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Supply Chain Managementin PracticeWork-based project guidanceA Guide for Students

The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and SupplySupply Chain Management in PracticeWork-based project guidanceContents

1. Aims and objectives of this guide1.1 Introduction

2. Assignment-based assessment structureand process2.1 Supply chain management in practice

project.2.2 Structure of the project report

3. Preparing for assignments: general guide3.1 Electronic copies3.2 Getting StartedSelecting and Justifying your Project3.3 Plagiarism3.4 The principles of integrative units

Examples of PossibleTopics3.5 The Introduction

4. Planning your research approachExample 1

5. Research methods5.1 Business Research Criteria and Rigour5.2 Secondary vs Primary Research5.3 Quantitative vs Qualitative Research

Example 25.4 What is ‘Action Research’?5.5 The ‘Case Study’Method

6. Finding sources of information6.1 Sources of Competitor Information

Fig. 2 Ref. (adapted from) Collier, RichardA.(1995). Profitable Product Management,Butterworth Heinemann, Fig 2.4Example 3

6.2 Sources of Business Information on theInternet

7. Selecting and using informing frameworksExample 4

8. Analysing your findings

9. Drawing conclusions, makingrecommendations

10. The Reflective StatementFig 4 Stages of the cycle can include thefollowing:

11. Presentation11.1 Mandatory Requirements (Must have’s)11.2 Not compulsory but important

Example 5

12. Time managementBIBLIOGRAPHYInternet SourcesAPPENDICESAppendix 1Citing your references using the Harvard (Author-Date) systemAppendix 2 UK business libraries

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Level 6 - Graduate Diploma in Purchasing and Supply

The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and SupplySupply Chain Management in PracticeWork-based project guidance

1. Aims and objectives of this guide

The overall aims of this guide are:

To explain how you can perform well in thisassignment, avoid mistakes and obtain maximummarks.

To explain how you can gain the greatest benefitfrom the learning opportunity afforded by thisassignment.

To provide direction in the way you plan andorganise your work in order to make theassignment as interesting and stress-free aspossible.

1.1 Introduction

CIPS want to do everything they can to assist youin achieving success in your learning and also togain not just a pass but,overall, a good mark.However, there are also potential benefits in termsof your own personal learning and developmentthat go beyond a purely mechanical preoccupationwith maximising your marks.You may beconsidering a work-based project in the companyfor which you work or a project based upon abusiness with which you are familiar. In either casethis may represent a career enhancing experiencefor you if you adopt the right approach,anddemonstrate commitment to your work.

That is what this guide is all about – helping youto adopt the approach that is best for you, so thatyou can get the most out of this experience withthe minimum of stress.Good guidance willenable you to take a well-structured and time-managed approach to your learning andassessment.

2. Assignment-based assessment structure andprocess

2.1 Supply Chain Management in PracticeProject.The work-based or research project referred tofor this unit can be found within the CIPS unitcontent detail at Level 6,where there are clearunit learning outcomes for assessment, alongwith a description of the unit.

For many of you, this will be a practical work-based project where you will have anopportunity to excel in the practical applicationof supply chain management in practice throughusing your own organisation.This will add realvalue to your learning and demonstrate yourcapability as a purchasing and supplymanagement practitioner.

However, those of you who, for whatever reason,do not wish to use your own organisation, or feelit inappropriate to do so, or indeed who are notcurrently working,may wish to take the deskresearch option.Here, instead of using yourorganisation, you can undertake an evaluation ofacademic materials and journals to ascertainfuture developments and trends in aspects ofpurchasing and supply management.

Whichever route you take, you will need todemonstrate in the project your ability to:• Justify a feasible and appropriate subject area

for investigation• Critically evaluate current supply chain

theories• Synthesise appropriate primary and

secondary data related to an investigation• Develop the skills to undertake a substantive1

and discrete (distinct2) piece of analyticalwork and to present the findings in a clearand logical manner

• Critically assess the validity and specificapplicability of the conclusions drawn andthe extent to which these conclusions mayalso be more generally applicable.

The project report will have a maximum of 6,000words and should be presented to a professionalstandard and format.

2.2 Structure of the project report

The project report should be structured asfollows:

Task 1 Introduction, including thebackground, rationale and objective –600 words. Weighting 10%

Task 2 Review of the theory and thedevelopment of a set of predictions –1,300 words. Weighting 25%

Task 3 Case Analysis, including applicationand synthesis –3,000 words. Weighting 50%

Task 4 Conclusions andrecommendations –600 words. Weighting 10%

Task 5 Reflective Learning Statement –500 words. Weighting 5%Bibliography

In addition to reading this guide you should alsoread the document entitled;Guidance Notes forCandidates onWork BasedAssigment. Ask yourtutor for a copy.

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1 Substantive - withpractical importance,value, or effect

2 Distinct - definite orundeniable, strongenough, or definiteenough to be noticed


For many of you the project will involve theanalysis of a situation effecting a particularbusiness or organisation from an internalperspective, that is, you work for the organisationconcerned or from an external perspective, thatis, it is an organisation with which you arefamiliar.

One piece of advice often given to studentswhen they are faced with a choice of topics foran assignment or dissertation is;

‘before you make the final decision ensure thatyou can obtain the information you will needin the timescale allowed’.

In fact, one of the key criteria you should usewhen evaluating proposals for research projectsis the viability in terms of whether theinformation is obtainable and whether theresearch methods are feasible.Your tutors andCIPS want this project to be challenging and areal opportunity to investigate the practicalapplication of what you have covered on yourcourse but we do not want the challenge to beimpossible for you.

3. Preparing for assignments: practical tips

3.1 Electronic copies

Whatever else you do,make sure that you keeptwo electronic copies of your work in differentplaces and that you save and backup your workregularly.Always plug in a USB memory devicewhen engaged on important written work oronline research and also save to the PC harddrive and to the USB Drive every 10 minutes. Ifyou don’t have a USB port or memory devicethen use a rewritable CD-Rom or a floppy disc.Ultimately, you will have to submit a hard copiesof your work to your centre and an electroniccopy, so this is a necessity from a submissionperspective anyway.

If your computer crashes, catches fire, has fluidspilled on it, is lost/stolen and so on and youhave no backup file, clearly it will mean a repeatof your effort and hold up your learning andassessment process whilst you recover yourwork.

It does appear to be common sense to do this yetit is still surprising how many students do not.

As already indicated above, you are also requiredby CIPS to keep an electronic copy of your work.You may be required to be submit this to yourtutors for substantiation of authenticity or as partof a random checking procedure.

3.2 Getting started

This is often the hardest part and many people,authors, academics and students, talk about‘writer’s block’; the inertia that needs to beovercome in order to start writing.A good way ofdoing this is to start with something fairlystraightforward, such as formatting the report, thefront sheet, title sheet, basic headings, table ofcontents, bibliography,pagination and otherformatting and so on.

Selecting and Justifying your Project

Before you write the introduction, you will needto decide on the organisation and the issues ortopic you will be investigating.

The main thing to remember here is that thisproject is an integrative assignment.

This project is designed to enable you todemonstrate that you can integrate your learningfrom the courses you have taken during studyingthe CIPS Level 6 Graduate Diploma compulsorycore units of Leading and Influencing in theSupply Chain and Strategic Supply ChainManagement and apply it in a practical context.An assignment such as this is never purely aboutassessment; it is also very much oriented towardsextending your learning, and enabling you to gainmore knowledge and experience of how the keyLevel 6 topics and concepts integrate and areapplied in practice.

3.3 Plagiarism

The attempt to pass off the ideas, research,theories, or words of others as one's own -- is aserious academic offence. Most students knowwhen they are intentionally plagiarizing, forexample, copying an entire essay out of a bookor buying a paper off the Internet.However, youmay be tripped up by unintentional plagiarism --not giving proper credit for others' quotes, facts,ideas, or data. A good rule-of-thumb is to alwaysgive credit for any ideas that aren't your own byciting the source of your investigation.

The most common forms of plagiarism are:• cutting/copying and pasting material from

the web• copying the work of another student (past or

present)• copying course material or lecture notes• copying material out of a textbook or journal.

It is important to note that plagiarism may occurin a number of other forms, as well as inconventional written work and the above are justa few of the most common forms of plagiarism.

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CIPS will be developing a Code of Practice onPlagiarism,which it is hoped will give clearguidance and advice on ensuring that you avoidinnocently plagiarising someone else’s work.Plagiarism will be treated by CIPS as a form ofcheating.

If you require further advice then speak to yourtutor who will be able to guide you.

3.4 The principles of integrative units

Integrative units such as Supply ChainManagement in Practice are intended to helpstudents see connections between all aspects oftheir learning within a particular level ofqualification and then to apply those linkstogether in one assessment at the end of the unit.

Integration of knowledge is seen as extremelyimportant and beneficial to the learner.The ideais to ensure that while learning about aspects ofpurchasing on a subject by subject basis, you willalso learn how to integrate your knowledge,synthesise this knowledge and understand howthe different components of your learning cometogether.This should enable you to use yourbroader knowledge and understanding moreeffectively when it comes to implementation ofpurchasing and supply activities at all levels.

At Level 6, the combination of successfullyleading and influencing in supply chainsituations, together with strategy developmentfor the supply chain, should enable you todemonstrate your ability to operate successfullyat a strategic level, using your leadership skills toinfluence the strategic direction of the supplychain in the context of the variety of supplyrelationships involved.

It would be a good idea for you, therefore, tokeep in mind the unit content for StrategicSupply Chain Management and Leading andInfluencing in Purchasing when selecting yourtopic area and determining the nature andobjectives of your project.You will need todemonstrate how your project integrates learningfrom these two core units.

