Business Week

Description of publication

 

If you've never heard of BusinessWeek (BW), possibly ... just possibly, you should reconsider going to Harvard B-School. On the other hand this is an outstanding business publication you can become familiar with very quickly. BusinessWeek is published weekly except for one week in January. It has a very descriptive table of contents, which briefly annotates the articles. It is also produced in three editions: North American, European, and Asian.

The magazine is broken down into a traditional number of departments, for example:

Cover Story Science & Technology Finance
News: Analysis & Commentary The Workplace Government
Economic Analysis The Corporation Industries
Information Processing International Business Features
Personal Business Sports Business Marketing

Some departments are used in every issue, some in alternating weeks, depending on the news priorities. The cover story generally is the hot topic of the week. BusinessWeek also conducts some special surveys:

BusinessWeek also presents frequent live conferences on America Online (AOL) where the reader can ask questions about features from the magazine. Transcripts of all conferences are available for downloading from the BW on-line area on AOL soon after each event. BW also offers an Internet address directory of some of its advertisers. In addition, on the bottom of the "Technology & You" page, which is featured occasionally, questions and comments are solicited by e-mail, tech&you@businessweek.com, or fax, (202) 383-2125. If you are looking for "Figures of the Week," try figures@businessweek.com. Of particular interest are two sets of statistical references near the back of the magazine:

Business Week Index:
Production Index Production Indicators Leading Indicators
Prices Interest Rates Foreign Exchange


Business Week Index:
Commentary Stocks Market Analysis Bonds
Industry Groups Mutual Funds Relative Portfolios The Dollar

In short, BW is perhaps one of the best business newsmagazines on the market. Its primary shortcoming is that the articles are not as in-depth as one will find in Fortune, Harvard Business Review, and other periodicals of that ilk.

One BW specialty worth investigating is its rankings of "The Best B-Schools," which is a good primer for those students seeking careers in business. BusinessWeek lists the best B-schools annually, then moves on to BW's methodology for rating the schools (basically, it asks graduates and employers), then as in one case provides some commentaries on PhD pay, networking, and the same old call for abolishing tenure. There is also a personal business guide to speed the way to an MBA-with a little help from your PC.

Something to Do

If you aren't familiar with database formats, check out Business Week on ABI (abs), LEXIS-NEXIS (ful-tx), and BPI (ind, abs) to see how the magazine is formatted in each.




Business Week
www.businessweek.com
bwreader@mgh.com

Business Week

Weekly publication
ISSN 0007-7135
For more information, call
McGraw-Hill Cos.
Phone: (212) 512-2511