The Foster Business Library offers an extensive collection of business databases on its homepage; see under Business Databases; see also the four folders at the top of that list for lists of Foster databases by topic: books, articles—full text, articles--citations and abstracts, and company and industry. For more information on the three dozen Foster business databases, click here.
For more information about which of the three dozen Foster business databases to use, click here.
For more information on accessing Foster databases from off campus, click here.
For answers to some frequently-asked questions about connecting to UW library databases from off-campus, click here. And, finally, see the UW Libraries'
Database Usage Guidelines.
Hoovers Online:
Under Business Databases on the Foster Business Library homepage. Hoovers Online offers information about 14,000 public and private companies worldwide, with links to company homepages and annual reports, charts, company capsule, competitors, divisions, earnings, financials, Fortune and Forbes rankings,
history, industry information, insider trading, mission statements, news links, press releases, officers, patents, products, SEC filings, splits, subsidiaries, etc. Most information on this site is free and available on the Web (not just through the Foster Business Library homepage) but, via the Foster
homepage, you can access the more detailed Premium Content.
Lexis-Nexis Academic
Universe:
To find company information, go to Business where
you can obtain financial data for companies, Securities and Exchange
Commission reports and filings, annual reports from 1984 to 1995,
information about public, private and foreign companies, mergers, and
bankruptcies. Information is available from twenty different
sources (each of which must be searched separately).
Included among the sources is Hoovers Online, with members' access to
company profiles. SEC filings, particularly the 10K annual reports, are a particularly
rich source of company information. Use your browser's Find command (or Control-F) to
locate references to particular terms of interest in 10K filings such as trends,
strategy, competitors, industry, etc. (This database is available widely on campus and may be
accessed from home via the U.W. connectivity kit or via the Libraries'
proxy server.)
Go to SEC Filings and Reports to view Securities and Exchange Commission filings for Limited
Brands (ticker symbol LTD); Lexis-Nexis offers over 150 10-K filings or parts of filings.
A recent 10-K filing notes that the "Company's business is principally conducted from office,
distribution and shipping facilities located in the Columbus, Ohio area. Additional facilities are
located in New York City, New York; Kettering, Ohio; Rio Rancho, New Mexico; Paramus, New Jersey
and Hong Kong. The Company also operates small sourcing-related office facilities in various
foreign locations."
Investext:
On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Business Databases; also listed under
Company and
Industry.
Investext contains indexing and the full text of company and
industry research reports prepared by leading Wall Street firms, as well
as regional and international brokerage and financial firms. All reports are in PDF format.
(This database is available widely on campus and may be
accessed from home via the U.W. connectivity kit or via the Libraries'
proxy server.)
A keyword search for Victoria's Secret produced just four
reports.
A keyword search for Intimate Brands retrieved over 650
reports.
A company search for Limited Brands produced over 800
reports.
Value Line:
On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Business
Databases.
Stock information and advice on 1,700 companies, 90 industries, the stock
markets and the economy; an online version of the print Value
Line Investment Survey. To search for companies or industries, go to the left menu for Look Up
Company or Look Up Industry.
This database includes Limited Brands and industry information for Retail (Special
Lines.)
Euromonitor Market Research:
This database provides global consumer market information, with demographics, trends and
developments, market
background, market sizes and forecasts, market shares, key players, and company profiles.
This database provides over 1,800 reports with market data and
detailed company profiles, including market shares, brand information, company strategy and SWOT
analyses of the companies, for many countries. For eight major countries (Australia, China,
France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States), in-depth industry
information is also available.
A search in this database, in Region/Country, for Hong Kong, produced just nine
reports,
including a 1997 report on Hong Kong Retailing.
EIU Online:
One of the world's top sources for country intelligence, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)
employs
500 analysts who research almost 200 nations. The Foster Business
Library provides access to their Country Profiles, Country Reports,
Country Commerce, and Country Finance in print editions and this
database provides online access to these publications, often in both
HTML and PDF formats.
For information on companies, products, and countries, go to Viewswires.
A search in Viewswires, for Victoria's Secret and Hong Kong produced just one
article.
See also, for more general country information, Hong Kong, for the monthly
Country
Reports, the annual Country Profiles, and the annual Country Commerce report.
Europa World:
On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed only under International/Country
Information.
This database mirrors the Europa World Year Book in the
Foster Business Library, with profiles for 250 countries as well as a variety of regions and
international organizations, with statistical, historical, political, and economic information and
data, as well as a comparison feature, and directory information.
