Getting Started
Welcome to the course guide for LDR 6110 with Professor Robbie! Use the links included in this guide to help you begin your research for this course. It is important to use reliable, authoritative resources when researching. The resources provided here are carefully selected to provide a strong foundation for more powerful reports.
If you need additional guidance in locating resources, please feel free to contact me for an appointment.
About the project
Background: The Pear Institute is an education company that has been working in the social-emotional and STEM fields for the past 20 years. In October 2020, this organization spun off their data-as-a-service work from McLean Hospital/Harvard to become a benefit corporation. As a benefit corporation, they are first and foremost dedicated to a mission to support youth and educators. The pandemic has created massive challenges for students and educators alike, with the Surgeon General declaring a mental health emergency for youth and teachers leaving the field at cripplingly high rates. Their work is more important than ever. Given their focus on education, The Pear Institute is committed to working with Northeastern to create a learning experience that will help both sides of the partnership grow and do some good in the world.
In the past, most clients found the organization based on reputation in the field and referrals from other clients. Now, they are looking to reach new audiences and improve their marketing strategy. Currently, they have a wide range of offerings from validated student and educator assessment tools (in both social emotional learning and STEM engagement), to trainings and professional development workshops and certification programs, to social-emotional curricula, to data storytelling and evaluation services.
XN Project Description and Scope
Drawing upon an understanding of the organization, each team will develop a detailed market research and plan for two of the products listed below that includes a description of the organization's marketing mix, the needs of our audiences, product differentiators (specific features, pricing, etc.), strategies to reach those markets and specific next steps sponsor could take to expand their reach with recommendations for measurable metrics that can be tracked to understand progress. Potentially students might recommend new products that the company could develop in the future or future research/surveys that might be able to help the company market their products.
Each team will focus on only two of PEAR's Social Emotional/Mental Health products as listed below:
1. Student social-emotional assessment & mental health screener (TEAM A)
2. Targeted social-emotional groups (TEAM A)
3. Whole school/program advisory curriculum (TEAM B)
4. Professional development for educators (TEAM B)
Key Resources (Databases)
The databases listed below are core databases for general business, consumer information, and marketing databases.
- Business Source Ultimate (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new windowScholarly, peer-reviewed articles and professional association news and information, the majority in full text. Some video.
- Statista This link opens in a new windowBrings together data and graphs on every imaginable topic from business to government, surveys, sports, and scientific topics. Easy to use, exportable charts and data, recommended citations.
- Emerging Markets Information Service (EMIS) This link opens in a new windowNews, market research reports, and company and financial data from more than 80 emerging markets.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowOne of the most trusted sources for scholarly books and historical journal backfiles. Beginning in 2023, JSTOR also includes Artstor images of art and primary source artifacts.
Research Tips
To get started, below is a list of helpful search strategies, tips, and best practices to get you started. Try these keywords as suggestions (use your own for a more specific results page for your report)
- education AND marketing
- education AND youth services AND STEM programming
- youth services AND business models AND best practices AND marketing plan
- "marketing plan" AND education
- marketing AND STEM programming
- market* AND "youth services"
- "case stud*" AND market* AND STEM
- "case stud*" AND market* AND education AND job skills
- Research TutorialsReview the fundamentals of using library databases to plan and execute a topic search.
General Non-Profit Information
- Qualtrics Guide to Market ResearchArticle from Qualtrics on conducting business research and communicating it to your team and clients
- Charity NavigatorCharity Navigator evaluates and compares nonprofit charities for potential donors. Ratings include financial health, accountability and transparency. In addition to rating information sign up for a free login account to access past ratings, IRS information, including current and past IRS 990 forms and links to news articles about the charity.
- GuidestarGuideStar's database contains data on more than 900,000 public charities, approximately 118,000 private foundations, and nearly half a million other exempt organizations in the United States. Federal 990 forms can be accessed through Guidestar, and grant activity of both grantmakers and grantees is accessible through the Grant Explorer data set.
- Better Business BureauRates and grades charity organizations based on performance, a history of complaints against the organization and other criteria.