This is not as difficult as it may appear. Belowthere are some examples of how you mightapproach this:

Examples of Possible Topics

The following passage is an extract fromBESTVALUE IN LOCAL GOVERNMENTPROCUREMENT,http://www.cips.org/BigPage.asp?CatID=206

“2.4 Working in local governmentprocurement“One of the attractions of working in localgovernment procurement is the opportunity toimprove directly the lives of people living andworking in the local community, for example,through better facilities and services.Procurement effects the whole of the authorityand is central to the delivery of services. Localauthorities facilitate the provision of services tothe community and these are delivered throughthe procurement organisation.

“The way the purchasing function is carriedout depends on the individual authority.Thesecan range from a strategic procurement rolewith the purchasing function delegated tomany staff within an authority, to a totallycentralised system located within a specialistorganisation, either within the authority or asa consortium, and there are many othervariations.”

A viable project could consider how theprocurement function in local government candirectly improve the lives of the local community.This would be particularly interesting if youworked for local government but may be moredifficult for you if you did not.

The area identified above,however, is too broadfor an assignment of this type and the projectwould need to be focused.You could considertwo related aspects;• A particular area of procurement, and• A particular segment of the local community

The study may involve your particular departmentand could cover the implementation of neworganisational structures,policies and processesdesigned to achieve the above policy guidelines;or it could focus upon examining how effectivelysuch guidelines were implemented.You couldexplore outside your department by investigatingwhether centralized or decentralized purchasingwas more effective in delivering the communitycentered goals outlined in the above report.

Effective implementation could consider some ofthe following:

Ways of developing people and increasing theirproductivity and effectiveness.

The resource requirements for theimplementation of change within thepurchasing function including:• Human• Physical• Financial

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Ref. Learning Outcomes 3.4 & 4.5 from Level 6Graduate Diploma - Leading and Influencing inPurchasing unit content.

The importance of the environment, resourcesplus internal and external stakeholders inanalysing, developing and implementingcorporate strategy.• Techniques for analysing the external

environment :• PEST analysis, Porter’s 5 Forces analysis• Techniques for analysing the internal

environment:• SWOT analysis, resource audit, skills audit,

knowledge audit• Role and influence of internal and external

stakeholders• The contribution of strategic supply chain

management to corporate strategy, inparticular strategic make, do or buydecisions.

Contribution of strategic supply chainmanagement to corporate strategy: costreduction, quality, innovation, delivery• Contribution of strategic make, do or buy

decisions to corporate strategy• Core competence analysis: core,

complementary and residual competences• Relational competence analysis (Cox)

Ref. Learning Outcomes 1.3 & 3.2 from CIPSLevel 6 Graduate Diploma in Purchasing andSupply – Strategic Supply Chain Managementunit content.

Consider the unit content for Leading andInfluencing in Purchasing and also StrategicSupply Chain Management and identify how manyof the other learning outcomes could be achievedin whole or in part through such a project.Youshould find the list quite comprehensive.

Another aspect of this approach is that you areusing your research skills to identify a relevantand current issue in purchasing and supplymanagement.

Suppose that you do not work for localgovernment or are currently not working for anemployer.Consider the following extract;

“Food giants to boycott illegal Amazon soya”· UK retailers expected to sign moratorium

today· Move hailed as victory for consumer power

Felicity Lawrence and John VidalMonday July 24, 2006

Leading European supermarkets, foodmanufacturers and fast-food chains, includingMcDonald's, are expected to pledge today not touse soya illegally grown in theAmazon region inresponse to evidence that large areas of virginforest are being felled for the crop.

In a victory for consumer power, the companiessay they will not deal with the four tradinggiants who dominate production in Brazilunless they can show they are not sourcingsoya from areas being farmed illegally.Thetraders met in Sao Paolo last week and areexpected to sign up to a moratorium on usingsoya grown in the Amazon.”

Reference; Felicity Lawrence and JohnVidal,(Monday July 24, 2006)Food giants to boycott illegal Amazon soya,Obtained on 24.07.07 from the Guardiannewspaper website at:http://www.guardian.co.uk/brazil/story/0,,1827350,00.html

Clearly there are significant issues here involvingpower and leadership in the supply chain andalso of the impact of stakeholders and social andenvironmental concerns upon supply chainstrategy.There could easily be considerations ofsupply chain vulnerability:where will theretailers and food processors obtain their soyaand how can they track supplies and ensurecompliance and legitimacy of source?If you are intending to produce a work-basedproject founded upon an organisation for whichyou are not an employee, then you would needto frame your project as a case analysis of one ofthe main players cited in the article or of anothercompany that will be effected by or is a party tothis policy decision.

For both the work-based project or desk-researchproject you will also need to demonstrate thatthe subject of analysis would address the learningoutcomes for this unit: Supply ChainManagement in Practice:

• Synthesise conceptual and case study datainto a coherent structure

• Diagnose supply chain problems within acase study situation

• Evaluate the validity and applicability of arange of possible solutions

• Predict the consequences of each alternativecourse of action

• Judge the appropriateness of supply chainprinciples to a particular supply chaincontext

• Solve problems with reference to supplychain principles

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• Propose solutions that will enable the casestudy organisation to operate moreeffectively

• Justify the solutions in terms of theirfeasibility and appropriateness

• Develop a suitable plan for implementing theproposed course of action

3.5 The introduction

You will find that the assessor will always lookfor a good introduction before anything else.Thisis implicit in their thinking, as many of them willbe learning supervisors within colleges anduniversities.Developing the introduction firstenables you to really consider the context ofyour project and what is special or interestingand unique about your objectives – the reasonsfor conducting the assignment in the first place.

The introduction should clearly outline thecontext in which your study is taking place andprovide background on the business you areexamining.Your job here is to interest the readerin the objectives of your project and to showhow these objectives were developed and theirrelevance.The overall purpose of your assignmentshould be clearly identified and then brokendown into a series of concise and focussedresearch objectives. (adapted from;Beamish K,(21stApril 2006),Guidance notes on the conceptof the CIPS Integrative Units for Levels 3,4,5 and6,CIPS).You can always go back to it later andrefine it in the light of your research.

4. Planning your research approach

You will find that you need to gather a largeamount of data and information for yourassignment.Not all of this data will be useful,however, and a lot of valuable time can be spentsifting through masses of irrelevant or largelyuseless material while looking for what isrelevant to your assignment objectives.Carefulplanning of your research can ensure that youspend a lot less time obtaining, and thendiscarding, useless information.This is even moreimportant when you consider the vast amount ofinformation now available in the public domainand the privately held business or industryspecific information that you may have access tofrom your employer or their stakeholders such assuppliers, sub-contractors, investors, accountantsand so on.

You may be tempted to consider this aspect ofyour assignment as academic and of littlepractical worth.This is quite a commonmisunderstanding among students. Instead, youshould regard this as an opportunity to developessential skills of independent enquiry and

research.These skills are highly valued byindustry and are rather scarce.Many companiesspend large sums of money engaging specialistresearch agencies to carry out independentexternal research or consultants to investigatetheir own internal systems,processes andpeople.

If you can develop organisational andinvestigative skills and become familiar withsources of information and also learn how toresearch, gather and analyse data and then howto synthesize your findings – all of this will helpyou to become a more effective manager and willenhance your career prospects.

Example 1

Some years ago a university student wasrecruited to manage the purchasing and supplyfor a major product division for a large highstreet retail organisation. Prior to commencingthe project the student decided to do some oftheir own research.

First of all the student developed a plan:

Step 1: Rresearch public sources of informationon products,markets and competitors

Step 2 analyse findings• Identify consumer trends and key

requirements• Identify new product developments

and their success rate• Identify key competitors and their

market share and strategies

Step 3 Investigate the new companyFind out what the growth rate is andhow this compares to the market andcompetitorsDiscover the extent of new productdevelopment and how this compareswith:a) Consumer trendsb) Major competitors

Critically evaluate standards of visualmerchandising compared to:a) Market trendsb) Major competitors – especially best

in market

Step 4 Synthesize3 the findings into a set ofpractical and coherent recommendations

The student then had to plan how to obtain thenecessary information.


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3 Synthesize - tocombine differentideas, influences, orobjects into a newwhole, or becombined in thisway


The student was living in Birmingham at thetime and discovered that Birmingham CityLibrary is home to one of the best commerciallibraries in the UK.The student decided thatSteps 1 and 2 would require at least a full dayworking in Birmingham commercial library.Thisis often referred to as ‘desk research’or‘secondary research’.

Step 3 required the student to pay extendedvisits to the shops of his new employer and alsoto the shops of key competitors, so that he couldcompare what they were actually doing with themarket reports of best practice and with eachother.This type of research is referred to as‘primary research’.The basic difference betweenthe two types is that secondary research haspreviously been published or gathered bysomeone else – another person, company orofficial body – and the reasons for producing theinformation may differ to your own researchobjectives. Primary research consists of your ownsurvey for the purposes identified by your ownresearch objectives.

The student soon discovered that there was anoverwhelming amount of information in thelibrary and found the librarians were extremelyhelpful in directing him to refine the informationsearch to specific market reports and tradejournals.After half a day the student found thelibrarians had found a wealth of detailed facts onconsumer trends, new product developments,competitors,movements in the market and so on.With some further work the student was thenable to extract the key information.

The comparative analysis of companies requiredthe student to prepare a checklist of areas thatwere key to successful visual merchandising inthese product categories.The checklistpreparation was important because they knewthat they needed to be objective and that theyhad to compare like with like. It was alsoimportant because time was precious andlimited.The student did not want to missanything and have to do it again.This alsoenabled them to make research notes as theyconducted the research in a format that wouldbe easy for them to evaluate.

From this activity the student was able to seewhat best practice was and to benchmark4 thenew employer against this best practice; it wasthen possible to synthesize this into a series ofobjectives and recommendations as the basis fora strategy.

