What are case studies?Some case studies are specially written for use in business education.
These are often produced by academic institutions or professional bodies.
Case studies may be based on real companies, organisations and events or they can be fictional.
The phrase is also used to refer to any short description of a company or other organisation, focusing on a particular issue. This type of case study can be found in books, to illustrate points made in the text, or in journal articles.
Use the phrase "case studies" (alongside another term such as marketing) in the Library Catalogue to find such material.
Use the filters on the left to restrict your search to case studies:
MarketingSherpa
Specific marketing case studies.
PR Week
Public relations case studies.
CIPR
​Member only case studies from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
Case Centre - free cases
Case studies from a number of organisations, covering a range of subjects.
MIT Sloan Management Learning Edge Case Studies
Teaching case studies on leadership and entrepreneurship as well as operations, strategy and more...
Health and Safety Executive - Business Case studies
General business case studies as well as those on SMEs and larger businesses
For some assessments you may be required to locate company information, including annual or financial reports.
You can use our eResources to find lots of useful background information on companies, as well as 10 years of figures for larger publicly listed companies.
Before you choose your company or industry, you may wish to check what information is available.
Facts and figures for smaller companies can be hard to locate:
Don't forget books!
Check the Library Catalogue for books on larger companies.
Use the International directory of company histories on Floor 1A.
This includes summaries of company developments and significant events.
These tell you about a company in their own words and also give you financial information.
Most annual reports are online via the company's website. Look for links to Corporate information, Investor relations or similar.
Larger companies financial information for 10 years is amalgamated and can be analysed for profit/loss, turnover, ratios, stocks and shares and much more using:
For more information or for older reports try:
Companies House Beta Search - publicly available company information (this government department controls the incorporation and dissolution of all UK limited companies).
SEC filings and forms EDGAR - inside information about US public companies, including company profiles and press releases plus the filings made to the Securities Exchange Commission giving financial data and management reports.
London Stock Exchange - share prices, statistics and FTSE indices.
Use ProQuest Business to find articles, market research and newspapers on a company by limiting your search using the options provided:
Use the FT to find the most recent news on a particular company and use newspaper archives for older materials:
Additional information for some companies can be located in:
Mintel and Cobra may provide useful market research and industry information:
What is a market research report?Market research reports analyse particular products or industry sectors looking at market trends, major companies within the sector, market share and socio-economic factors. They may also include forecasts.
Some reports look at broader issues such as the buying behaviour of particular demographic groups or the effect of technological change or economic factors on consumer behaviour.
You can find market research reports in:
Most of the market research the Library subscribes to concentrates on the UK but ProQuest Business and Mintel may include brief reports: look for the Global Market Navigator and Market Sizes on Mintel, or the Business Monitor International Reports and SnapShots Reports on ProQuest Business.
Most market research report publishers have websites where they advertise their publications for sale.
The full content is not usually available unless you are willing to buy it, and they are often very expensive.
It’s not usually possible to get market research reports via inter-library loan.
The Library pays for access to the market research reports described above which is why you will need to use your university email address and password to access content.
Consumer research organisations such as YouGov and Ipsos MORI have a limited amount of free information from their consumer surveys.
When thinking about market research, consider looking for books and journals via the Library Catalogue on marketing and market research, writing a questionnaire, conducting primary research and more...
If you wish to access good practice examples of final year projects, dissertations or Masters theses please contact your lecturer.