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.
• Nordstrom:   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. Look for the Investor Relations and About Us areas on the company homepage for company information.

  Go to Company Information for Company History, press releases, investor relations, etc. Investor Relations is an excellent source for company information, including Annual Reports for 2002, 2001, 2000, and 1999.

• Company Research (Business Week):   Business Week offers information on 4,000 companies in its Careers section (so some of the information is aimed at job-seekers), with a Corporate Snapshot, a Vault.Com Scoop, a Wetfeet.Com profile, as well as Business Week articles about the companies (some of which are available only for subscribers but are also available in the Foster Business Library database ABI/Inform Global).

  See the links to information on Nordstrom. See also the 2002 Industry Outlook for Retail.

• Ernst & Young--Industries:   This Ernst & Young site, while trying to sell their products and services, also provides some free information about seven industry sectors:   Energy/Chemicals/Utilities; Financial Services; Health Sciences; Industrial Products; Real Estate/Hospitality/Construction; Retail & Consumer Products; and Technology/Communications & Entertainment.

  See their Library of downloadable documents about the retail industry from Ernst & Young.

• Industries At A Glance:   This U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics site is a good source for information and data about U.S. industries.

  See the Occupational Outlook Handbook general information on the Department, Clothing, and Accessory Stores industry.

• Quicken.Com:   This site is a good source for information about companies and about their position among their competitors; use the Compare Companies feature on the left menu for this information.

  See the company profile for Nordstrom as well as the company's position among its competitors in terms of market capitalization in the Apparel Stores industry.

• Yahoo! Finance:   This site is excellent for company and investment information as well as an excellent source for financial ratio comparisons with industry, sector and S&P 500.

  See the company profile for Nordstrom as well as its Key Statistics.

• Seattle Times Northwest 100:   Each year, the Seattle Times profiles the top public companies in the Northwest, with profiles of each company listed. The site also offers Industry Charts, by various criteria. Click here for an A to Z list of the companies and profiles of each of them. The site also offers the ability to compare companies via spreadsheet.

  See Nordstrom.

• 100 Years of Nordstrom:   The Seattle Post-Intelligencer assembled a special report on Nordstrom in 2001 to mark the retailer's 100th year in business in Seattle.

  See the most recent history, Back in the Family, covering the 1990's.

• National Retail Federation:   This organization is the world's largest retail trade association, including department, specialty, independent, discount and mass merchandizing corporations in the U.S. and in 50 other nations. See their monthly retail industry pulsetakings, the Retail Executive Opinion Survey. It also publishes STORES magazine, with annual listings of the Top 100 Retailers, Top 100 Specialty Stores, and Top 200 Global Retailers (the last of these is in PDF format). There is also a search engine for STORES.

  See their Retail Executive Opinion Surveys, summaries of which are available to the public on a monthly basis. Nordstrom was ranked #38 among the Top 100 Retailers for 2002 and #91 among the Top 200 Global Retailers.

• Porter's Five Forces:   This site is from QuickMBA, with a good summary of Porter's five forces. "QuickMBA is an online knowledge resource for business administration. Our goal is to help you to quickly find the business knowledge you need, when you need it, wherever you may be. Topics are presented as frameworks and summaries in the various subjects of business administration, as taught in the world's top MBA programs. QuickMBA is operated by the Internet Center for Management and Business Administration, Inc. No registration is required." See also their SWOT Analysis page. For similar pages, see Business Resource Software, Inc.'s pages on the Michael Porter Five Forces Model and SWOT Analysis. Finally, see Porter's homepage.

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. 2003.
  Also available online.

  See Department Stores and Clothing/Footwear, Etc. on pages 427 and 430. See Consumer Expenditures for Clothing on pages 402 and 403, and Per Capita Clothing Sales, on page 446.

• Datapedia of the United States, 1790-2005.
  This one-volume work covers United States population, vital statistics and health, migration, labor, national income and wealth, consumer income and expenditures, social statistics, land--water--climate, agriculture, forestry--fisheries, minerals, construction--housing, manufacturing, transportation, communications, energy, distribution--services, international trade, business enterprises, productivity--technological development, financial markets--institutions, and government.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA202 .K87 2001.

  See Department Stores, 1929-1999 on pages 395 and 396.

• Statistical abstract of the United States.
  Information about many industries as well as demographic information; check index for references to tables. The sources for each table are often a valuable source of additional information.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA202 .U56 2002.
  Also available online.

  See index page 956 for Department Stores and index page 953 for Clothing and Accessory Stores, Retail.

