Team Librarian Consultation

Web Resources:

Unlike library databases, these Web resources are available wherever you have web access; they do not require that you access them via the UW Connectivity Kit or the UW Libraries Proxy Server for authentication. When using web resources, be sure to evaluate the credibility of these resources. For a subject index to web resources, see Business Resources on the Web on the Foster Business Library homepage.
• Johnson & Johnson:   Public company homepages are often (but not always) an excellent source for information about the company, with links to annual reports, company news, product details, information about corporate goals and culture, company financial information, Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and company history. See the "Investor Relations" and "About Us" areas on the company homepage for company information. See their website for Neutrogena, particularly at their What's New link. Also, see the Investor Relations links to access company information, historical financial information, common stock, financial press releases, and financial reports. For recent and historical news releases, see News.

• Food & Drug Administration:   The primary governmental agency whose "mission is to promote and protect the public health by helping safe and effective products reach the market in a timely way, and monitoring products for continued safety after they are in use." Explore their site map to find helpful links to publications, products regulated by FDA, information for specific audiences (including Industry), major initiatives/activities, and hot topics. Also, be sure to utilize their search engine; for example, entering Skin Care and Neutrogena retrieved 15 documents.

• U.S. Embassies:   The United States State Department has embassies and consulates worldwide, with their individual websites often providing valuable local information for business under the heading of the U.S. Commercial Service. The Commercial Service provides information for U.S. businesses interested in exporting to the country as well as information for companies in the country where the embassy is located to source U.S. products. See Singapore and the U.S. Commercial Section in Singapore.

• American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore:   Wherever many American companies do business you can often find an American chamber of commerce, often with useful information about doing business in the country and local contacts. The American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore includes over 1400 members. See their Singapore Trade Information and Links.

• World Factbook:   These brief country profiles (prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency) offer information about government, economy, GDP, CPI, labor force, unemployment rate, budget, industries, agriculture, export, import, telecommunications, debt, foreign aid, etc. See Singapore.

The Foster Reference Collection is located behind the Reference Desk in Foster.
• International marketing data and statistics.
  Demographic trends and forecasts, economic indicators, labor force, trade, energy, environment, consumer expenditures and market size, and retailing information for the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania; companion volume to European marketing data and statistics.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA42 .I56.

  See the brief section on Singapore on page 83; tables on cosmetics and toiletries on pages 487, 489, and 490; and numerous other references to Singapore throughout the tables in this reference.

• World consumer income patterns.
  This Euromonitor publication provides global coverage of comparable income distribution data, over time and across countries, for 71 major countries, divided into socio-economic parameters, cross country comparisons, and snapshots for over seventy countries.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC79 .I5 .W675 2003.

  See Singapore on pages 390 to 394.

• Standard & Poor's industry surveys.
  This three-volume set provides 30-page profiles on 52 industries with a focus on the current economic environment, trends, regulation and outlook for each industry. Major companies in each industry are profiled, with references to sources of additional industry information.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC106.6 .S74

  See Healthcare: Pharmaceuticals in volume two for Johnson & Johnson.

• Asian development outlook.
  This short one-volume annual reference work, published by the Asian Development Bank, focuses on economic trends and prospects in 37 Asian nations, including the Asian republics formerly part of the U.S.S.R. There are tables covering major economic indicators for many of the countries, GDP, balance of payments, etc.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC411 .A17 2002.

  See Singapore on pages 65 to 68.

• Singapore: facts and pictures.
  This paperback, published by the Singapore Ministry of Information and the Arts, provides information about the land and people, history, government, economy, and living standards of Singapore.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC445.8 .A1 .S5612 1999.

• Business: the ultimate resource.
  This 2,200-page single volume offers best practices, a management library, business thinkers and management giants, a business dictionary, a world business almanac, and a guide to business sources. The world business almanac offers short profiles of countries, covering economic structure, geography and resources, communications and energy, education and employment, fiscal and financial, business opportunities, more information, and web sites.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD38.15 .B878 2002.

  See Singapore on pages 1695 to 1697.

• Encyclopedia of global industries.
  Twelve-page descriptions of 125 global industries, with background and development information, current conditions, industry leaders and further reading.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD2324 .E53 2003.

  See Toiletries and Cosmetics on pages 132 to 140.

