# 1. What is business literature research?

Business research focusses on both the internal and the external environment of a business.

The internal business environment consists of data created by the company and for the sole use of the company, such as company strategy plans, business models, marketing plans etc. You may research the internal business environment to exhibit the inner strengths and weaknesses of an organisation.

The external business environment consists of 4 elements that influence a business’s strategy, results and performance from the outside. These elements are:

- Market forces
- Industry forces
- Key trends
- Macroeconomic forces

Business literature research is focussed on researching business theories, business topics and the external business environment.

When doing business literature research, you will find that business information can be found in a variety of information sources. The type of information needed is generally leading in selecting the appropriate information source.

In general, business information can be divided into one or more of the following types of information:

- Business theory & topics
- Industry information
- Market information
- Business statistics & datasets
- Business news
- Trend information
- Company information
- Country information
- Marketing information

Please note: Not all information will be available in the library's databases. Occasionally you will find that parts of the information are available in the organisation you work for and sometimes you will just have to get creative. Keep in mind, if you can't find the required information in literature you may need to conduct field research to gather the information.