| Industry and trade associations can be rich sources of intelligence about a given industry or market. While some associations restrict most content to their members, others make many of their reports, statistics or other insights available. To find groups associated with the industry you are researching, use the sources below. |
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Consulting or advisory firms often publish free reports on industries or markets. Use the customized search engine below from the University of Ottawa's Management Library to surface publications or reports from firms such as PwC, Deloitte, Boston Consulting Group, etc. |
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.
Take advantage of the Advanced Search features of Google to surface more relevant results.
These features include:
For other ideas on how to get better results faster using Google, see the link below.
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:
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