• International directory of company histories.
  Studying the history of leading companies in an industry is a good way to learn more about the history of an industry. This set of more than thirty volumes covers over 4,700 company histories worldwide, with each history running just two to four pages; check the company index in the latest volume to locate a specific company history or update as well as any other references to that company in other company histories. There is also an index by industry.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD2721 .I57

  See Neutrogena Corporation in volume 17, pages 340 to 344, and Johnson & Johnson in volume three, pages 35 to 37, plus updates in volume 8, pages 281 to 283, and volume 36, pages 302 to 307.

• Market share reporter.
  Annual compilation of U.S., Canadian and Mexican market share data for companies, products and services, arranged by SIC code, and with indexes by product, company and topic.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5410 .M35 2004.

  See pages 157, 177, 191, and 193 for Neutrogena, in tables 649, 732, 781, and 786.

• World market share reporter.
  An annual compilation of market share information for worldwide companies culled from thousands of periodical articles; use the company, product or brand indexes in the back of the volume to identify the company that you are researching.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5410 .W67 2001/2002.

  See page 169 for Neutrogena, in table 621.

• U.S. market trends & forecasts.
  This large volume provides an overview and projections for 400 significant industries and their component products or services, arranged alphabetically by industry name. For each product or service, there is a brief indication of the value of the U.S. market in 1998 and the compound U.S. market growth rate from 1993 to 1998 as well as a graph depicting market value in dollars and the growth rate. There is also a brief analysis of the market sectors for the product or service and a description of the market segmentation by volume for 1997, plus U.S. market share and market forecast information.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5415.1 .U8 2001.

  See Cosmetics, starting on page 345.

• The investor's guide to Singapore.
  This handbook from the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce covers the business climate in Singapore, in the late 1990's, with information on the labor force, cost of living, economic policies, financial facilities, industrial and investment incentives, taxation, import and export, labor legislation, and requirements for establishing businesses, as well as much more.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG5750.6 .S5 .I5 2000.

• International financial statistics yearbook.
  Published annually by the International Monetary Fund, this compendium of statistics for every country provides information on population, GDP, producer, wholesale and consumer prices, wages, labor force, unemployment, volume and value of imports and exports, and many other categories. Statistics cover each year of the past 30 years, where data is available. The most recent decade of the monthly version of this yearbook is available in the Foster Business Library Reference Serials collection, with the call number HG3881 .I626
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG3881 .I6263 2003.

  See pages 525 to 527 for Singapore.

• Directory of American firms operating in foreign countries.
  This three-volume annual publication lists 2,600 U.S. companies with 35,000 branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates in 190 countries. Volume one lists the firms in alphabetic order, detailing the countries in which the companies operate; following the companies section are listings by country, with Albania to Egypt in volume one, El Salvador to Mauritius in volume two, and Mexico to Zimbabwe in volume three.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4538 .A1 .D5 2003.

  See volume three, pages 3402 to 3501, for Singapore; Johnson & Johnson is included.

• Mergent industrial manual.
  This two-volume work covers all companies listed on the New York and American stock exchanges, with extensive information about companies, including history, chronology, acquisitions, mergers, spinoffs, properties, joint ventures, subsidiaries, officers and directors, consolidated income and balance sheets for three and two years, respectively, long term debit, options, etc.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4961 .M67 2003.

  See volume two, pages 3001 to 3014, for Johnson & Johnson.

• Mergent industry review.
  Statistical data on 3,000 companies in 137 industries, with rankings, key financial information, operating data and ratios, etc.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4961 .M68.

  Johnson & Johnson may be found in the Medical & Dental Equipment and Supplies industry.

• Doing business and investing in Singapore.
  This 200-page profile, prepared by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, covers business environment, opportunities for foreign investment and trade, investment incentives and restrictions, the regulatory situation, banking, business entities, labor relations and social security, auditing and accounting practices and tax. Unfortunately, this profile lacks an index but the table of contents is very complete. Click here for a list of other PriceWaterhouseCoopers Doing Business books, by country.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: KPP7.3 .B87 .D65 1999.

The Foster Business Library maintains a collection of over 70,000 books on all business topics, including many books useful for country research. To identify relevant books, go to the UW Libraries Catalog on the Foster Business Library homepage (under Business Databases). Try searching by keyword. Use the Limit/Sort feature to create a list of books in the Foster Business Library and in order from newest book to oldest. To do so, use the pulldown menu under WHERE item is located to specify Foster Business Library and click on the box near the bottom Sort results by year. Then click on Limit/sort items retrieved using above data. Clicking on the titles in the resulting list will bring up the full catalog record, indicating which Foster area has the book (general stacks, reference, reserve, etc.), the call number and the circulation status.

