description of the report’s methodology and data collection process;
• • A review of the 12 key performance indicators (KPIs) used by CK Capital to measure a company’s clean capitalism performance;
• • Five-year performance history for all S&P/TSX 60 companies on all 12 clean capitalism KPIs;
• • An overview of key industry trends and best practices;

Along with the PDF report, we also have the excel file containing the KPI data referred to in the report.

Note that we also have the 2010 edition of the same report. Possibly useful if you’re interested in comparing companies over a few years.

I just received a report on our usage of the IBISWorld industry report database over the last few months.  Interesting to see the types of reports that were most downloaded by SFU researchers this spring:

US

• Moving Services in the US (76 downloads)
• Travel Agencies in the US (66 downloads)
• Jewelry Stores in the US (64 downloads)
• Rail Transportation in the US (59 downloads)

China

• Freight Transport by Sea in China (37 downloads)
• Fast-Food Restaurants in China (36 downloads)

Global

• Global Management Consultants (60 downloads)
• Global Apparel Manufacturing (57 downloads)

Overall, over 3100 reports downloaded in the last 3 months!  Great to see this valuable resource being used!

– Mark (mbodnar@sfu.ca)

Business Librarian

Interesting new research from Statistics Canada on The Evolution of Canadian Wages over the Last Three Decades…

Comments from the researchers:

In Canada and many other industrialized countries, the hourly wages of various groups of workers grew at markedly different rates over the last thirty years. A massive literature dating back to the mid-1980s has attempted to uncover why the pay rates of some workers grew faster than those of others. Technological changes, growth in international trade, institutional factors (e.g., de-unionization, changes in minimum wages, and changes in the incidence of pay-for-performance), movements in group-specific labour supplies, and changes in social norms have been cited as potential drivers of differential wage growth.

While the relative importance of the aforementioned factors is still open to debate, two simple, but important, questions emerge:

• * Which groups of Canadian workers and which sectors of the Canadian economy experienced relatively stronger real-wage growth over the last three decades?
• * To what extent do individuals’ acquisition of education, general work experience, and job tenure within firms, as well as their movements into low- or high-paying occupations and industries, account for the differences in real-wage growth observed across groups of workers?

This study focuses on how real wages of Canadian workers evolved from 1981 to 2011 across five dimensions: gender, age, education, industry, and occupation.

For more studies like this, see Statistics Canada’s Social Analysis Research.  Also consider the Canadian Public Policy Collection via the SFU Library.

A quick note about a relatively new journal available for SFU researchers: The South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases, a title that seems perfectly suited to the international and practical nature of many Beedie School of Business courses and assignments.

From the publisher:

“South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases is a peer-reviewed, bi-annual journal of Birla Institute of Management Technology, Greater Noida (India). The journal aims to provide a space for high quality original teaching cases, research or analytical cases, evidence-based case studies, comparative studies on industry sectors, products, and practical applications of management concepts.”

Check out these examples of the articles from the two issues published since this journal started last summer:

• * How to Overcome the Cultural Divide?: A Study of Japanese Expatriates’ Work Experiences in India
• * Global Strategies of the Japanese Mega Bank BTMU toward Asian Countries
• * Business Turnaround Plan: The Experience of Malaysia Airlines
• * Applying Production Concepts over Borders: Good Intentions and the Limits of Foreign Culture Understanding
• * International Entrepreneurship: Case of Happiest Minds

This title is not yet indexed in our main business article database, Business Source Complete, but we’ve submitted that suggestion.  For now, you can browse through the issues/cases by connecting to the journal directly via the SFU Library.

Need more cases?  Check out our Case Studies research guide.