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Margaret Schaus, Reference Librarian and Bibliographer (HC)

Sections:

Background Information
Finding Journal Articles
Corporate Directories
Corporate Country Financial information
Manufacturing
Globalization and Business
Business News and Magazines
More Corporate Research Guides

Related Subjects:

Databases A-Z:

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Pol Sci 161 : Politics of Globalization (HC)

Background Information:

Annual reviews

Provider: Annual Reviews

This journal, and other Annual Review titles, publish literature reviews.
They describe and evaluate scholarly work done on a particular topic.
This can give you access to new sources on your topic.

For globalization, see such articles as:

Annual Review of Political Science
Vol. 8: 399-423 (Volume publication date June 2005)

THE GLOBALIZATION RORSCHACH TEST: International Economic Integration, Inequality, and the Role of Government

Nancy Brune¹ and Geoffrey Garrett²

¹Department of Political Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

²Ronald W. Burkle Center for International Relations and Department of Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles, California

▪ Abstract In this review, we address three principal questions that have dominated the debate over the distributive effects of globalization. First, how has globalization affected inequality among countries? Second, how has globalization affected inequality within countries? Third, how has globalization affected the ability of national governments to redistribute wealth and risk within countries? We conclude that despite the proliferation of research on the consequences of globalization, there is no solid consensus in the relevant literature on any of these questions, largely because scholars disagree about how to measure globalization and about how to draw causal inferences about its effects. We also suggest possible foci for future research.

Full Text PDF

Annual Review of Anthropology

Vol. 35: 37-57 (Volume publication date October 2006)

Food and Globalization

Lynne Phillips

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Ave., Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Abstract This review takes two key approaches for exploring the theme of food and globalization: first, how food has been mobilized as a commodity in global production and trade systems and governed through global institutions; and second, how the idea of globalization has been nourished through food, particularly with the mobility of people and of ideas about cuisine and nutrition. Stark global inequalities are also noted, and the review calls for attention to policy-based research and to the analytical connections between governance, food politics, and food citizenship in future studies.

Full Text PDF

Encyclopedia of globalization

Publisher: New York : Routledge, c2007.

This new encyclopedia set covers many topics relevant to your project. For example, see "Labor Standards," a six-page article with a bibliography for further reading.

Political handbook of the world

Publisher: Washington, DC : CQ Press,

Provider: CQPress

This authoritative reference book provides detailed information on the major aspects of each country's government and political party system. International organizations, from the African Union to the World Trade Organization, are profiled as well. Good source for information on current events, elections, political history, and more.

Finding Journal Articles:

ProQuest Research Library

Provider: ProQuest

Provides citations and full-text magazine and journal articles in a wide variety of disciplines, both scholarly and popular in scope. Covers 1971-present.

Social sciences citation index

Holdings:
HC: 1997- ; BMC: 1956- ; SC: 1956-

Publisher: Philadelphia : Institute for Scientific Information.

An index to the literature of the social sciences which features a search by citation. This allows you to find newer journal articles which cite a book or article important for your topic. This is an important strategy for adding new evidence to your argument.

Worldwide political science abstracts

Provider: CSA

Provides citations and abstracts of journals in political science and related fields including international relations, law, and public administration/policy. Covers 1975-present.

Corporate Directories:

Use one or more of the following sources to get background information on a company or corporation. Be sure also to go to the company's Website and look at recent annual reports. Sometimes phoning the company headquarters will give you more specific information.

Company Profiles

The Hoover Company Profiles within this business database include contact information, description, history, names of executives, income figrues, and competitors. The in depth articles on companies are also printed in the two Hoover Handbook titles listed below.

Directory of Transnational Corporations (Public Information Network)

Profiles and news about major corporations from an activist organization.

Hoover's handbook of American business.

Publisher: Austin, Tex. : Reference Press, Inc., c1991-

Profiles U. S. companies with current status, history, executives, products, brands, locations, subsidiaries, competitors, and selcted financial statistics. This information is also available online in Company Profiles listed above.

Hoover's handbook of world business.

Publisher: Austin, TX : Reference Press, c1991-

Same format as above for profiling companies headquartered in countries other than the U. S.

Membership Directory (Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce)

The Chamber of Commerce offers an online, open access directory of member businesses. You can search by company name or business keyword. Most entries include address, website link, and map.

Philadelphia metro directory

Publisher: Haverford, Pa. : National Marketing Services, Inc., 1993-

Directory listing of thousands of businesses in the Delaware Valley. Entries include address, phone number, executives' names, and number of employees. Index by type of business allows you to see the companies in a particular field.