Country Commercial
Guides:Country Commercial Guides are prepared annually by U.S. embassies for 120 nations, with
the assistance
of several U.S. government agencies and are available in Stat-USA. These reports present a
comprehensive look at countries'
commercial environments, using economic, political and market analysis. These guides are also
available in STAT-USA on the Foster Business Library homepage under Business
Databases.
Unlike library databases, these online resources are available wherever you have web access; they do not require that you access them via the UW Connectivity Kit or the UW Libraries Proxy Server for authentication. For links to business websites by topic, see Business Resources on the
Web on the Foster Business Library homepage. Good sources for business topics include trade associations (which often provide industry data unavailable elsewhere) and government regulatory and oversight agencies (which are also a
good source for industry data). When using web resources, be sure to evaluate the credibility of these resources.
Limited Brands:
Public company homepages are often (but not always) an excellent source for information
about the company, with links to annual reports, company news, product details, information
about corporate
goals and culture, company financial information, Securities and Exchange Commission
filings, and company history. Look for the Investor
Relations and About Us areas on the company homepage for company information.
See the Our Brands section for Victoria's Secret
Stores; the store locator includes no stores outside the U.S. For information about Limited
Brands, see About Our Company and Investor Relations, with annual reports
back to 1996. The sole mention of Hong Kong in the latest report is in a list of the company's
business offices.
U.S. Embassies:
The United States State Department has embassies and consulates worldwide, with their individual
websites often
providing valuable local information for business under the heading of the U.S. Commercial
Service. The
Commercial Service provides information for U.S. businesses interested in exporting to the country
as well as
information for
companies in the country where the embassy is located to source U.S. products.
See Hong Kong and the U.S. Commercial Service in
Hong Kong. See also
their Doing Business in
Hong Kong.
American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong:
Wherever many American companies do business you can often find an American chamber of commerce,
often with useful information about doing business in the country and local contacts.
This organization is a "2300-strong, represents over 30 nationalities, and includes large
multinationals as well as small- and medium-sized enterprises."
See their Business
Outlook Summary.
National Statistical Agencies:
National statistical agencies are excellent sources for official demographic, trade, economic,
and financial information. Many countries offer an English language version of their national
statistical agency websites.
See the census and statistical office for Hong Kong.
World
Factbook:
These brief country profiles
(prepared by the Central Intelligence
Agency) offer information about government, economy, GDP, CPI, labor force, unemployment
rate, budget, industries, agriculture, export, import, telecommunications, debt, foreign
aid, etc. See Hong Kong.
Strategis Trade Resources:
This Industry Canada government site
provides
links to 235 individual country business and trade information websites
worldwide.
See Hong Kong.
The Foster Business Libraryreference
collection consists of business handbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries and other quick reference tools. It is located behind the Reference Desk in the center of the library's first floor. The reference works listed below
are arranged according to call number and, since none of these books circulate, they should always be available--except when in use by a library user.
Culture's consequences: international differences in
work-related values.
This 1980 book, by
Geert Hofstede, is based on data gathered from forty countries to identify four value
dimensions that assist in comparative cultural studies and illuminate differences in thinking
and social action among nations.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: GN502 .H63 1980.
See index page 468 for many references to Hong Kong.
International marketing data and statistics.
Demographic trends and forecasts, economic indicators, labor force, trade,
energy, environment, consumer expenditures and market size, and retailing
information for the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania; companion volume
to European marketing data and statistics.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA42 .I56.
See the very brief section on Hong Kong, China on page 80 and numerous references to
Hong Kong throughout the tables in this reference, usually under the region
ASEAN/NICs. See also Consumer Expenditures for Clothing, for Hong Kong,
on pages 414 and 416;
Trends in Consumer Spending, for Clothing, for Hong Kong, on pages 426 and 427; and
Turnover in Clothing, for Hong Kong, on page 455.
World consumer income & expenditure patterns.
The first half of this volume covers socio-economic patterns, personal income, and consumer
expenditures
in the domestic
market by commodity and by function for 52 major countries, with data from 1990 to 1998; the
second half
consists of individual five-page profiles for each country.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HB522 .W67 1999.
See the country snapshot for Hong Kong, China on pages 293 to 297; see
also Consumer Expenditures: Clothing and Footwear, on pages 83 to 90.
World development indicators.
This World Bank volume contains a large number of tables listing each country and key
data about its people, environment, economy, markets, employment, poverty, etc.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC59.15 .W656
Hong Kong is represented in many of the tables in this reference book.
World consumer income patterns.
This Euromonitor publication provides global coverage of comparable income distribution data, over time and across countries, for 71 major countries, divided into socio-economic parameters, cross country comparisons, and snapshots for over seventy countries.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC79 .I5 .W675 2003.
See Hong Kong, China on pages 265 to 269.
