Penny's Tips and Tricks for Identifying a Business Problem for your Proposal Memo!
Having a hard time figuring out a topic? Here are some tips that may help:
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Think about something you’ve read about in the news recently! Many things can be made “businessy.”
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Consider your major. Is there an aspect of your major that pairs well with business issues?
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Browse some topics to get your mind thinking. Try looking at some of the databases in the Choosing a Topic box below.
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Talk to people! Sometimes just talking helps you figure out ideas or topics you'd like to explore. What challenges do they face at work? What challenges do YOU face at work?
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Do a quick Google search to see what's happening. Try a broad search like: hospitality industry challenges, or be more specific!
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Scan headlines on Yahoo! Finance, Google Finance, Bloomberg Businessweek, or other business news web sites. Just scanning headlines can give you ideas!
Most important: If you are not sure of a topic, or have an idea and are not sure how to make it into a proposal memo, talk to your professor or to your librarian! We can help!
Choosing and Researching a Topic
- Opposing Viewpoints
This is not a business database, but can give you ideas about topics to research. To get started, click on the little lightbulb that says "Browse Issues." Note: Some of these topics are business related and some are not, but they can help you think about what might interest you. - CQ Researcher
This is not a business database, but can give you ideas about topics to research. To get started, look at Current Issues and Topics. Note: Some of these topics are business related and some are not, but they can help you think about what might interest you. - Access World News
To browse for topics, scroll down the home page until you see Hot Topics on the left side of the screen. Click there, and then scroll down the next page till you see Business & Economics. You can use the pull down menu to search by month and year. - Gale Business Insights: Global
Use this database to search for company challenges, or browse by industry. - Statista
Easy to use statistics search engine with access to more than a million statistics and facts.
Citing Your Sources
Whenever you do research, you will need to cite the information sources that you use. Most business scholars use APA style. Here are some tools that can help you with this task:
Gleeson Library's guide to citations: How? Why? When?
- APA 7th Edition Citations for Business SourcesAn excellent guide to using APA 7th edition style for popular business sources. Scroll through the guide to find an example for the business source you are using in your research. Compiled by librarians Naomi Schemm, Marcia Dellenbach, Zachary Grisham, Marianne Hageman, Natalia Tingle, Matt Trowbridge, and Amanda Wheatley
- Citing Business Databases in APA: Michigan State University GuideThis guide was created to help with citing some common business databases
- Citing Business Databases from the University of North Carolina at GreensboroThis guide has some additional business database examples in APA style.
- MLA Business Citations: Youngstown State UniversityScroll down the page to see citations for specific business web sites, reports, and databases cited in MLA style.
- Purdue OWLOur favorite style guide web site is the OWL from Purdue University.
- RefWorks
RefWorks allows users to create personal databases to manage, store, and share the information citations/references. Users can automatically insert references from their database into their papers and generate formatted bibliographies and manuscripts in seconds. See our RefWorks Guide for information about creating accounts, adding references, and using add-ons.
Getting Help!
There are several ways to obtain assistance with your research. Read on!
You have your very own librarian! She is Penny Scott, and you can contact her for help.
Her contact information is: email: plscott@usfca.edu * phone: 415-422-5389
It is best to email ahead, or make an appointment, to make sure she is available! Appointments are available virtually via Zoom, or in person, and are great for groups or individuals. If you don't see a time that works for you, email Penny.
If Penny is not available, or any time you need help, you can always get help, just Ask a Librarian!
You can also take a look at our Research Guides on many topics!