Circulation status is indicated in the box in the middle of each online catalog record, on the right. Check Shelf indicates that the book should be on the shelves under that call number and available for you to check out. Due and a date indicates that the book is already checked out to someone and is due back on the date indicated.

The Foster general stacks collection is located south of the main part of the Foster Business Library, through the two pass-throughs into the basement of Balmer. The arrangement is by call number, from A (at the east end, near the Copy Center) to Z (at the far west end).

A keyword search for Neutrogena retrieved only one record, an art catalog. Keyword searches for phrases such as Skin Care, Soap, and Toiletries and Singapore retrieved no relevant records. A keyword search for Cosmetics, limited to the Foster Business Library, produced ten records.

A keyword search for Exports and Singapore retrieved over twenty records, including three records in the Foster Business Library collections.

A keyword search in the Foster Business Library collections, for the word Singapore, produced a list of over 80 records.

Foster Business Library Corporate Annual Reports:

The Foster Business Library maintains a collection of several thousand annual reports for hundreds of U.S. and foreign companies. These reports are filed in lateral filing cabinets near the Foster Reference desk under the sign Corporate Annual Reports. Annual reports for companies in an industry can be a valuable source of information about the industry itself. For a list of all the companies in the Corporate Annual Reports collection, click here. For an index to corporate annual reports in the collection by industry sector, click here. For an index to companies with headquarters outside the U.S., click here.

Corporate annual reports are also often available on company homepages. A good source for those annual reports is Hoovers Online on the Foster Business Library homepage, under Business Databases.

The collection includes annual reports for public companies in the Drugs & Pharmaceutical, Consumer Product and Health Product industries, including Neutrogena's parent company, Johnson & Johnson.

Foster Business Library Articles:

In addition to the 800 journals in the Foster Business Library Periodicals Collection, the Foster Business Library offers access to 11,000 full text periodical articles through its full text article databases such as: ABI/Inform Global, Factiva, and Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe. These article databases may be found on the Foster Business Library homepage, listed alphabetically under Business Databases or in the Articles: Full Text folder.

Of these three main sources, all but Factiva are available from any computer on the campus network (as well as from home) via the UW Connectivity Kit or via the Libraries' proxy server. The easiest of these databases to use is ABI/Inform Global. For more information about accessing Foster Business Library databases from off campus, click here. For more information about business databases, click here.

• ABI/Inform Global:

  This database offers full text articles for over 800 journals. To find articles on specific topics, search by word or phrase by keying your search phrase into the search box. ABI/Inform Global includes journals but not national or Washington state newspapers (though the Wall Street Journal is included). It also does not include valuable trade and industry and other periodicals. Your searches will span the widest possible array of publications by expanding your search to all databases in ABI/Inform. Your searches will span the widest possible array of publications by searching in all databases in ABI/Inform. To expand your search to include all collections in this database, click on Select multiple databases, to the right of the search box; click next on Select all databases, in the upper left of the display.

  Your search terms will be highlighted in red in each article. For tips on searching this database, click here.

  A search for Neutrogena and Singapore, in all databases, produced just one article (and the Singapore reference is to Singapore Airlines, as a brand). A search for CO(Neutrogena Corporation) produced over 100 articles; CO(Neutrogena Corporation) and Cosmetics, just 17 articles; CO(Johnson & Johnson) and Singapore, just 14 articles.

The Foster Business Library Reference Desk is staffed nearly all of the hours that the library is open. The staff at the desk will be happy to help you find business research tools and resources, exploit business databases to the fullest or advise on research strategies. For e-mail questions, direct your query to balib@u.washington.edu. For assistance by telephone, dial (206) 543-8012 during library hours.

For research guides on a wide variety of industries, products, companies, issues and topics, see the Team Librarian Consultation archives.

• Team Consultation Course/Program Index      (International Business Assignments)
• Team Consultation Industry Index      (Health Products)
• Team Consultation Quarter Index
• Team Consultation Title Index
• Team Consultation and Research Guide Index      (International Business Research)

Need help with writing or revising the written part of your assignment? The Business Writing Center, in Lewis Hall 304, provides consultations on business class writing assignments (as well as cover letters, and resumes) with an advanced business student trained in critiquing drafts and coaching writers. Need help citing sources? Try our guide to Citing Sources.