Standard & Poor's industry surveys.
This three-volume set provides 30-page profiles on 52 industries
with a focus
on the current economic environment, trends, regulation and outlook for
each industry.
Major companies in each industry are profiled, with references to sources
of additional industry information.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC106.6 .S74
See the profile for Apparel & Footwear in volume one.
Business: the ultimate resource.
This 2,200-page single volume offers best practices, a management library,
business thinkers and management giants, a business dictionary, a world
business almanac, and a guide to business sources. The world business
almanac offers short profiles of countries, covering economic structure,
geography and resources, communications and energy, education and
employment, fiscal and financial, business opportunities, more
information, and web sites.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD38.15 .B878 2002.
See Hong Kong on pages 1578 to 1580.
Encyclopedia of global industries.
Twelve-page descriptions of 125 global industries, with background and
development
information, current conditions, industry leaders and further reading.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD2324 .E53 1999.
See Apparel, starting on page 953.
International directory of company histories.
Studying the history of leading companies in an industry is a good
way to learn more about the history of an industry. This
30+ volume set covers over 3,700 company histories worldwide, with each
history running just two to four pages; check the company index in the latest volume
to locate a specific company history or update as well as any other
references to that company in other company histories. There is also
an index by industry.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD2721 .I57
The history of Intimate Brands is in volume 24, pages
237 to 239. The history of Limited Brands is in volume V, pages 115 to 116, with an update in volume 20, pages 340 to 343. There is no history of Victoria's Secret in this set.
Market share reporter.
Annual compilation of market share data on U.S. companies, products and
services, arranged by SIC code and with indexes by product, company and
topic.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5410 .M35
See Apparel, Women on index page 454.
World market share reporter.
An annual compilation of market share information for worldwide companies
culled from thousands of periodical articles; use
the company, product or brand indexes in the back of the volume to
identify the company that you are researching.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5410 .W67
See Apparel, pages 76 to 80, for many tables on this topic.
The handbook of international direct and e-marketing.
This paperback handbook is focused on direct marketing in international commerce, with a
directory of direct and e-marketing providers around the world, along with country profiles
for fifty nations with information about the direct marketing environment in those countries.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5415.1265 .H36 2001.
See pages 614 to 622 for Hong Kong.
The Advertising Age encyclopedia of advertising.
In three volumes, this heavily-illustrated encyclopedia includes profiles of more than 120 ad
agencies worldwide,
essays on 80 leading agencies, detailed articles on 40 U.S. agencies, biographies of 47 major
advertising figures, as well as 160 significant corporate advertisers, brands, and campaigns,
20 essays on market research methods, and 52 essays on advertising tools and operations.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5803 .A28 2003.
See Intimate Apparel in volume two, pages 862 to
865.
International financial statistics yearbook.
Published annually by the International Monetary Fund, this compendium of
statistics for every country provides information on population, GDP,
producer, wholesale and consumer prices, wages, labor force,
unemployment, volume and value of imports and exports, and many other
categories. Statistics cover each year of the past 30 years, where
data is available. The most recent decade of the monthly version of this
yearbook is available in the
Foster Business Library Reference Serials collection, with the call
number HG3881 .I626
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG3881 .I6263 2000.
See pages 348 to 351 for China, P.R., Hong Kong.
Directory of American firms operating in foreign countries.
This three-volume annual publication lists 2,600 U.S. companies with 35,000 branches,
subsidiaries, and affiliates in 190 countries. Volume one lists the firms in alphabetic
order, detailing the countries in which the companies operate. The companies section is followed by
listings by country, with Albania to Egypt in volume one, El Salvador to Mauritius in volume
two, and Mexico to Zimbabwe in volume three.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4538 .A1 .D5
See volume two, pages 2,050 to 2,146 for Hong Kong.
Mergent industrial manual.
This two-volume work covers all companies listed on the New York and American stock exchanges,
with
extensive information about companies, including history, chronology, acquisitions, mergers,
spinoffs,
properties, joint ventures, subsidiaries, officers and directors, consolidated income and
balance sheets
for three and two years, respectively, long term debit, options, etc.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4961 .M67 2003.
For Limited Brands, see volume two, pages 3707 to 3708.
Mergent industry review
Statistical data on 3,000 companies in 137 industries, with ranking, key
financial information, operating data and ratios.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4961 .M68
Limited Brands is included in the Retail--Specialty Stores industry section, on
pages 410 to 415, in the February--July 2004 edition.
Cultures and organizations.
This 1991/1997 book,
by
Geert Hofstede, is a more accessible version of his 1980
Culture's consequences : international differences in
work-related values, with an explanation of the differences among cultures at the national
level and the four dimensions found in research in more than 50 countries.
Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HM258 .H574 1997.
See index page 276 for many references to Hong Kong.
This collection is located on the south side of the library, through the two pass-throughs to the Balmer basement. The arrangement is by call number, from A (at the east end, near the Copy Center) to Z (at the far west end).
The Foster Business Library General Stacks collection contains
70,000 business-related books. These books may be found by searching the
UW Libraries Catalog. The UW Libraries Catalog may be found on the Foster Business Libraryhomepage, listed under Business Databases or
at the top of the left menu under FIND IT).
Look under Keywords for the company of your choice; limit by library Location to the Foster Business Library when doing a B>Keyword search for business topics. For help in searching the UW Libraries Catalog, click HELP.
Circulation status is indicated in the box in the middle of each online catalog record, on the right. Check Shelf indicates that the book should be on the shelves under that call number and available for you to check out. Due and a date indicates that the book is already checked out to someone and is due back on the date indicated. Books that are already checked out to someone else, or books at the Bothell or Tacoma campus libraries (or elsewhere on the Seattle campus) may be reserved for your use and sent here to Foster by using the Request button on the upper menu. Books unavailable in any of the University of Washington Libraries may be available in the collections of Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, The Evergreen State College, Washington State University, or Western Washington University (among 27 colleges and universities in Washington and Oregon) through the Cascade online catalog. To search Cascade's online catalog, called Summit, use
the menu button for Repeat Search in Summit. It can take from a few days to a week or more to obtain books from other libraries and to have them sent to Foster for you to pick up so use this option only if you can afford to wait.
A keyword search for Hong Kong, limited to the Foster Business Library, in the title,
produced over 100
records.
The subject term for the apparel industry is Clothing Trade. A search on this term, limited
to
the Foster Business Library, retrieved a list of 39
records.
There are also two books in the UW Libraries' collections with chapters about Victoria's Secret or
Intimate Brands:
The Foster Business Library maintains a collection of several thousand
Annual reports for hundreds of U.S. and foreign companies. These reports are
filed in lateral filing cabinets near the Foster Reference desk under the sign Corporate Annual Reports. Annual reports for companies in an industry can be a valuable source of information about the industry itself. For a list of all the companies in the Corporate Annual Reports collection, click here.
For an index to corporate annual reports in the collection by industry sector, click here. For an index to companies with headquarters outside the U.S., click here.
Corporate annual reports are also often available on company homepages. A good source for those annual reports is Hoovers
Online on the Foster Business Library homepage, under
Business Databases.
See annual reports for The Limited
and other companies in the Retail
sector.
In addition to the 800 journals in the Foster Business Library Periodicals
Collection, the Foster Business Library offers access to 11,000 full text periodical articles through its full text article databases such as: ABI/Inform
Global, Factiva, and Lexis-Nexis Academic.
These article databases may be found on the Foster Business Libraryhomepage, listed alphabetically under Business Databases or in the Articles: Full Text folder.
Of these three main sources, all but Factiva are available from any computer on the campus network (as well as from home) via the UW
Connectivity Kit or via the Libraries' proxy
server. The easiest of these databases to use is ABI/Inform Global.
For more information about accessing Foster Business Library databases from off campus, click here. For more information about business databases, click here.
This database offers full text articles for over 800 journals. To find articles on specific topics, search by word or phrase by keying your search phrase
into the search box. ABI/Inform Global includes journals but not national or Washington state newspapers (though the Wall Street Journal is included). It also does not include valuable trade and industry and other periodicals. Your searches will span the widest possible array of publications by expanding your search to all databases in ABI/Inform. To expand your search to include all collections in this database, click on Select multiple databases, to the right of the search box. Click then on Select all databases.
Your search terms will be highlighted in red in each article. For tips on searching this database, click here.
A search in this database for Victoria's Secret and Hong Kong produced just four
articles.
A company search for CO(Victorias Secret) produced over 300 articles; for
CO(Victorias Secret) and Hong Kong, no articles; for CO(Victorias Secret) and Asia,
just one article (about Sri Lanka).
A product search for PROD(Victoria's Secret) produced just seven articles; for
PROD(Victoria's Secret) and Hong Kong, just one article.
A company search for CO(Limited Brands Inc) produced over 90 articles; for
CO(Limited Brands Inc) and Hong Kong, just one article.
The Foster Business Library Reference Desk is staffed nearly all the hours that the
library is open. The staff at the desk will be happy to help you find research tools on any business subject. For e-mail questions, direct your query to balib@u.washington.edu. For assistance by telephone, dial (206) 543-8012 during library hours.