This document provides information about a session at Cambridge Judge Business School on supporting students with their Cambridge Venture Project (CVP). It discusses databases and resources available, search strategies, and types of support. Key points include: - Database demonstrations and overviews of Mintel Academic, IBISWorld, EMIS, Factiva, Mergent Investext, and Fame for industry and market research. - Ten tips for effective research including using advanced Google functions, evaluating multiple sources, identifying comparable industries, seeing gaps as opportunities, and not losing sight of the project brief. - Additional support resources like business books and articles, one-on-one consultations, and Qualtrics for creating surveys. Students are

1. Cambridge Judge Business School
Information, data,
and support during
your CVP
Ange Fitzpatrick @angefitzpatrick
Andrew Alexander @MrAndrew_A
email: infolib@jbs.cam.ac.uk
MBA – Cambridge Venture Project

2. Cambridge Judge Business School
today’s session
• why we’re back so soon
• web and Google searching
• database demos 1
• ten tips & techniques
• database demos 2
• types of support available
Information & Library Services

3. time to... explore the data

4. ...think about evaluating information
https://www.flickr.com/photos/_pichenettes_/4097104870/

5. ...and
detail the
support
available
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ecstaticist/3431138744/

6. https://www.flickr.com/photos/lendingmemo/11442225495/

7. how big is
the internet?
(no. of webpages)
Ans: 14.3 trillion

9. If you stack up 14.3
trillion dollar bills, the
pile would stretch to the
moon and back twice!

10. but, how much of
the web does
index?
(in billions of pages)
Ans: 48 billion

11. but what does 48 billion look like?

12. that’s 3 per person per week

13. So when you search on Google you only
search 0.3% of the web!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/minifig/3174009125/

14. that’s a bit like asking the world a question and
only listening to people from Madagascar

15. So how do you
access the 99.7%?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rietje/76566707/

16. More data than you’ll
ever have again

17. UK trends
and economy
Exports:
Exports represented just 15.3% of
GDP in 2015, a much lower level
than in other large EU member
states. Exports (in dollars) fell by
9.8% in 2015 while gains of 4.3%
are forecast in 2016.
Employment:
The services sector accounts for 78.7% of GDP.
The services sector will continue to be the main
engine of UK growth for both output and
employment, with manufacturing growth having
slowed due to renewed stagnation in key
European export markets.
Higher education:
The UK’s 2015 higher education rate was the seventh
highest in the world. This rate rose steadily since 2010, as
the job market increasingly requires people that have
attained higher education. However, costs per year to obtain
higher education are rising and are expected to rise further,
as the government plans to raise the ceiling for annual
tuition fees of £9,000 in 2016 for domestic students. This
could potentially make access to higher education difficult;.
Infrastructure:
National Infrastructure
Delivery Plan (2016-2021)
was commissioned by the
government, with over
£12.6 billion to be invested
in improving the
infrastructural
competitiveness of the
economy. This would
further reinforce the
competitiveness of the UK
business environment..
R&D:
Expenditure on R&D was lower than certain
countries of the developed world, such as
France, Germany and the USA. The
government has been investing in R&D via
initiatives, such as Innovate UK since 2007,
which was allocated a budget of £1.5 billion for
2015-16.
Source: Euromonitor

19. Mintel Academic: UK focus, with European market data. Good for
FMCG, B2B and luxury goods
IBIS World: In-depth industry reports incl. supply chain, key success
factors, competitive landscape, outlook. Cool graphics
EMIS: Great for access to high-tech reports as well as EIU reports;
company data, industry info and deals from emerging markets
Databases 1 - Summary

20. tips and techniques

21. 10. That expensive market
research report
Yep those expensive market research
reports do exist, but...
we don’t have a spare £16,000 lying
around just for your CVP team. Sorry.
Not sorry.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rgt3/4457946751/

22. 9. Great
Google
searches –
using inbuilt
search
functionality
Don’t just ‘basic
search’
Search tools: sort
by date, sort by
relevance, narrow
by country
filetype: .pdf, .ppt,
.xls
site: .edu, .gov
define: market
capitalisation
stocks: MSFT
https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/2531535355/

23. 8. it might not be the
database...
8. zero results?
it might not be
the database
that sucks...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/proimos/4199675334

24. 7. quality in-depth reliable
research takes a long time
you can’t get all the data
from just one or two sources,
you need to cast your net
wider (think supermarket
shopping)
don’t expect to be able to
find everything you need
immediately
build in contingency time
assign enough team
members and don’t
duplicate activity
https://www.flickr.com/photos/45605988@N03/5713582241

25. 6. search strategy
your results will only be as good
as your search strategy
stop using just one frickin’
keyword!
brainstorm a list of keywords and
synonyms
you have not “searched
everything” (don’t tell us you
have) https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikechen-metalman/4586185761/

26. 5. Evaluating data/triangulation
triangulation: ‘two (or more) methods are used in a
study in order to check the results’
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hypereyed/8888613394/
approach the data you locate
with an enquiring mind
can you rely on the source?
how was the data calculated?
can the data be corroborated?
if the data looks wildly
different between sources, can
you work out why ?

27. 4. Comparables and proxies
some of the data you need
may not be available (or
only available at a price
we/you can’t afford)
you can get around this by
identifying a similar...
industry/company/product/
country (there are more
parallels than you’d expect
between wildly different
sectors)
in other words a comparable
or proxy – this is not only
acceptable practice but it
often also illuminates other
aspects (another way of
gathering trend and SWOT
data)

28. 3. gaps and problems as opportunities
https://www.flickr.com/photos/chalo84/5657162521
gaps and problems
point up opportunities
- gaps for new
research/markets/products
by identifying gaps you can
offer solutions or identify
areas for further research
e.g. unable to fit furniture
into a car (IKEA)
e.g. expensive phonecalls to
family members abroad
(What’s App)
e.g. ugly computer interfaces
(Apple)
e.g. no-one punting beyond
September (Scudamores
themed punting)

29. https://www.flickr.com/photos/125303894@N06/14365669046/
2. don’t lose sight
of the brief
to estimate the potential
market for a new product
or service and to develop
your management
practice and market
analysis skills
we have sometimes seen
too much emphasis on
the former and not
enough on the latter
also this is about getting a
flavour of a start-up, and
an insight into "Silicon
Fen" and the kind of
challenges faced by
innovators working in
high-risk, high-pressure
environments

30. 1. don’t go it alone
work as a team (this is judged too)
- get to know each other
- play to strengths
- divide up tasks
- work smart
exploit premium data and analysis
available to you
use local expertise and experience
leverage your existing contacts
https://www.flickr.com/photos/e3000/256560692/

32. Factiva: Global news. All the major UK newspapers, trade magazines
and newswires. Indexed company and industry content.
Mergent Investext: Broker and investment reports. Trends, SWOT,
outlook for companies and industries.
Fame: UK companies by county or industry – accounts, identify
contacts and industry peers.
Databases 2 - Summary

33. support... the team

34. Support – books and articles – reading around
support... printed resources
business strategy, business plans, routes to market, industries

35. support... consultations
in your CVP teams or 1-2-1 - email: infolib@jbs.cam.ac.uk

36. support... surveys
https://www.flickr.com/photos/roboppy/9625780/
create professional surveys with Qualtrics
Tuesday 18th & Wednesday 19th October

37. Cambridge Judge Business School
today’s session in summary
• go beyond Google
• use our databases
• spend time on research
• employ search strategies
• it’s not all about the data
• we can help you
• email: infolib@jbs.cam.ac.uk
Information & Library Services