• European marketing data and statistics.
  Demographic trends and forecasts, economic indicators, labor force, trade, energy, environment, consumer expenditures and market size, and retailing information for European countries.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA1107 .E87 2002.
  Also available online.

  See Department Stores and Clothing/Footwear, Etc. on pages 280 and 287. See Clothing and Footwear Expenditures on pages 240 to 242 and on pages 252 to 255.

• Great events from history II: business and commerce series.
  This five-volume chronological encyclopedia is devoted to the history of business and economic events of the twentieth century worlwide, starting with the first publication of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1897 and continuing up to the effective date of NAFTA in 1994. This set includes indexes by chronology, an alphabetic list of events, a subject-keyword index, a category index, a geographic index, and an index by person.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC55 .G68 1994.

  For department store history, see Sears Roebuck Opens Its First Retail Outlet, in volume two, pages 487 to 492.

• Gale encyclopedia of U.S. economic history.
  This two-volume encyclopedia covers economic history from Paleolithic times to the present of 1999, with just over 1,000 articles on the major terms, overviews, issues, biographies, events and companies of America's economic history. There is a single extensive index in the back of the second volume.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC102 .G35 1999.

  See volume one, pages 238 and 239, for a brief history of the Department Store.

• 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 (Quarterly)

  See the industry survey, dated May 2003, for Retailing, General in volume three; Nordstrom is one of the companies featured in the Comparative Company Analysis at the end of the survey, under Department Stores.

• The encyclopedia of management.
  This one-volume covers 348 management topics, arranged alphabetically from Activity-Based Costing to Zero-Sum Game.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD30.15 .E49 2000.

  See SWOT analysis and the five forces on pages 882 to 884.

• Business: the ultimate resource.
  This 2,200-page single volume is "designed to offer a wide range of insights, information, and practical guidance on every aspect of management" via 2.5 million words of text from 200 contributors, with 700 illustrations and 150 maps, in seven major sections including best practice, a management library, business thinkers and management giants, a business dictionary, a world business almanac, and a guide to business sources.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD38.15 .B878 2002.

  See the Industry Profile for Retailing on pages 1882 to 1884. See Michael Porter on pages 900 to 901 and pages 1038 to 1039; both sections cover his five forces; see also Performing a SWOT analysis on pages 468 to 469.

• Puget Sound Business Journal Book of Lists.
  This annual publication is an invaluable source of information about public and private companies in the Puget Sound area, culled from lists that appeared weekly in the Puget Sound Business Journal. Besides lists of the largest and fastest growing public and private companies in the area, this reference work includes commercial real estate deals, banks and securities firms, contractors, education and employment, health care, title companies, marketing firms, nonprofits, professional services, executive compensation, real estate, retailers, software developers, biotech and travel and recreation. There is an index to companies and topics in the back of this volume.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC108 .S77 .P83 2004.

  See Nordstrom on page 130, ranked 8th (Largest Public Companies) and on page 140, ranked 49th (Fastest Growing Public Companies).

• 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 Retail Department Stores, on pages 949 to 957, for an excellent history of this industry and its evolution and current condition.

• 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 the history of Nordstrom in volume V, pages 156 to 158, with an update in volume 18, pages 371 to 374.

• 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 Nordstrom on page 349, table 1492, Top Footwear Retailers.

• The lifestyle market analyst.
  Market analysis information including demographic, geographic and lifestyle information to identify who customers are, where they live, how they spend their time and money and how to reach them.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5415.33 .U6 .L54 2003.

  See Fashion Clothing demographics on pages 748 to 751.

• Plunkett's retail industry almanac.
  This almanac offers information about major industry trends, industry statistics, industry information, major companies in the industry, with indexes by state, country, region, etc. The major part of the almanac provides one-page profiles of companies in the industry, with directory information, growth plans and special features, contacts, brief financials, brief salary and benefits data, and women officer-director and advancement information.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5428 .P558 2003.

  See Nordstrom on pages 11, 71, and 365 and also chapter one for major trends in the retailing industry.

• Ad $ summary.
  This two-volume work reports paid advertising expenditures in major media categories for companies and brands in America.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5801 .A18 January-December 2001.
  

  See Nordstrom in book II, on page 495.

• Red book/Standard directory of advertisers.
  This annual two-volume publication is the most comprehensive source for information on the advertising practices of 24,000 U.S. and Canadian companies spending a minimum of $200,000 on national and regional advertising. Companies may be accessed by 54 business categories or by state, province or city. Entries for companies advertising include SIC codes, business descriptions, statistics, personnel, approximate advertising expenditures, and media. Entries for ad agencies often include the companies and brand names handled and the executive assigned to each account. Volume two includes indexes by product by state or province, by brand name, by SIC code and by personnel. There is also a geographic index volume.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5805 .S7 2004 (volume 1: businesses)
  

  See Nordstrom on page 557.

