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


Identifying megatrends when a big-picture perspective is required

Published by Mark Bodnar
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Simple line drawing of a bar + line chart with a question mark above it.
I've mentioned in past posts that you can't really do much in business without paying attention to the news. The world is changing constantly, so in addition to researching what is already known, it's important to also seek answers to such forward-looking questions as... 

"What's changing today that might affect industry X, market Y, and consumer-type Z?"

&

"Can I draw inferences about the effects of those changes on my organization, so I can prepare ahead of time (and perhaps ahead of others)?"

I truly believe there is no substitute for regularly reading general, business, and industry news to spot any clues that might help answer such questions. There are, however, shortcuts that can highlight "big picture" changes happening across society and help you understand their potential implications...

<Read on to discover megatrend reports, ebooks, articles...!>

Sustainable at all stages: changing the fashion industry

Published by Mark Bodnar

Cover of ebook: "Designing Fashion's Future: present practice and tactics for sustainable change"
A couple years ago I collaborated with our Interactive Arts & Technology Librarian on a series of posts about one of the "wicked problems" of our modern world: sustainability in the textile & fashion industries.

Green line drawing of clothing hanging on a laundry line
That series was published to support an interdisciplinary cohort of students in our Business of Design program, all of whom were working on projects to change the way fashion and its materials are designed, produced, purchased, and discarded... change of the sort that our world so desperately needs.

The word "change" is key here. The Business of Design program has changed to Make Change Studio, but the students involved are still trying to change the world, and they've returned to the topic of fixing fast fashion.

<Read on for an update and expansion of the original posts on fixing fast fashion!>

On meal kits: Primary research questions & secondary resources

Published by Mark Bodnar

Line drawing of a bowl with chopsticks
One of our BUS 345 sections (hi, D100!) will be doing some primary market research focused on meal kits this term.

The students have a huge amount of flexibility when it comes to choosing the research questions they want to explore, so it would be difficult to suggest specific resources and search strategies for them. Instead, I thought I'd try a different approach: 

Simple line drawing of two people with a light bulb above them to indicate creative ideas
I'll highlight just a few of the possible research questions to give you a sense of the range of research that goes into marketing (section A below). I'll aim to highlight the amount of lateral/creative thinking that a market researcher has to do, but my list won't be anywhere near as detailed as that of a real marketer.

Then I'll list the guides and blog posts that cover the sorts of resources I'd normally use to answer such questions (section B).

Finally, I'll return to the target product and talk about research resources that are specifically about meal kits (section C).

Here we go...   <Read on!>

A feast of resources for those researching alternative protein markets! (redux)

Published by Mark Bodnar

One of our marketing classes (BUS 345 E100) is going to be doing some primary research on alternative protein products & consumers again this semester.

In support of that class, I've listed some key resources, but students in other classes may also want to use this post as a case study to learn about some of the powerful market research tools available to SFU researchers.  Bon appetite!

<Read on for a menu of delicious databases>

One year in: The business of (legal) cannabis

Published by Mark Bodnar

Time flies when you're having fun...

drawing of a cannabis leaf with dollar signs between each segment
It was one year ago today that Canada legalized cannabis. Now that we are a year into this new world of legalized sale and consumption, we are seeing innovations such as edibles & low-cost, bulk buying, and there are reports of a boost to the economy of over $8 billion.

I thought I'd do a quick "anniversary" check today to see what new information resources might now be available on this hot topic... 

<Read on for lots of recent resources on this fast-changing topic!>

A feast of resources for those researching alternative protein markets!

Published by Mark Bodnar

A couple of our marketing classes are going to be doing some primary research on alternative protein products & consumers this semester.

In support of those classes, I've listed some key resources, but students in other classes may also want to use this post as a case study to learn about the powerful market research tools available to SFU researchers.  Bon appetite!

<Read on for a menu of delicious databases>

NAFTA renegotiations: Stress relief through research

Published by Mark Bodnar

simple line drawing of two people facing each other at a table with a dollar sign in the middle
I'm sure you've been following the news about the NAFTA discussions, right? 

As with most negotiations, these early stages are full of drama and posturing, so it can be hard to avoid getting emotional about the whole thing.  This may be a librarian thing, but when I'm stressed, I seek out more information. Here's a quick run through a few resources that might help...  <Read on for more!>

Easy access to great content: New Passport home page

Published by Mark Bodnar

Screen capture of new Passport home screen. Clicking it leads to full blog post.

SFU researchers received a very early Christmas present on Sept. 25th... our powerful Passport database has a new home page!

I know what you're thinking: a new home page is no big deal, right? We'd all much rather get new content and put up with a slightly dated interface... no?  

Normally, I'd completely agree -- content is king! -- except ... <Read on for details!>

Laos, Cuba, Ghana, Iraq, and beyond: Expanded Passport database!

Published by Mark Bodnar

Secondary market research is hard.  Sometimes really hard. Maybe you knew that already?  

You never quite find exactly what you need, so you're constantly searching for information that is close enough to form a foundation for an estimate.  That's generally doable when you're dealing with a major economy such as the USA, Canada, or China, but it gets a lot more difficult when you are researching a market in a developing country such as El Salvador or Ghana... 

Which makes today's news particularly exciting (for me, at least!).

Our Passport market research database is expanding its coverage to include 20 emerging markets... Read on for details!