The student soon learned that within days ofjoining the company that they had alreadyidentified all of their individual ideas and had

developed a very similar strategy which thecompany wanted the student to implement. Thisstrategy was very successful and doubled marketshare in one product area within twelve months,increasing revenue by £15m.

However, the research had been outsourced to amarket research agency, and had taken sixmonths of primary consumer research tocomplete at a cost of over £50,000.The actualcost of the research was really very minorcompared to the additional sales that could havebeen gained if the research had taken less thansix months.

5. Research methods

A deductive research strategy would involve youin deducing a hypothesis5, or a series ofhypotheses, that you would then test using yourown empirical research.

For exampleT.C.Powell (1995 cited in Bryman &Bell, 2003) suggested 15 hypotheses in order totest whetherTQM (Total Quality Management)creates economic value for the organisation andthese included;

Hypothesis 1:TQM firms outperform non-TQMfirms

This was then examined by identifying firmswith and withoutTQM and comparingperformances.

An inductive approach would involve you indeveloping theories or hypotheses from yourown research which are more generallyapplicable.

Actually, there can be elements of the inductiveapproach in a deductive study and vice versa. Forexample, you may have induced a theory butwish to examine or test the extent to which it ismore generally applicable.

Gert Hofstede’s (1984 cited in Bryman & Bell,2003 p18) study of cultural difference involvedthe administration of over 100,000questionnaires.The following statistical analysisformed the basis of his framework of culturaldimensions – power distance, uncertaintyavoidance, individualism,masculinity.This was aclassic example of an inductive approach.

You need to be aware that research does not fitinto neat little boxes and it is not a linear process,although it is often presented in that way. It canoften be very messy, frustrating and create moreuncertainty rather than less.

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4 Benchmark - toprovide a standardagainst whichsomething can bemeasured orassessed

5 Hypothesis - atentativeexplanation for aphenomenon, usedas a basis for furtherinvestigation


5.1 Business research criteria and rigour

It is very important in the assessment of yourproject that the assessor believes yourconclusions.The better the quality of yourresearch design, implementation, analysis andsynthesis, the more likely this will be. In order tobelieve your research findings a clear objectiveconsideration of limitations and any potential forbias is required. If you are critical of yourresearch approach or of the data gathered thenyou will not lose marks for this, because it isgiving the assessor valuable guidance in terms ofhow solid the conclusions are.

There are three main criteria you need to takeinto account:

Validity;Where you have devised a measure,does this tool really accurately measure what youwish to measure? Does IQ, for example,accurately measure intelligence? If you aresuggesting a causal relationship between two ormore variables, can you be sure of this or mightthere be some other causes?To what extent areyour findings more generally applicable? Are yourfindings actually of practical significance topeople?

Reliability;To what extent could you conductexactly the same study again and to what extentwould you obtain the same results?

Replicability;The study must be capable ofreplication.

Remember that you will be examining onebusiness case, so the issue of how far you cangeneralise your findings must be treated withcaution.You may be able to find secondaryevidence to support a wider application of yourfindings in the form of a research paper or articlein an academic journal, for example.

5.2 Secondary vs primary research

Secondary research and analysis involves thegathering of data that has already been generatedby another party for another purpose.This is notdata that the researcher is generating themselvesfor the purposes of their own research.There is avery substantial amount of information in thepublic domain and even more when you addsources of information available to you from yourstudy centre and from within your ownorganisation.

This is, in fact, also one of the limitations ofsecondary research – you will need to ensurethat the secondary data you gather actuallyaddresses the objectives of your particular

research and is current (up to date) enough to bestill useful. (See ‘Sources of Information’ for usefulsources of secondary data.)

Even quantitative surveys conducted by yourown organisation would be classed as secondary,unless they had been specifically commissionedfor the purposes and objectives of your project.

In order to overcome limitations and potentialbias in your research methodology you can try tocorrelate your findings from different sources. Ifyou can do this, then your research will beviewed as good quality.Correlation of researchfindings from three different sources is oftenreferred to as triangulation but this would alsousually involve different methodologies.

If you can find journal articles or publishedresearch papers that support the results of keyinformant interviews, then that should be morethan sufficient. Finding different authors whoseresearch also correlates with yours is important;that is one reason why your proof of widerreading and research will attract marks.

5.3 Quantitative vs qualitative research

It is highly unlikely that you will be involved inquantitative research for two very sound reasons.The first is the time and cost of surveying andanalysing a statistically significant sample; thesecond is the complexity of quantitativesampling and statistical analysis which would bemore appropriate at a Master’s level dissertation.

It is also something of a fallacy to believe thatqualitative research will not involve any form ofquantitative analysis. It is quite common toillustrate or analyse qualitative data using chartsor graphs. In the example below I wasencouraged by my supervisor to produce astatistical analysis of the findings of myinterviews and the responses to key questions.

Qualitative research in business explores people’sviews and behaviour in order to determineattitudes and feelings towards management andorganisational issues.

You may decide that it would be useful to obtainthe views of key members of your ownorganization.This would be classed as primaryqualitative research. If you decide to do this youwill need to focus upon:

• The data gathering instrument– interview or– questionnaire or– focus group

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• The method of gathering data– face to face interview,– telephone,– e-mail,– letter– SMS

You will need to refer to texts on researchmethods for advice on how to structure yourquestions and you will also need to pilot or testyour instrument and to analyse the results ofyour test and adjust the method accordingly. Eventhen the results may be contradictory or flawedin some way.

Leading a focus group also requires aconsiderable amount of expertise in the way thegroup is formed and also in chairing the groupand analysing the findings.

Certain key players in business research can beclassed as ‘key (or expert) informants’

“They often develop an appreciation of theresearch and direct the ethnographer6 tosituations, events or people likely to be helpfulto the progress of the investigation.” (Bryman &Bell, 2003, p323).

Interviewing key informants can be helpfulprovided that you do not try to stretch theirviews too far and you really do establish theircredentials as ‘Key Informants’. In the examplebelow I established these credentials by citingthe interviewee’s position as policy-makers andreinforcing this with information on the marketshare of their organisations.

Example 2

For example,my own MBA dissertation involvedresearch into the supply chain management ofmajor retailers in the leisure apparel market.Theonly primary method was key informantinterviews.The key informants were at deputymanaging director or merchandising and buyingdirector level for major retailers.As I needed todiscover what the attitudes of retailers were tosupply policy these informants were ideal and Idid not require a large sample. In fact, it was arelatively small sample, but their responses to thequestions were all very similar, so there was ahigh degree of correlation.

If you wish to conduct some form of primaryqualitative research you are strongly advised to;• Ensure that the objectives of gathering this

primary data cannot be achieved withsecondary data gathering

• Refer to texts on Business Research foradvice on methodology and interpretation

• Discuss with your tutor and take his/heradvice

• Ensure that you have the time to undertakethe research and the level of analysis this willrequire

Jankowicz (2005,p223 fromTable 9.1) suggeststhe following criteria for ensuring the academicrigour of qualitative research.

1. Express each issue you wish to investigate asclearly as you can

2. Familiarize yourself with the situation indepth and build a ‘rich picture’ of themeanings involved

3. Identify themes and potential explanations4. Use these explanations to search for

additional evidence5. Consider alternative explanations6. Pay attention to the less obvious as well as

the more obvious7. Check the accuracy and consistency of your

data8. Cross-check your explanation

5.4 What is ‘action research’?

“An approach in which the action researcher anda client collaborate in the diagnosis of a problemand in the development of a solution based onthe diagnosis.” (Bryman & Bell, 2003).

Action research is far more than simplydiagnosing some aspects of a process and thenpresenting the data to the client, employer ortutor.

One definition of action research is provided byLippitt (1979,Cited in Coghlan & Brannick, 2001,p5)

“A procedure of collecting data fromparticipants of a system and providingfeedback about the findings of the data as anintervention to influence, presumably in ahelpful way, the ongoing action process of thesystem.”

In this view of action research you may be actingsolely as someone who is gathering data,analysing the data and producing a set ofrecommendations; or you may be more involvedin the actual implementation of therecommendations.

The following exercise can be found in Coghlan& Brannick, 2001,p84 and I believe you will findit of practical benefit in helping to ‘Frame andSelect’ your project for action research:

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6 Ethnographer –ethnographicresearcher.“Ethnography andparticipantobservation entailthe extendedinvolvement of theresearcher in thesocial life of thosewho he or shestudies”. (Bryman &Bell, 2003, p314)


Consider the organisation in which you work:1. What questions arise out of your experience

to which you would like to search foranswers?

2. What might be the answers to thesequestions?

3. What do you think might be the underlyingcauses of the situations for which you havethese questions?

4. What alternative answers might exist?5. Where do you fit into the situation as defined

by the question?6. What would other members of the

organisation think of you working on thisissue?

7. Who needs to be involved?Whose supportdo you need to enlist?

8. Where would be a good place to begin?9. How will you engage in uncovering the data?

Action research is different to other researchmethods because you are actively involved in theorganisation you are researching and you mayalso be actively involved in implementing yourown recommendations.

Action research will involve you in experientiallearning through a process of diagnosing,planning action, taking action and evaluating.Asyou can see from the chart below, you would alsobe involved in interpreting and evaluating yourexperiences and taking action as an essentialelement of these activities.

A full-scale action research project may be toodemanding in terms of time and data collection.You would also need the active cooperation ofyour employer.This would be a possibilitythough if the project scope and aims were tightlyfocussed. It is hoped that in any case you willgain experiential learning as part of thisassignment through a process of reflection (see‘Reflective Statement page 16’.)

Keeping a reflective journal or diary is animportant element if you wish to fully participatein action learning and gain major benefits indeveloping your own experiential learning.

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Experiencing

Takingaction Reflecting

Interpreting

Diagnosing

Experiencing


Interpreting

Evaluating action

Experiencing


Interpreting

Planning action

Experiencing


Interpreting

Taking action

Fig 1.The Experiential Learning Cycle in Action Research Projects.Reference: Coghlan & Brannick, 2001,Figure 3.2, p. 30


5.5 The ‘Case Study’method

It is anticipated that most Supply ChainManagement in Practice work-based projects willuse the ‘case study’ approach.The case studymethod is defined by Jankowicz (2005,p220) asa research method“in which you use a variety oftechniques in the workplace setting to exploreissues in the present and in the past; as theyeffect a relatively complete organizational unit(single case study) or group of organizationalunits (comparative case study);which representdifferent possibilities or stances for theorganization concerned; and in which you lookto the future by means of the recommendationsyou make.”A case can be;• A single organisation• A single location• A person• A single event- (Bryman & Bell, 2003)

If you wish to know a lot more about this type ofresearch then you should refer toYin,Robert K.(2003) Applications of case study research, 2ndedition, SAGE.Extracts from this work appear inmost texts on business research and you will findgood coverage in Jankowicz (2005) and Bryman& Bell (2003).

The data you will mainly be concerned with willlargely consist of documents, interviews andpossibly stakeholder analysis.

It is important to understand that this approachwill involve;

• An analysis of the current situation.• An analysis of the context and background to

the case that have led to the presentsituation.

• Identifying and obtaining data in order toexamine hypotheses concerning key factorsin the present situation

• Synthesising the data in order to produce aset of recommendations for action.

• If you are working for the organisation at thecentre of your study a further stage, if youhave the time and the management approval,will involve evaluating the outcomes of yourrecommendations during and post-implementation

Your final step will be to write the reflectivestatement (see page 16)

You must be careful if you are seeking togeneralise your results to the businesses ororganisations since you will have sampled onlyone organisation. If you do this, you should try to

triangulate or corroborate your findings by usingmultiple sources of evidence.

6. Finding sources of information

The chart on page 13,which has been adaptedslightly, is from an out-of-print text on productmanagement by RichardA Collier (1995) but youmay find it helpful in organising your own researchand finding necessary sources of information.He has classified information about companiesinto two broad areas;

• Information generated by the organisationitself

• Any information about the organisation thatis not generated by the organisation.

This information can be in the public domain ormay be restricted. For example, an analyst’sreport may be commissioned by investors into aparticular industry sector or company.You maybe able to gain access to such reports or tomarket surveys if your own organisation hascommissioned or paid for them. If your project isbased upon a study of an organisation for whichyou are not working then gaining access to suchreports would be unlikely.

Commercial organisations such as Mintel,Verdict,The Economist Intelligence Unit, Euromonitorand many others, publish market reports intodifferent sectors and these often include fairlydetailed market analysis, including majorcompetitors.The reports are very expensive butcan often be referenced in public, commercialand university libraries. It is also worth checkingwith your own employer whether they subscribeto external research agencies or havecommissioned any reports that may be useful.

6.1 Sources of Competitor Information

Example 3

During the SecondWorldWar the UK militaryhad serious problems with time bombs.Thesebombs detonated many hours after they hadfallen, when rescue services were hard at worktrying to save lives and put out fires.They weredesigned to cause the maximum disruptionand panic.The problem bomb disposal officersfaced was in trying to get hold of one of thetimer fuses so that they could work out how todisarm the bombs.This took some years butfinally one was obtained. It was discoveredlater that the device was based upon a timermechanism the design and detailed plans forwhich had been registered for patent.The plansfor the device were available in the patentoffice in London and had been there for a

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number of years prior to the start of the war.Hindsight is always 20:20 and the trick ishaving a good idea of what information isavailable and knowing where to look for it.

6.2 Sources of business information on theinternet

There are many sources of business informationon the Internet but it is not always easy tochoose the most useful sites.Here are some youmay find helpful.You do need to ask yourself thefollowing questions before using any informationfound on the Internet:-

1. Do you know for certain who wrote ordeveloped this web page?

2. What authority or expertise does the authorhave?

3. Is the web site part of some special interestgroup or likely to be biased in some way?

4. Can you contact the author or owner of thewebsite?

5. Is the information on the website up to date?

BLOGS7 or sites such asWikepedia must betreated with extreme caution.You can make anentry yourself inWikepedia and although theeditors do make every effort to ensureinaccuracies are corrected or deleted along withoffensive or illegal content – they cannot beguaranteed to catch everything.

http://www.arts.ac.uk/library/4840.htmThis is the most comprehensive and easilyaccessible guide to sources of businessinformation I have come across on the Internet.It is part of the University of theArts LondonLibrary and Resources site and unlike a numberof universities it is open to the public.

http://www.carol.co.uk/This is the CompanyAnnual Reports Onlinewebsite.You will need to register but it is thequickest and easiest way to access companyinformation if the company is fully listed.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/Homepage/fs/enThis is the official site of the UK Government.

“Directgov brings together the widest range ofpublic service information and services online.”

Produced by the Central Office of Information,Directgov provides information from across UKGovernment departments on topics ranging fromtravel safety and parental leave to specialeducational needs and local NHS services….Should you need more information, the site givesyou access to government directories, as well aslinks to relevant third parties who can offeradditional trusted advice and support.”

http://europa.eu/index_en.htmThis is the Gateway to the European Union withlinks to the latest developments and guides to EUlegislation.

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Fig. 2 Ref. (adapted from) Collier, Richard A. (1995).Profitable Product Management, ButterworthHeinemann, P46 Fig 2.4

Public Trade/ Professionals Government Investors


Companygeneratedinformation

Externallygeneratedinformation

AdvertisingPromotional materialsPress releasesSpeechesBooksArticlesPersonnel changesJob advertisements

BooksArticlesCase studiesConsultants reportsNewspapersEnvironmental groupsUnionsWho’s whorecruiting

ManualsTechnical papersLicencesPatentsCoursesSeminars

Suppliers/ vendorsTrade pressIndustry studyCustomersSub-contractors

Security and exchangereportsTestimonyLawsuitsAnti-trust/ merger andmonopoliesinvestigations

LawsuitsAnti-trustState/ federal agenciesNational plansGovernment or EUpublications &investigationsParliamentary selectcommittee reportsRegulators reports

Annual meetingsAnnual reportsProspectusesStock/ bond issues

Security analystreportsIndustry studiesCredit reports

7 BLOG - an onlinejournal ornewsletter in whichan individual hasthe potential to tellthe world all abouthis or her opinions


http://www.bubl.ac.uk/linkThis is one of a number of a pre-evaluated“subject gateways”available on the web, anational information service for the academiccommunity,maintained by Strathclyde University,with many thousands of articles and links whereexperts have searched the web for high-quality,reliable information. It is vast but very userfriendly.Use index letters to find broad subjectsand then progressively refine your search.

http://www.cim.co.uk/cim/index.cfmThe official site of the Chartered Institute ofMarketing

http://www.cipd.co.ukThe official site of the Chartered Institute ofPersonnel and DevelopmentIt is worth remembering that issues such asLeadership,Change Management,Knowledge andOrganisational Learning are key areas of focus forHRM management.

http://www.cips.orgThe official site of the Chartered Institute ofPurchasing and Supply

http://www.supplymanagement.co.uk/• SupplyManagement.co.uk offers selected

content from the print magazine, breakingnews stories, plus a range of on-line-onlyfeatures, including:

• Streaming business and political news• Archive of past articles• Searchable events diary• E-mail news alerts• Commodity price database• Articles and services are freely available to all

users,with the exception of the archivesearch, "my page" personalisation and thecommodity price database,which requirelog-in and are exclusive to CIPS members andsubscribers to Supply Management magazine.

http://www.ciltuk.org.uk/pages/homeThe official site of the Chartered Institute ofLogistics andTransport

http://www.rba.co.uk/sources/This site provides an incredibly comprehensiveset of links that will take you to a large selectionof business information sites on the Internet.Thisis a good starting point for all types of businessinformation.

www.mhhe.com/pom/Operations Management Centre,McGraw Hill –many links

www.dti.gov.uk/DTI site, including best practice guides and toolswww.businesslink.gov.uk -The Business Linknetwork

www.enterprisenetwork.co.ukSundayTimes / DTI site

www.cf.ac.uk/carbs/lom/lercCardiff University Lean Enterprise ResearchCentre

www.iomnet.org.ukInstitute of Operations Management

www.efqm.orgEuropean Foundation for Quality Management

http://bized.ac.ukan academic business site

http://praxiom.comISO 9000 in plain English

www.autoindustry.co.ukDTIAutomotive industry site

www.xberry.fsnet.co.ukDIY Manufacturing SystemsTraining for Everyone– easy to follow guide to Lean Supply – excellent!

www.tangram.co.uka site for manufacturers of plastic windowframes, but with many useful OperationsManagement pages, under General Information

www.loglink.com/logisticsa virtual logistics library

http://home.ku.edu.tr/~cakkan/links.htmmany links to useful Operations Managementsites

www.manufacturing.neta vast resource centre operated by Reed BusinessInformation

www.scmr.comsite of the Supply Chain Management Review

http://web.mit.edu/clt/www/index.htmlMassachusetts Institute ofTechnology Centre forTransportation and Logistics

www.themanager.orgRMP Knowledgebase for Management

www.brunel.ac.uk/~bustcfj/bolaBusiness Open LearningArchive,BrunelUniversity

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www.lean.orgLean Enterprise Institute

www.sussex.ac.uk/Users/dt31/TOMI/index.html -TWIGG’s operations management index

www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/mbaCranfield School of Management, allows access toResearch,Publications Database

http://www-mmd.eng.cam.ac.uk/csp/Tools_Techniques/index.htmCambridge University, Index of Modelling andDecision SupportTools

www.london.edu/otmLondon Business School Centre for OperationsManagement

7. Selecting and using informing frameworks

Before moving too much further into yourproject it is worth considering that the informingframeworks, concepts and theories covered onyour course are designed to help explaincomplex phenomena occurring in business andthe business environment.They have beendeveloped following rigorous research andcritical examination of business practice.Something referred to as ‘theoretical’ or‘academic’ is often meant to imply that it isinteresting but of little practical value.CIPS willwant you to prove that this is not the case andthat the reverse is true of the theories coveredon your course.