• Company/brand$.
  This two-volume work reports and itemizes all paid advertising space and expenditures in ten major media categories for companies and brands in America, in several hundred consumer and Sunday magazines, in newspapers, outdoor advertising, television, and radio.
  Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5813 .U6 .C68 2001.
  

  See Nordstrom in book II, on page 688.

• 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.

  For Nordstrom, see volume two, pages 3936 to 3937.

• 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.

  Nordstrom may be found in the Retail--Specialty Stores section, not in Retail—Department Stores, on pages 411 to 416, in the August 2003 to January 2004 issue.

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 subject search for Nordstrom (Firm) produced a list of just four records, all of them in the Foster Business Library, including a book on the company:

• The Nordstrom way: the inside story of America's #1 customer service company   (2000)

There are also references to Nordstrom in:

• Markets in the firm: a market-process approach to management.   See chapter four, page 68.
• Ethics in marketing.   See Nordstrom chapter nine, starting on page 749.
• Retail management: a strategic approach.   See Nordstrom Remakes Its Buying Organization in Part six.

The subject term for the department store industry is Department Stores; a subject search for this term retrieved over 60 records in the UW Libraries and 20 records in the Foster Business Library, none of them newer than 1981. One frequently-cited title on this industry is the 1999 title:

• A stitch in time: lean retailing and the transformation of manufacturing--lessons from the apparel and textile industries   (In the UW Bothell and UW Tacoma libraries; use the Request feature to have this book sent to the Foster Business Library for your use)

The subject term for the apparel industry is Clothing Trade. A search for this term, limited to the Foster Business Library, retrieved a list of 41 records, including:

• The end of fashion: the mass marketing of the clothing business   (1999)

An author search for Porter, Michael E., 1947- , limited to the Foster Business Library, produced a list of thirteen records. See, in particular, his:

• Competitive strategy: techniques for analyzing industries and competitors   See index page 395 for references to the Retailing Industry.

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 in the collection with headquarters outside the U.S., click here.

The collection includes annual reports for Nordstrom (since 1973) as well as competitors such as Federated Department Stores, and May Department Stores, as well as many other companies in the Retail sector.

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. To expand your search to include all collections in this database, click on Select multiple databases, to the right of the search box. Click on all of the databases.

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

  A search for the subject Department Stores, in all databases, produced a list of more than 24,000 articles. By searching for this term in the Topic Guide, it's possible to view over 150 narrowing terms, such as:

  • SUB(Department stores) and SUB(Distribution channels), over 90 articles;
  • SUB(Department stores) and SUB(Forecasts), over 200 articles;
  • SUB(Department stores) and SUB(History), over 200 articles;
  • SUB(Department stores) and SUB(Market Entry), over 800 articles;
  • SUB(Department stores) and SUB(Strategic Planning), over 830 articles;
  • SUB(Department stores) and SUB(Supplier Relations), over 80 articles;
  • SUB(Department stores) and SUB(Trends), over 900 articles;

  It's also possible to search for SUB(Department stores) and Strengths (over 200 articles), SUB(Department stores) and Weaknesses (over 50 articles), SUB(Department stores) and Opportunities (over 500 articles), and SUB(Department stores) and Threats (130 articles)—or SUB(Department stores) and SWOT (one article).

  A search in all databases, for CO(Nordstrom Inc.) produced a list of more than 2,400 articles. Narrowing this search, as an example, to CO(Nordstrom Inc.) and SUB(Retailing industry) produced a list of over 150 articles; for CO(Nordstrom Inc.) and buyers, over 50 articles. A search for CO(Nordstrom Inc.) and Strengths produced 11 articles; for CO(Nordstrom Inc.) and Weaknesses, three articles; for CO(Nordstrom Inc.) and Opportunities, 40 articles; for CO(Nordstrom Inc.) and Threats, six articles; for CO(Nordstrom Inc.) and SWOT, no articles.

  A search for Retail industry and suppliers produced 158 articles; a search for Retail industry and suppliers and bargaining produced no articles, searching in citations; expanding the search throughout citations and the full text of all articles produced five 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      (Management/Business Policy Consultations)
• Team Consultation Industry Index      (Retail)
• Team Consultation Quarter Index
• Team Consultation Title Index
• Team Consultation and Research Guide Index

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.

Prof. Phelps' MGT 430 Webpage