See your Business 302 Environments text for full description.
Griffin, Ricky W. (7th ed.) (2002). Chapter 3: The environment of organization and managers.  In Management. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, p. 24.

Click each dimension to see suggestions for locating research material for this case.
The examples are also relevant for other industries and organizations.

Eco-Environment--How the physical environment and changes to natural resources affect business.

Read-current awareness-News events and analysis, industry trade publications and associations. Risk analysis.


General Environment

Economic dimension-The overall health of the aggregate economic system in which the organization operates.

Conference Board (CSUSM only)
summary and analysis of latest national economic news.    

Stat-USA (CSUSM only)--Latest economic data for U.S. and Global.
Bureau of Labor Statistics--San Diego Economy

US Census Economic indicator for Monthly and Yearly retail sales (7221) Full service restaurants.
http://www.census.gov/mrts/www/mrts.html

Economic Indicators

FRED: Federal Reserve Economic Database
Key economic indicators arranged in a way to quickly scan for U.S. interest rates, CPI (Consumer Price Index); PPI (Producer Price Index) GDP, and banking indicators

News articles about local restaurants:

San Diego Business Journal in ABI Inform (Proquest)
Lexis/Nexis / News / U.S. News / California

Technological dimension

The Futurist (csusm only) Use the recommended article from your professor as a starting point for your particular company.

Search Factiva –
forecast and technolog$ and diner
Limit to industry (Full service restaurants)
among the hits: Nations Restaurant News year end summaries

Sociocultural dimension

Don want's to read articles about food and consumer behavior
ABI Inform Global in library catalog.
He chooses the TOPICS tab first.

Political-legal dimension

Is the environment friendly toward the industry?  Locate the political action committee or lobby for state or national issues that may affect the industry.  What stand do local politicians and legislators take to existing or proposed laws governing the industry.

International dimension

Look for import / export information.  Research target country demographics.
http://library.csusm.edu/subject_guides/business/international.asp

Task Environment

Competitors

Business directories list private and public company information.  Business descriptions often list competitors.  Use the SIC or NAIC to get a list of companies in the same industry.

Search by Company Name
Lexis/Nexis Academic then go to: Business / Company Dossier.
Inside Prospects for San Diego County
For additional suggestions: Business Research Subject Guides

Seach by Industry for Company List
LexisNexis Academic / Business Company Dossier

To find competitors to Don's Doggie Diner search using SIC 5812; location: San Marcos, CA, and key term in business description: diner or coffee shop

Search for Industry Statistics
http://www.census.gov  Business / NAICS.
Economic Census to find the number of companies of competitors by zipcode, city, county etc.  From the Census home page, choose Business / Economic Census.

small to large companies   LexisNexis Academic / Business     
large companies Hoover's Company records in Lexis/Nexis Academic.

Business rankings:  For large companies: To know where a company ranks among it's competitors you need to look at business rankings or analyze financial statements. 
Business Rankings Annual  


Customers

Who is likely to eat at Don's Doggie Diner?

Research lifestyle choices: 

Library catalog subjects:  Market segmentation, age groups
Lifestyle Market Analyst  HF5415.33.U6 L54 REFERENCE
(for demographic characteristics tied to lifestyle choices by metropolitan area.)

MediaMark Reporter (CSUSM only--will not work with firefox) product purchasing behavior and consumer demographics and media (magazine readership, TV, radio, and web viewing habits.)

read Trade publications:  ABI Inform Global / topic guide / restaurant / lists other suggested topics "Restaurants and Consumer behavior"

Use SanDAG (San Diego Association of Governments) to find the optimal location for the Diner. (San Marcos and Rancho Santa Fe).
Once in SanDAG navigate on the right hand column to Other Resources / Demographic and other data to locate county census info. and transportation info.

Research local demographics http://library.csusm.edu/subject_guides/business/

Suppliers

Look through trade publications such as Nation's Restaurant News and advertisements, and web sites.  Look at Trade Show websites and their sponsors.  Read business news stories and statistics about cost of operations for restaurant owners.

Don need's cleaning supplies for his restaurant and a search of Nation's Restaurant News website finds advertisements for cleaning supplies.

Factiva   Limit by Source: Nation's Restaurant News
keyword: cleaning supplies

Thomas Register is a super-catalog of manufacturers and services with links to company web sites and catalogs.  Individual registration needed, but site is free.

Professional Industry Associations as a service to their members and prospective customers associations may provide directories.  Find your professional association through web searches, news releases, trade show listings.  One example for suppliers is IDS Packaging:  The information resource for the packaging industry.

Nation's Restaurant News website leads to advertisers and trade show exhibits

Strategic Allies

Consider business enterprises that have mutual customers or needs.  Don's Doggie Diner proximity to high schools or athletic events.  The Diner may have a sharing arrangement for advertising or coupons, with another company.  Consider any useful business networking ideas.

Search secondary literature by using keywords that hint at strategic alliances:  partner, alliance, joint, etc.
Press releases (business wire, PR newswire) searchable in the business databases are often about these arrangements.

Regulators

Regulations fall into different jurisdictions, they are either municipal, county, regional (water districts) state, or national.   Consider which jurisdiction cares about the issue.  For example, local business signs will fall into city or county jurisdiction.  Business license and fees will fall into state or local.  Taxes will fall under state, or federal.
To find the various regulations, licenses and permits Don will need he visits CalGold website.

To learn about pending bills that could affect his business in the near future:

State of California Web Site / Government / Legislature / Locating and Tracking Bills

Labor Market

Occupational information and outlook

Labor Unions

Be aware of labor union activities, in news databases, via union directories.

External Owners

stockholders, see investor relation pages of public corporation shareholder meeting votes.

Created by: Ann Fiegen
Last Edited:6/2/08