SFU Library blog, BUEC Buzz, with colourful banner showing students

A current awareness resource for students & faculty members in Business & Economics


Vividata: New & Improved! (with practice questions)

Published by Mark Bodnar

Do you need to know...

  • which brands of energy drinks are purchased most often by young Canadians?
  • which Canadian magazines are read most by people who report having donated in the past year?
  • how many Canadians take multivitamins?
  • which major brands of beer Canadian women buy most often?
  • how opinions about global warming vary between consumers of different products?

If so, then the new version of our Vividata database may be of interest... <more>

Image of the logo of Vividata Target Snapshot database.

On NAFTA, real facts, and Statista...

Published by Mark Bodnar

As you may have heard, there's been some talk lately about reopening and renegotiating the NAFTA agreement. If you'd like to join that conversation and want to contribute more than just "alternative facts," consider consulting this handy dossier of statistics from our newest database: Statista...  <more>

North American Free Trade Agreement - Statista Dossier (image with link)

On cheese and taste tests... (for BUS 345 researchers)

Published by Mark Bodnar

Our BUS 345 students are going to be doing some taste tests again this semester, and this time the focus is on cheese!

If you're in that class, see below for some initial thoughts on resources to help you understand the cheese market and consumers, especially in Canada.  Also be sure to check out my earlier blog post -- On taste tests and primary research (redux)  -- for a list of resources and search strategies that may help you as you design your taste test methodologies and evaluate... <more>

Venture Design and more: New content in Lynda.com for SFU researchers

Published by Mark Bodnar

Happy New Year, everyone!  

Lynda.com logoAnd what better way to ring in the new year than a post about a new video course in Lynda.com aimed at those who want to start new ventures? :-) 

Design Thinking: Venture Design is an intermediate level video course intended to help you "Discover the key principles of venture design and discover the tremendous advantages it brings to entrepreneurial efforts, both within startups and... <more>

On apps and the bottom line: monetization!

Published by Mark Bodnar

It seems like just yesterday that smartphones were invented, followed shortly after by that wonderfully positive phrase, "There's an app for that!"*

And, as surely as traffic chaos follows Vancouver snow, I've noticed that the solutions proposed by many of our business students now start with a wonderfully enthusiastic proclamation, "We're going to build an app for that!

And, since the bottom line is never far from mind in business, even in academia, that bold statement is followed very quickly by the all-important question... "Are we going to go broke doing this?"... <more>

Numbers at your fingertips: Introducing Statista for SFU researchers!

Published by Mark Bodnar

We've all been there... that moment in a research project when you just need one key number to cement the last piece of your argument.

For instance, you might desperately need to know...

... Sound familiar? Then you really should get to know the newest database available via the SFU Library... <more>

 

Trump victory = Increased Craft Beer Sales in US?

Published by Mark Bodnar

Regular BUEC Buzz readers may recall a post I wrote in September on a feature in our Passport database that would allow you to model the forecasted effects of a Trump victory on a number of economic measures in the US, Canada, and beyond.  

Well, now that the victory is in the bag and the effects are imminent, I thought I'd follow up to mention that Passport added a report this morning that digs into the details... <more>

Researching diversity: CARMA live webcast this Friday

Published by Mark Bodnar

Another CARMA live webcast is coming up this Friday.  This one looks to be most relevant to our Organizational Behaviour/HRM researchers, but it's possible that some of the international business people may also find it useful. (All are welcome, of course!)

When: Friday, Nov. 4th, 9am (PST)

Data sources for BUEC 232 (and beyond!)

Published by Mark Bodnar

I understand that our BUEC 232 students this term are scrambling to gather some data so that they can practice their newly acquired number crunching abilities. I thought I'd throw together a quick list of sources that might help them unearth the data they need.  

But before I get to the sources, please take a minute to read these important notices: