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MMPA 2024-12M Integrated Case Competition

A guide to company and industry research for MMPA 2024-12M students participating in the Integrated Case Competition

WEB RESEARCH STRATEGIES

While the FLC and Library databases should be an essential part of your research toolkit, the Web will also be an important source of information and insights for you.

Consider using these tips and strategies to get better results faster.

ADVANCED GOOGLE SEARCHING

Take advantage of the Advanced Search features of Google to surface more relevant results.

These features include:

  • Phrase searching, use quotation marks: e.g. "market share", "key trends"
  • Document type limits using file type: PDF, PPT, XLS
    • This can help you find reports and briefings that might otherwise be buried in your search results.
  • Filtering results by date ('last update') to retrieve only pages or documents uploaded recently

For other ideas on how to get better results faster using Google, see: How to Search on Google

The 'WHO CARES?' STRATEGY

The 'who cares?' strategy involves going 'straight to the source' .  Rather than using a keyword search to surface relevant data and insights, this strategy involves going directly to websites likely to have relevant information.  This strategy can be especially helpful if a keyword search is not productive or you have many potential keywords to search. 

These sources or websites can be identified by thinking about who or what cares enough to:

  • collect,
  • publish,
  • distribute, or
  • sell the kinds of statistics, data or analysis you are seeking. 

Let's pretend your case competition was focused on the topic of 5G.  The table below lists types of organizations that might 'care' about 5G and provides mostly Canadian examples of each for illustration purposes only.  Depending on your case, you may want to target other geographies other than Canada.
 

'Who cares?' source type Example
Cellular service providers Telus
Cell phone and device manufacturers Samsung
Government agencies or departments that regulate or develop policy for telecommunications Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CTRC)
Standard-setting bodies 3GPP
Consulting firms that may provide advisory services to companies affected by 5G, Accenture
Industry or trade associations or coalitions 5G Canada Council
Research firms that may offer analysis and forecast services to companies affected by 5G
(NOTE:  Library databases may have some of these reports)
Juniper

See the handout below for a list of key categories of 'who cares?' sources for industry or market research.  Use this to help you develop your own case-specific 'Who cares?' strategy