You should think of these informing frameworkslike a set of tools. If you approach a job with thewrong tools you are unlikely to make the correctdiagnosis or remedy the problem effectively andmay even cause more damage.

An essential part of successful analysis is tocritically evaluate the theories and concepts youhave covered and to select and/or adapt theoriesthat will be of most use in explaining andexamining your chosen topic. Some informingframeworks will also help direct you towardsappropriate recommendations.

In any analysis you will need to provide a briefexplanation of the concept and show that youunderstand it by evaluating its worth as ananalytical tool in the situation you are examining.You must therefore, read more widely andconsult academic sources such as journal articlesin order to find out if other researchers havecriticised the models or developed adaptationsthat might be more useful.

Example 4

Fore example, consideration of Porter’s model ofgeneric strategies and the risk of being stuck inthe middle with a combination of differentiationand cost leadership approaches was criticallyappraised by Morschett,Dirk et al, (1996).“Their studies reveal that three basic types ofcompetitive advantage seem to prevail in foodretailing: (1) price, (2) quality (with acomprehensive set of quality-orientatedinstruments, including customer service), (3)convenience.We find quality leadership andprice leadership to be independent factorswhich can be achieved without conflicting withone another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR;Copyright 2006 Elsevier]” (Ibid)

If you take the Michael Porter model for the’forces driving industry competition’ (Porter’sown description) – Porter’s Five Forces (PorterM., 1980).

This may be useful if you were, for example,examining the balance of power between thebuyers and the suppliers in your organisation.

However, this model may not be so effective ifyour organisation is part of a heavily regulatedsector, such as a utility or an NHS trust.This isbecause the way this model is used in practiceis most effective when applied to free or, ideally,‘perfect markets’, markets with no distortions incompetition. Failure to research more widelyand to discover this criticism may have resultedin attempting to take this model too far in itsuse as an analytical tool.This is not to say thatyou cannot use it at all when analysingregulated industries but you need to be awareof its limitations and adapt or limit its useaccordingly.

8. Analysing your findings

In general terms most projects will be case orsituational analyses.You may have come acrossthe ‘Universal Management Paradigm’before indealing with case analysis:

• Where are you now?• Where do you want to be?• How can you get to where you want to be

(the possible routes)?• Which are the best routes or solutions?• Follow the route recommended

(implementation).

This is very simple but quite effective if youexpand it to include necessary details asrecommended by Sheila Cameron in the MBAHandbook (2005).

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• Describe the situation, including relevantelements of context and indicate why itpresents problems – this equates toexploring the symptoms of a problem.

• Analyse the problem,using course conceptsto help understand (or diagnose) the rootcauses of problems

• Decide on measures of effectiveness:whatare the criteria for a good solution;whatconstraints exist?

• Identify and describe the range of possiblesolutions

• Compare likely costs and benefits in terms ofyour measures of effectiveness

• Recommend,with arguments to supportyour recommendations, your preferredsolutions

• Consider the implementation of yourrecommendations and any key requirementsfor successful implementation.

It is worth remembering if you are conducting aninternal project that you may also be involved inimplementing your own proposals; anexploration of theory on change managementand,possibly, project management,may also behelpful.

9. Drawing conclusions, makingrecommendations

The most important point to make here is thatyour conclusions must directly address the broadgoal(s) and the detailed objectives you havegiven for the assignment.This final section ofyour report should flow naturally from the mainbody.You are not introducing new material herebut are drawing together the arguments andevidence already developed in order to underpinyour findings and recommendations.

When making recommendations they should;

• Be clearly stated• Directly address the objectives• Be prioritised in terms of urgency or

operational need (make sure the essentialscome before the interesting)

• Have consideration given to resourcerequirements and implementation.

• Be cross-referenced to the supporting data,argument or other research evidence in themain body of the report.

Remember –“…if recommendations give a high priority toan interesting but not essential development,and a lower priority to something needed toensure the survival of the organisation, there islikely to be little respect for the writer of thereport.” (Cameron, 2005, p293)

10. The Reflective statement

Reflection is an essential part of the learningcycle. If you are doing something for a long timewithout reflecting on what you are doing, andhow you are doing, then experience will teachyou nothing.Considering and attemptingdifferent ways of doing it and reflecting and whatworked and what didn’t and why will help toincrease your learning.

This reflective process is expressed in Kolb’sLearning Cycle

(Adapted from- Kolb,D.A. et al, 1984)

In your reflective statement you will be requiredto provide evidence that you have engaged fullywith this learning cycle and particularly with theessential reflective element; also that you haveconsidered the extent to which you havemaximised the opportunity to learn and developfrom the experience this project has provided.

It will be impossible to do this adequately inretrospect and from memory. If you wait until theink is dry on your conclusions before you takeany action with regard to your reflectivestatement then it will be a waste of your time.The assessors want to see evidence of a realengagement with the reflective process in yourindividual cycle of learning.

In order to engage effectively with this processyou should start by considering the objectivesand learning outcomes of your project.Keep areflective journal. Record what you hope to gainin terms of knowledge and skills developmentand try to understand where you are at the startof this project.

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Experience Reflect

TheoriseAct


Fig 4 Stages of the cycle can include thefollowing:

Doing Experiential exercises, using aparticular skill, doing a job,implementing recommendations

Reflecting Discussing your role and howthat influenced what happened,keeping a reflective log/diary.Talking to your manager / tutor /mentor. Evaluating and actiontaken.

Forming Summarising and understandingPrinciples the general concepts and

principles that underpinned theexperience involved in differentaspects of your project.

Planning Setting action plans, identifyingpriorities for further skillsdevelopment. Activeexperimentation / hypothesistesting.

Keep a note of critical incidents – the highs andlows of your project.What went right for you,what went wrong and what you gained fromconsideration and reflection – how did this alteror modify your future actions.

When writing up your reflective statement try toconsider also what your future developmentneeds might be.

11. Presentation

You will normally be required to present thisassignment in the form of a report – not anextended essay. If a different format is requiredyour tutor will provide you with details andguidance regarding the format. If you are at allunsure then you would be wise to contact yourtutor for clarification.

11.1Mandatory requirements - the ‘must-haves’of the project

Keep an electronic copy of your work.

Your report should consist of the following

1. AWBA Front Sheet – issued by your tutor2. A completed Statement of Authenticity3. A title page

Self-explanatory – nice to know the title ofthe assignment.This will depend obviouslyon the context and objectives of yourindividual work.An example title might be;-‘The Importance of Leadership in SupplyChain Crisis Recovery at …. ; a case studyof………’

4. Table of ContentsFollowing directly after the title page.

5. BibliographyA list of your sources of information (references)in alphabetical order of the first author’s surnameis a mandatory requirement.The academic worthof your work will be seriously diminished, youwill lose marks and the authenticity of yourassignment may be questioned, if you do notinclude a detailed and accurate bibliography.Thisshould always appear at the end of yourassignment, that is, after the appendices.

6. Word count / word limitYou must provide a word count, excludingappendices.The word count should be given atthe end of your report.You must stay within theword limit (6,000).This is important for tworeasons:

1. Practice in producing focussed andconcise business communication

2. Ensuring that each student is given equaltreatment

7. Page numbersAll pages must be numbered except for the frontand title pages.

8. Tables, charts and illustrations• These must be sequentially numbered as

Table, Figure or Illustration• Each should have a title and a reference

to the source.• Each should appear in the table of

contents with page number

11.2 Not compulsory but important

1. AppendicesYou do not have to use appendices. If you dodecide you need appendices then they must beused appropriately.Appendices must not be usedas an opportunity to dump material that takesyou over the prescribed word limit; they are tobe a useful source of information that, ifappropriately referenced,would add value andjustification to your project.

They must be numberedAppendix 1,Appendix 2and so on.

Each appendix must have a heading that appearsin the table of contents, for example:

‘Appendix 1;Company market share statistics forEU countries’

As already suggested, you must not useappendices as a way of extending your wordlimit.Your tutor will not specifically mark your

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appendices but the way you make use of yourappendices will be taken into account whenarriving at the overall assignment mark.

For example, you may have gathered a largenumber of statistics in table form.Rather thanreproduce a large and detailed table of statistics,with much of the data not really relevant to youranalysis, you could instead include the wholetable and references in an appendix, so that yourtutor can refer to it if necessary.This would thenenable you to focus on the key elements youhave extracted from it – the really significantstatistics that identify important trends - in thebody of your report.

An example of how not to use appendices wouldbe to include an explanation of the Porters FiveForces model as an appendix.That type of erroris among the most common.Academic modelsmust be briefly and critically examined andapplied within the report itself.

Remember theAppendix is not a waste bin for allthe materials you have come across in yourresearch,nor a way of making your assignmentseem somewhat heavier and more impressivethan it is.

2. Executive summaryThis is useful, although not essential, in anacademic report.However, an executivesummary is essential for a business report. So, ifyou are planning on giving your boss a copy ofthe assignment, it would be advisable for you toinclude an executive summary.This is quitedifferent to an abstract.

Your boss will not want to see a description ofeverything in the report.What is required is afocus on the key issues,priorities andrecommendations identified in the report.Youshould also identify any resource implications.This should be no more than two sides of A4.

3. PolishThis is a term often used to identify excellencein presentation.As it implies, this meanssmoothing out the rough edges and making thework ‘shine brightly’, that is, stand out.

For many of you this assignment will be dealingwith issues that are of importance to youremployer and they will, in all likelihood,beinterested in seeing a copy of your report.Spending some extra time making it asprofessional as possible will pay dividends here.Here are some points you should consider thatwill help:

• Always use the spell-check facility on yourword processing package

• Proofread the final draft carefully, at leasttwice before final submission, checkinggrammar and referencing carefully foraccuracy and consistency.

• Do not use the first person or personalpronouns – this makes your work appearopinionated and subjective – when exactlythe opposite is required.Use of ‘I’,‘my’,‘we’,‘our’ is banned. If you positively have to referto yourself then do so as ‘the author’.Recommendations should not be ‘my’recommendations but ratherrecommendations of ‘this report’.

It is a good idea to print reports• single sided,• with double-spaced lines• with a 3.5 cm margin on the left and a 2.5

cm margin on the right.

This makes it look more appealing and easier toread; it also allows your tutor or any reader toeasily make notes.

Example 5

Many years ago a consultant was hired to dosome consultancy work on the purchasing andsupply management strategy of a very largeretail multiple.At the second meeting with themanaging director and proprietor he was givena copy of a previous consultant’s report forbackground information.He was surprised tosee the author was someone he had workedwith several years previously.The reportidentified accurately a number of key issueswith some sound recommendations.Unfortunately, the report itself was riddled withspelling and grammatical errors and someincredible malapropisms .The owner of theretail company had been through the reportand annotated it in detail.Unfortunately, hehad ignored the substance of the report itselfand instead identified all the language errorswith some fairly caustic comments.As a result,the report was largely discredited and theconsultant was not re- engaged.Needless to saythis made the consultant certain that futurereports were proofread and spell-checked priorto submission.The sad thing was that theresearch identified a number of the sameconcerns as the previous consultant and withsome similar recommendations.

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12. Time management

One of the biggest challenges we all seem to faceday-to-day is that of managing time.Whenstudying, that challenge seems to growincreasingly difficult, requiring a balance betweenwork,home, family, social life and study life. It istherefore of pivotal importance to your ownsuccess for you to plan wisely the limited amountof time you have available.

Step 1: Find out how much time you haveEnsure that you are fully aware of how long yourcourse lasts, and of the final deadline.Themeeting of deadlines is vitally important, assubmission schedules are extremely tight. If youmiss the deadline for handing in your work yourmark may be capped.

Step 2: Plan your timeYou need to work backwards from the finaldeadline, submission date, and schedule yourwork around the possible time lines. Studentswho do not submit will be treated as a 'no show',and will have to re-enter for the next assessmentperiod and undertake an alternative assignment.Many centres charge either a full fee or re-registration fee should students have to entirelyre-take the module. Obviously this adds to eitherpersonal or company expense. Therefore, try tobe realistic in order to maximise youropportunity to succeed,within pre-determinedtime-frames.

Step 3: Set prioritiesYou should set priorities on a daily and weeklybasis (not just for study,but for your life).There isno doubt that this mode of study needscommitment (and some sacrifices in the shortterm).When your achievements are recognisedby colleagues,peers, friends and family, it will allfeel worthwhile.

Step 4: Analyse activities and allocate time tothemConsider the range of activities that you will needto undertake in order to complete the assignmentand the time each might take.Remember, too,there will be a delay in asking for information andreceiving it.

Preparing terms of reference for theassignment, to include the following.1 A short title2 A brief outline of the assignment purpose and

outcome3 Methodology (the methods you intend to use

to carry out the required tasks)4 Indication of any difficulties that have arisen in

the duration of the assignment5 Time schedule

6 Confidentiality – if the assignment includesconfidential information ensure that this isclearly marked on the assignment

7 Literature and desk research undertaken

This should be achieved on one side of A4paper.• A literature search in order to undertake the

necessary background reading andunderpinning information that might supportyour assignment

• Writing letters and memos asking forinformation either internally or externally

• Designing questionnaires (if used)• Undertaking surveys• Analysis of data from questionnaires (if used)• Secondary data search• Preparation of first draft report• Writing reflective statement• Producing final report version• Submitting the project

Always build in time to spare, to deal with theunexpected.This may reduce the pressure thatyou are faced with in meeting significantdeadlines.

Warning!

Do not fall into the trap of leaving all of your workto the last minute. If you miss out importantinformation,or fail to reflect upon your workadequately or successfully,you will be penalisedfor both.Therefore, time management is importantwhatever the duration of the course. It is by nomeans unusual for students to have personaldifficulties that materially effect their ability tostudy.While it is sincerely hoped that this is notthe case for you, should these situations arise,youwill find your tutors sympathetic, if you shouldhave a genuine case. The important concern hereis to keep your tutors informed.Extensions todeadline dates will only be considered in genuinecases and will not be considered retrospectively.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Beamish K, (21st April 20060,Guidance notes onthe concept of the CIPS IntegrativeUnits for Levels 3, 4, 5 and 6,CIPSBrymanA & Bell E. (2003).Business ResearchMethods,Oxford University PressCameron S. (2005).The MBA Handbook, 5thEdition, FT Prentice HallCoghlan D & BrannickT. (2001).DoingActionresearch inYour Own Organization, SagePublicationsCollier, RichardA. (1995). Profitable ProductManagement,Butterworth HeinemannJankowiczA.D. (2005) Business Research Projects,4th Edition,ThomsonKolb,D.A. (1984),Organizational Psychology, 4thEdition, Prentice Hall.Lippitt R. (1979).‘Kurt Lewin, action research andplanned change’, paper provided by the author,Cited in Coghlan D & BrannickT. (2001).DoingAction research inYour Own Organization, SagePublicationsRichard Pears,Graham Shields (2005).CiteThemRight, PearTree BooksPorter M (1980).Competitive Strategy;Techniques for Analyzing Industries andCompetitors, Free Press

Internet Sources

Citing your references using the Harvard (author,date) System.Taken from the OxfordBrookesUniversityLibrarywebsiteon21.07.06fromhttp://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/library/resources/harvard.doc

retrievedfromOxfordBrookesUniversityLibrarywebsite,21.07.06,http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/library/business/sources.html#directories

Competitive strategies in retailing—aninvestigation of the applicability of Porter'sframework for food retailers. By:Morschett,Dirk;Swoboda,Bernhard; Schramm-Klein,Hanna.Journal of Retailing & Consumer Services,Jul2006,Vol. 13 Issue 4,p275-287, 13p;DOI:10.1016/j.jretconser.2005.08.016; (AN 20551728)

Felicity Lawrence and JohnVidal, (Monday July24, 2006)Food giants to boycott illegal Amazon soya,Obtained on 24.07.07 from the Guardiannewspaper website at:http://www.guardian.co.uk/brazil/story/0,,1827350,00.html

http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761553932/Journalism.html?partner=orp#p32

APPENDICES

1. Citing your references using the Harvard(Author-Date) systemCiting your references correctly is an essentialpart of your academic work for three mainreasons:• to acknowledge the sources you have used as

the basis of your research. Failure to do thiscould be construed as plagiarism.

• to enable other people to identify and traceyour sources quickly and easily

• to support facts and claims you have made inyour text.

Citing acknowledging within yourpiece of work the source fromwhich you obtained information.

Reference full details of the source fromwhich you obtained yourinformation.

Bibliography a list of the references you haveused,usually placed at the end ofyour text.

2. Citing references in the body of the text

NB For citing electronic resources, pleaserefer to Section 3.

When reference is made in the text to aparticular document, the author (or editor,compiler or translator) (individual ororganisation) and year of publication are insertedin brackets:for example Agriculture still employs half a

million people in rural Britain(Shucksmith, 2000).

If the author’s name occurs naturally in thesentence, only the year of publication is given:for example This concept is discussed byJones (1998) …

When referring to more than one document byan author published in the same year, these aredistinguished by adding lower case letters (a, b,c) after the year:for example (Watson, 1999a)

If there are two authors, the names of bothshould be given:for example (Lines andWalker, 1997)

Where there are more than two authors, cite thefirst author, followed by ‘et al’ (in italics)for example (Morgan et al., 1998)

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If the author is unascertainable, cite (a shortened)title:for example (Burden of anonymity, 1948)

Page numbers should be included when there isa need to be more specific, for example whenmaking a direct quotation:for example As Kelvin stated (1968,p.100)‘the value of…’

If referencing a secondary source (a documentwhich you have not seen but which is quoted inone of your references) the two items must belinked with the term ‘cited in’:for example …economic development(Jones, 2000) cited inWalker (2001).

NB (1)Whenever possible, try to read theoriginal source;(2) some guides to Harvard advise thatyou can only cite the secondary source -

for example.…according to Jones as cited byWalker (2001).

QuotationsShort quotations may be run into the text, usingsingle quotation marks(see Kelvin example above)

Longer quotations should be separated from therest of the text by means of indentation andoptional size reduction, and do not needquotation marks:for example Simone de Beauvoir (1972,p.365)examined her own past and wrote rathergloomily:The past is not a peaceful landscape lying therebehind me, a country in which I can strollwherever I please, and will gradually show me allits secret hills and dates. As I was movingforward, so it was crumbling.

3. Arranging references in the bibliography

References are arranged alphabetically byauthor’s name (or title, if no author) which hasbeen used in the body of the text.

a. Book referencesInclude,where possible, the followinginformation in the order listed here:

Author(s)/Editor(s)Surname first, followed by first name(s) or initials(be consistent). Include all names if there aretwo or three authors; if more than three, use thefirst name and then et al.For editors, compilers or translators (instead ofauthor), give the abbreviation ed/eds,comp/comps or trans following the name(s):for example Peckham,T. and Smith,G. (eds.)