Responsible Shopper Company Comparisons (Green America)

Rates companies in different industries and posts news and links concerning labor, environmental, and other problem issues in order to inform consumers. Company profiles also available:
http://greenamericatoday.org/programs/responsibleshopper/companiesbyname.cfm

Corporate Country Financial information:

Country Profiles (Lexis Nexis)

This database draws from rbusiness news sources to cover conditions in countries worldwide.

SEC Filings (Lexis Nexis)

Includes 10-K reports, annual financial and business reports on companies.

Manufacturing:

HowStuffIsMade

"HowStuffisMade (HSIM) is a visual encyclopedia that documents manufacturing processes, labor conditions and environmental impacts involved in the production of contemporary products. Entries are summative photo essays produced by students who are guided by faculty responsible for ensuring appropriate citations and standards of evidence. Students engage the cooperation of manufacturers when possible. As an independent, academic, wiki-based publication, HSIM reconsiders engineering and design education as fundamentally connected to the social and political constraints, organizational innovations and global context that inform manufacturing decisions."

Factory Tours Online

How Everyday Things Are Made (Stanford University)

Video overviews of the manufacturing process for 25 products including jelly beans, steel, and denim. Also note the video presentations on manufacturing processes using plastics and metals from the early stage of casting or molding through finishing and painting.,

Globalization and Business:

The organizations below address issues involving labor, the environment, and other workplace concerns in a global corporate context.

Clean Clothes Campaign

This activist organization profiles leading companies including the Gap and Reebok. It also reports news and advocates change.

CorpWatch

An education and activist organization that works to counter corporate-based globalization. See the organization's research guide for corporations.

Global Business Responsibility Resource Center: Codes of Conduct

Background information and sample codes from the Human Rights Library (University of Minnesota).

Shareholder Resolutions (ICCR)

A listing by corporation name of the 2009 social action resolutions filed by shareholders. Concerns range from human rights to climate. This web page is part of the site created by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.

Social Accountability International

A watchdog organization that sets workplace standards, known as SA8000, for global business and runs a monitoring system.

Business News and Magazines:

Magazine and newspaper articles give current information on companies and sometimes highlight issues or controversies in which they are involved. The following indexes are key sources for finding articles.

Use the green Find It buttons in the listings of magazine articles to see if we have digital copies of the articles. If not, the ind It button will show paper copies in the Tri-College libraries. If the article is not held by the Tri-Colleges, the Find It button will provide you with an Interlibrary Loan Request Form to have a digital copy of the article sent from another library.

Good Starting Points

ProQuest Research Library Online (access via Tripod)
ProQuest indexes over 2600 journals, magazines, and news sources starting with 1971. About two-thirds of the journal citations include the full-text of the article.

LexisNexis Academic (access via Tripod; choose "News" from the main menu)
Lexis-Nexis Universe provides full-text access to information in a wide range of subject areas from a variety of sources: news articles and newswires from both US and non-US sources, magazine and journal articles, and television and radio transcripts.

Business Indexes

ABI/Inform Global (access via Tripod)
Provides international resources on business, economics, finance, human resources, management and other business-related fields. Includes Hoover Company Information and many resources in full-text.

Business News Publications (Lexis Nexis) In Sources Box - Change US Newspapers and Wires to Business News Publications
Online source for business articles from newspapers, magazines, journals, wires, and transcripts.

Sources with Non-Business Points of View

These sources are particularly good for accessing magazine articles concerned with political and social aspects of business.

Alternative Press Index
Indexes many activist publications.

Multinational Monitor
The Monitor tracks corporate activity with an emphasis on issues in the developing world. Note also that paper issues of the magazine are available at Magill Library.

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

More Corporate Research Guides:

These guides provide good advice and useful links if you need more options than the ones selected for this page.

Hands-On Corporate Research Guide (CorpWatch)
A helpful introduction to researching corporations.

How to Do Corporate Research Online (Corporate Research Project)
Especially good on exploring a company's record for social responsibility.

Journalism Pages- Initiative for Policy Dialogue
IPD is a think tank established by Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics. This section of the site provides background information on economics and developing countries for reporters. Note also the guidebook published by IPD: Covering Globalization: A Handbook for Reporters (location via Tripod).

Research Resources (from AFL-CIO's Eye on Corporate America)
Links to six different pages that provide resources for corporate research.

Searching for Company Information (New York Public Library)
A guide that asks questions initially, so that researchers are directed to appropriate resources according to where the company is located and whether it is publicly held.