Business Management Capstone (Assignment Guide)

Business management knowledge shows competence in key areas of:

• business management
• financial analysis
• human resource management
• supervision
• marketing
• planning and budgeting
• computer applications
• project management
• international business
• operations management
• planning and professional writing

How to think about finding information

1. explore multiple sources to find out what information has been published about your topic
   • skim and scan the article - look for facts you can use (size of company, revenue, demographic, etc.)
   • jot them down along with the title and database (you'll need it later
2. discover what you don't know and what you need to learn
3. identify key facts, details, and concepts that relate to your topic
4. evaluate the credibility of the information
5. analyze if the information is useful and how you might use it
6. synthesize (bring together) the pieces information to complete your assignment or project

Break the process down into individual steps 

• Step 1: choose a topic interesting to you
• Step 2: make a list of search terms related to your topic
• Step 3: find background information - use Credo Reference database 
  • definitions and concepts (business management, entrepreneurship, etc.) and
  • basic facts/ideas (key people, business types, names, dates/timelines, places, history, etc
  • use background information to identify an area you want to focus on
  • identify new search terms based on what you learn 
    • write it down so you remember it
• Step 4: look for detailed research about your business topic
  • scholarly articles, data, statistics
    • database: MasterFILE Complete (magazine and newspaper articles)
    • database: Business Insights (Fortune 100 company data and information)
    • database: Academic Search Premier (scholarly/peer-reviewed articles)
• Step 5: evaluate your articles by asking: 
  • is the article useful for your assignment?
  • is the information up-to-date based on your topic?
  • is the author qualified to write about your topic?
  • did you verify the information with other sources?
  • is the article factual and unbiased?
  • is the purpose of the article to educate? inform? 
  • is it written for your reader?  
• Step 6: combine what you already knew about your topic with the new knowledge you learned during the research process