Year of publicationIf date not known,use: n.d. If the date isascertainable but not printed in the document,give it in brackets, adding a question mark if thedate is uncertain.for example (1996) or (1996?)

TitleCapitalise the first letter of the first word and anyproper nouns.Use bold, italics or underline (be consistent)Include any sub-title, separating it from the titleby a colon.

Edition Only include if not the first edition.Series Include if relevant.Place of publication and publisherUse a colon to separate these elements. If notgiven use: s.l. (no place) and s.n. (no publisher).

Page numbersInclude if referring to a specific quotation and soon

Examples of book references:for example Gombrich, E.H. (1977).Art andillusion. 5th ed. London:Phaidon.for example Ridley,A., Peckham,M. and Clark, P.(eds.) (2003).Cell motility: from molecules toorganisms.Chichester:Wiley.for example Royal Society (2001).The future ofsites of special scientific interest (SSSIs). London:Royal Society

b. Section/Chapter in book edited byanotherThe explanatory notes given in Section 2a, forbooks, are still relevant, but additional elementsof information are also required, so:

Author(s) of sectionYear of publicationTitle of section (use normal type) followed byIn:Author/Editor of whole bookTitle of whole book (use bold, italics orunderlined – as for complete books)EditorPlace of publication and publisherPage numbers of sectionfor example Smith,H. (1990). Innovation atlarge. In: James, S., (ed.) Science and innovation.Manchester:Novon,pp.46-50.

c. Journal referencesNB:Please see Section 3 for citing electronicjournalsExplanatory notes given on page 2, for books, arerelevant. The elements of information requiredare:

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Author(s)Year of publicationTitle of article (use normal type)Title of journal (use bold, italics or underlined –as for complete books)Volume numberIssue number and/or datePage numbersfor example Williams, J. (2000).Tools forachieving sustainable housing strategies in ruralGloucestershire. Planning Practice & Research 15(3), pp.155-174.

d. Conference papersFor single papers:for example Studer,M. (2001).Civilianmilitary relations and co-operation inhumanitarian emergencies. Paper presented at aworkshop organised by the Swiss DevelopmentAgency,Bern, 26th January.

For papers published as part of a set ofproceedings in book form, treat the reference asa section of a book.

for exampleWebb,N. L. (1993).Managementeducation reform in Canada. In:Managementeducation in the United States: eight innovations.Proceedings of a conference,Colchester, 1991.London:Routledge.

e. Newspaper articlesfor example Hunt, P. (1999).Time is runningout.DailyTelegraph,8 February,p. 10.

f. Videosfor example Open University (2000).Art in 14thcentury Siena, Florence and Padua. 5:The SpanishChapel. 25 min. London:BBC for the OpenUniversity.Videocassette.

Guidance on other types of resources, suchas legal material, standards and personalcommunications, is available in Pears andShields (2004).

4. Citing electronic resources

Electronic resources, including the Internet, aresubject to copyright in exactly the same way asprinted books or journals.To show the extent ofyour research, and to avoid plagiarism, it isessential that you fully acknowledge all sourcesused,both printed and electronic, including webpages.

a. Citing electronic resources in the bodyof the textAs far as possible, follow the guidance givenfor printed sources (Section 1) - cite byauthor if known,by title if no identifiable

author, or by URL if neither author nor title isgiven.

b. Arranging electronic resources in thebibliographyReferences to electronic resources should beintegrated into your bibliography for printedsources.As far as possible, provide the sameinformation as you would provide for a printreference (author, title, date of writing, ifthese are stated). Also provide the URL andthe date on which you retrieved it, as theweb changes constantly.

Example of web page: Labour Party (2005)News and speeches:Our third term will be ourbest yet. [Online].Retrieved on 22 July 2005from:http://www.labour.org.uk/index.php?id=news2005&ux_news[id]=tbnpf05&cHash=64dcd1591a

Example of electronic journal: Arimah,B.(2005)What drives infrastructure spending incities of developing countries? Urban Studies42(8), pp.1345-1368. [Online].Retrieved on 22July 2005 from EBSCOhostEJS databasehttp://ejournals.ebsco.com

Example of Internet journal (published solelyon the Internet): Francis, R. and Raftery, J. (2005)Blended learning landscapes.Brookes eJournal ofLearning andTeaching 1(3) October [Online].Retrieved on 16 January 2006 fromhttp://www.brookes.ac.uk/publications/bejlt/volume1issue3/perspective/francis_raftery.html!

Example of report from a database: Mintel(2004).City breaks in the UK.Mintel LeisureIntelligence :UK.April. [Online].Retrieved on 14November 2005 from Mintel databasehttp://reports.mintel.com

Example of report available as pdf:Commission for Rural Communities (2005).Thestate of the countryside 2005.Cheltenham:CountrysideAgency. [Online].Retrieved on 22July 2005 from:http://www.ruralcommunities.gov.uk/data/uploads/State%20of%20the%20Countryside%202005.pdf

Further examples are given in: Pears,R. andShields,G. (2004).Cite them right: referencingmade easy.Newcastle uponTyne:NorthumbriaUniversity. Library copies are available.

Sources of further informationThe Open University (n.d.). References,Bibliography and Plagiarism, retrieved on 20 July2006 fromhttp://library.open.ac.uk/help/helpsheets/cite.html

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Bournemouth University (n.d.).Citing references.[Online].Retrieved on 21 July 2005 from:http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/library/using/citing_references.htmlLi,X. and Crane,N. (1996). Electronic styles: ahandbook for citing electronic information. 2nded. Medford,N.J.: InformationToday.Pears,R. and Shields,G. (2004).Cite them right:referencing made easy.Newcastle uponTyne:Northumbria University Press.University of Chicago Press (2003).The Chicagomanual of style. 15th ed.Chicago:University ofChicago Press.

Lindsay SellarOxford Brookes University LibraryJanuary 2006

Ref: Citing your references using theHarvard (author, date) System.Taken from the Oxford Brookes UniversityLibrary website on 21.07.06 fromhttp://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/library/resources/harvard.doc

The web contains many hundreds of millions ofpages, including everything from rigorousresearch to trivia and misinformation. Beforemaking use of information found on the web inyour academic work, you need to make sure it isof high quality. You should also remember that ifyou use information from the web in youracademic work, just like printed sources, thoseweb pages must be cited in your references. Seeour guide to Citing web sources for furtherinformation).

When evaluating the quality of web resources,consider the following:

Accuracy, Authority,Bias,Breadth and depth,Comparison,Currency

Accuracy - finding“facts”or figures quoted onthe web is not automatically a guarantee that theinformation is accurate. Can you check theinformation against other sources? Does it fitwith what you already know? Do the authors ofthe page tell you where they got the informationfrom?

Authority - who is providing the information,and what evidence do you have that they knowwhat they are talking about?

It is not always easy to see immediately where aparticular web page comes from, and animpressive-looking,whizzy web page is notnecessarily a guarantee of good qualityinformation! If you have found the page via alink or a search engine, look for a“Home”,“Front

Page”, or similar icon, and follow it to try to seewhether the page authors are well-knownexperts, and whether they provide a missionstatement,“real-world”postal address and phonenumber, or a bibliography of their other articles,reports or books.

Bias - As with any source of information, it ispossible for a web page to appear objective, butin fact be promoting a particular standpoint. Becritical; for example, if you have foundinformation on a particular drug.Are the writersof this web page from the company whichmakes the drug? From a campaign group tryingto get the drug banned? Or from an independentresearch institute?

Breadth and depth of information - Howdetailed is the information? What evidence isgiven to back it up? Does it cover all relevantareas of the subject? Does the web page link tofurther relevant sources of information?

Currency - It is easy to assume that informationon the web must be very current (up-to-date),but in fact there are now many pages on the webwhich have not been updated for years. Doesthe page say when it was last updated? (If not, trychecking theView – Page Info option in yourWeb browser and see if a date is given.) Do allthe links to other sites still work? Remember,even if the page has been updated recently, allthe information may not have been checked.

Comparison with other sources - To help youhave confidence in the information you find,compare it with other sources of information onthe subject: published statistics, journal articles,textbooks or other web sites.

Finally, remember that there are a range of pre-evaluated“subject gateways”available on theweb,where human experts have searched theweb for high-quality, reliable information.Askyour Brookes subject librarian for ideas, or tryBUBL Link (http://www.bubl.ac.uk/link/) to getyou started.

For further information on evaluatingInternet and web resources, see:

Cooke,Alison (2001). A guide to finding qualityinformation on theInternet: selection and evaluation strategies. 2ndedition. London: Library Association Publishing.Available at Headington andWheatley Libraries at004.678/COO

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Grassian, Esther (2000).Thinking critically aboutWorldWideWeb resources. Retrieved on 12 July2004 from theWorldWideWeb:http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/index.htm

Howe,Walt (2001). Evaluating quality.Retrievedon 12 July 2004 from theWorldWideWeb:http://www.walthowe.com/navnet/quality.html

Taken from the Oxford Brookes UniversityLibrary website on 25.07.06 fromhttp://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/library/guides/evalweb2004.doc

Appendix2

UK business libraries

University Libraries, Business Schools andthe UK Libraries Plus Scheme

Most academic libraries will provide some of thebasics you need. It is important that you consultthe web sites below and phone first to find outwhether you may use them.Web sites that givedetails of access to Universities include:

The British Business School LibrariansGroup provides an interactive map of members(mostly in universities,but also in private businessschools),with links to their web sites:http://www.bbslg.org/

UK Libraries Plus is a scheme that allows part-time,distance learning and placement students toborrow from universities which have signed upto join and borrow books.Access to electronicsources is not usually given.Full details are givenat:http://www.uklibrariesplus.ac.uk

A guide to all UK higher education web sitesincluding catalogues and opening hours,produced by IanTilsed at Exeter University:http://www.ex.ac.uk/library/uklibs.html

The Open University guide to using highereducation libraries:http://www6.open.ac.uk/librarydatabase

SCONUL Research Extra Our Libraryparticipates in the SCONUL Research ExtraScheme which provides external borrowingfacilities to academic staff and postgraduateresearch students (PhD,MPhil) in 150+ highereducation libraries in the UK:http://www.sconul.ac.uk/use_lib/srx/

The SCONUL Vacation Access Scheme usuallyallows undergraduate and postgraduate studentsreference use of other UK higher education

libraries free of charge during the vacations of thehost institution. If you request admittance toanother library you should be prepared to presentproof of your status.The production of youruniversity ID/library card may be acceptable butplease check before you go by looking at theirweb pages or telephoning in advance.Details areavailable at:http://www.sconul.ac.uk/use_lib/vacation.html

Special LibrariesThere are many hundreds of special libraries thatmay be of use to you.Many governmentdepartments, trade associations and other officialbodies run information services.Below are listedonly a few of the most important ones.At the end of this handout are listeddirectories that will help you to find detailsof organisations involved in your area ofresearch.Please remember to phone to check if you areentitled to use them; there are restrictions on theuse of the libraries listed below and those listed indirectories.

Chartered Management InstituteManagement House,Cottingham Road,CORBY01536 204 222The Management Information Centre provides asearch and postal book lending service from awide variety of sources covering every aspect ofmanagement.A photocopy service is alsoprovided.Members have access to EBSCO'sBusiness Source Corporate and other onlineresources remotely.Membership is open to allstudents, including part-timers and open learnersfor fees of £75-00 p.a. for part-timers and openlearners, and £50-00 p.a. for full-timers at the timeof writing.

British Library Business Information ServiceEuston Road, St.Pancras, LONDON 020 7412 7454http://www.bl.uk/welcome/business.htmlThis library holds the most extensive collection ofmarket research reports available to the public inthe UK.Consult:MARKET RESEARCH:A GUIDETO BRITISH LIBRARY HOLDINGS in the QuickReference section ofWheatley Library (016.65883SCI) for details.Most standard series of marketresearch reports are available, and the libraryattempts to cover markets not covered by them.However, the publisher may insist on an embargoof up to five years before they are made availableto the public.The collection is international and isnot restricted to the UK.The library additionallyholds trade directories, exhibition catalogues,trade journals, and other trade literature, includingstockbroker reports.Click on the "Using ourreading rooms" link on the page above for detailsof how to obtain a reader’s pass.All students arewelcome at the present time.

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Bookings must be made for workstations.Chargesare not made for searching databases,butdownloading is not permitted.Copy cards mustbe purchased to print. Electronic sources include:

Company information• Bureau Van Dijk databases include Fame,

also available at Brookes,providing detailedaccounts of 117,000 UK public and privatecompanies.Amadeus provides financial andother details of 6.1 million companies in 34European countries.Osiris does the same for27,500 quoted companies worldwide. Seealso the entry under the UK trade andInvestment Centre below.

• Disclosure USA/Worldscope companyreports from over 15,000 publicly quoted UScompanies.Detailed financial information on21,000 leading world companies.Detailedfinancial data for 2.5 million UK and Irishcompanies.

• Global reference Solution provides accessto Dun and Bradstreet’s directory of 86million world businesses.

• Mergent Online provides data for 15,000American and 20,000 other worldcompanies.

• Onesource provides detailed profiles of 1.7million companies and 6 million executivesworldwide from 2,500 sources.Text sources.

• ABI/Inform provides full text of articlesfrom 1,000 academic and other businessjournals.

• Business and industry reports oncompanies, products industries and marketsfrom 1,000 trade and business newspublications.

• Business Periodical Index bibliographicguide that indexes business journals.

• COBRA-Complete Business Advisorencyclopaedia of practical information foranyone starting or running a small business.

• Directors' Briefing and Start-Up Briefingon starting and running a small business.

• European Business ASAP (Thomson Gale)full text articles from scholarly and otherbusiness journals.

• European Intelligence Wire (formerlyMcCarthy) business news from internationalnewspapers and business magazines.

• Grantnet provides details of every variety ofgrant available to businesses in the UK.

• Investext Plus (Thomson Gale) alsoavailable at Brookes, this provides detailedreports on all world public limitedcompanies, on industries,markets andcountries, from stockbrokers, investmentbanks and so on

• Lexis-Nexis full text news articles, pluscompany details and financial information.

• World Tourism Organization e-libraryprovides access to the full text of over 300reports.

Business Statistics• EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit)

Countrydata worldwide macro-economicindicators and forecasts. See also UKTradeand Investment Centre.

• Euromonitor GMID (Global MarketingInformation Database) includes statistics ofall varieties on world economies. See also UKTrade and Investment Centre.

Market reports• Datamonitor Business information

Centre Information service containing10,000 company profiles, 2,500 industryprofiles and more than 50 country profiles.

• EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit)Viewswire Daily updates on importanteconomic,political, business and marketdevelopments for 195 countries.

• Euromonitor GMID (Global MarketingInformation Database) includes marketreports, also available at Brookes asEuromonitor Market Research Monitor, formany world economies. See also UKTradeand Investment Centre.

• Frost & Sullivan in-depth market researchand strategy reports on healthcare, chemicals,IT, telecoms, electronics, industry,transportation, aerospace and defense.

• ISI Emerging Markets provides high-qualitysector reports, news, country reports andcontact information on 50 emerging markets,such as developing countries and economiesinAsia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, theMiddle East and NorthAfrica.Data from7,800 publications is provided.Allows usersto view the market from a "local" perspective,monitor company, industry and marketperformance, and keep abreast of currentdevelopments and trends. See also UKTradeand Investment Centre.

• Key Note full text of 250 market researchreports on the UK.

• MAPS full text of all MarketAssessment Reports.• Marketing Surveys Index details of 5,000

published market reports from 1,100 worldpublishers.

• Business Insights (previously Reuters) alsoavailable at Brookes, reports on the globalhealthcare, consumer goods, finance,technology and energy sectors.

• Snapshots 1,700 brief market researchoverviews covering a wide range of countriesand products. See the UKTrade andInvestment Library.

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Institute of Chartered Accountants inEngland and WalesCharteredAccountants Hall,Moorgate Place,

LONDON 020 7920 8620http://www.icaew.co.uk

A fee-based service is available for non members.

Chartered Institute of Personnel andDevelopment151,The BroadwayWimbledon, LONDON,SW19

1JQ 20 8612 6200http://www.cipd.co.uk/about/library

A fee–based service is available to non-members.

Public LibrariesMost public libraries provide a basic service andare generally under-used by the businesscommunity.The larger industrial city's centralreference libraries tend to provide betterservices.The UK Public Library web pageprovides links to internet sites and catalogues,where they are available:http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/square/ac940/ukpublib.htmlThe following public business libraries areespecially worth phoning to see if they can help:

City Business Library1 Brewers Hall Garden, LONDON 020 7332 1812http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/leisure_heritage/libraries_archives_museums_galleries/city_london_libraries/cbl.htm

Particular strengths are UK and foreign trade,professional and telephone directories, tradejournals and international newspapers. Files aremaintained on industries and products, andforeign countries. Some market research materialis available (mostly UK).Company annual reportsare available.A fee-based service is available.Electronic sources include:• Financial Times• European Intelligence Newswire (formerly

McCarthy) business news from internationalnewspapers and business magazines. SeeBritish Library.

• Business and industry reports on companies,products industries and markets from 1,000trade and business news publications. SeeBritish Library.

• Hydra financial data from world companies.• FameAccounts and share prices for all public

and private UK companies, also available atBrookes.

• Snapshots 1,700 brief market researchoverviews covering a wide range of countriesand products. See British Library and UKTrade and Investment Library.

• CCH Business Profiles advice on setting upevery variety of small business.

Downloading from CD-ROMs is not permittedand printing is charged.

Birmingham Commercial LibraryCentral Library,Chamberlain Square,BIRMINGHAM 0121 303 4531

Manchester Commercial LibrarySt. Peters Square,MANCHESTER 0161 234 1990

Sheffield Commercial LibrarySurrey Street, SHEFFIELD 0114 2734743Directories of Libraries and Information ServicesThe directories that will help you to find other

useful organisations are:• ASLIB DIRECTORY OF INFORMATION

SOURCES IN THE UNITEDKINGDOM(QR026.002541)The standard guide to all public, academicand special libraries.

• DIRECTORY OF BRITISH ASSOCIATIONS(QR 062 DIR)Particularly useful for tracing tradeassociations which run information services.

• GUIDE TO LIBRARIES ANDINFORMATION UNITS IN GOVERNMENTDEPARTMENTS AND OTHERORGANISATIONS (QR 027.00254 GUI) Asthe title suggests, particularly useful fortracing official libraries.

• TRADE ASSOCIATIONS ANDPROFESSIONAL BODIES OF THE UNITEDKINGDOM(QR060.025TRA)Further details of useful organisations,including a brief membership profile.Ref: retrieved from Oxford BrookesUniversity Library website, 21.07.06,http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/library/business/sources.html#directories

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At the time of going of production (Jan 2007) all website references and addresses were active.© The Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply January 2007.

Easton House, Easton on the Hill, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 3NZ, UKTel: +44 (0)1780 756777 • Fax: +44 (0)1780 751610 • Email: [email protected] • Web: www.cips.org

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