BUSINESS COURSE GUIDES
SOM 210 Lab 7: Explore Trade Association Websites

Trade associations are an important segment of the U.S. business community and a source of high quality business information. Lab 7 asks you to locate and review the trade association websites most relevant to your company.

1. Locate trade association profiles in the Business & Company Resource Center.
2. Copy and paste the URL for one trade association profile into team work space.
3. Examine a trade association website. Insert links to key association webpages into team work space.

The Role of Trade Associations in American Business

• Trade associations are voluntary nonprofit organizations dedicated to a specific industry and whose members are companies in the same industry.
• Trade associations promote the advancement and common interests of member companies through a variety of activities: public relations, the establishment of standards, political lobbying, technical assistance, continuing education, sales development, news publications, and credit counseling.
• Trade associations publish trade journals, newsletters, or industry reports for their member. Some publications may be available on association websites, although key information resources are available to member companies only.
• There are over 7000 trade associations in the United States, representing every conceivable business activity, from the Pickle Packers International to the giant American Chemical Society. Here are a few examples of the largest trade associations in the United States:
  
  
  • American Bankers Association
  • Association of American Railroads
  • American Petroleum Institute
  • National Association of Chain Drug Stores
  • American Poultry Association
  • National Marine Manufacturers Association
  • American Plastics Council
  • National Restaurant Association
  • American Soybean Association
  • Portland Cement Association

Objective 1: Locate trade association profiles in the BCRC database.

1. Go to team work space and link to your Company Profile page in the BCRC database.
2. At the top of the Company Profile page, select the Associations tab. A list of one or more industries will appear. Select the industry that is most relevant to your company's business activity.
3. Select an association of interest from the Associations List screen. Twenty-five associations are listed per screen. Try to select an association described as a National Organization of the US
   

Objective 2: Copy the URL for a trade association profile into team work space.

1. View a trade association profile. Move the pointer to the Address box and highlight the URL (click the left mouse button). Press C to copy the URL.
2. Return to your team work space. Under Add/Update Team Research URLs, select the New button. Press V to paste the URL into the Address box.
3. Go to the Display Name box and carefully compose a citation to the trade association profile using this citation format as a model:
   
   National Association of Energy Service Companies--Trade Association Profile (2001). Retrieved September 23, 2001 from the Business and Company Resource Center [Online]. Available: Gale Group/Thomson Corporation.
   
   
4. Select the Save button to save the URL and citation to team work space. Check the citation for errors and to test the link.

Objective 3: Examine an association website. Copy the URL to team work space.

1. Return to the trade association profile in the BCRC database ( ALT-TAB). Locate and connect to the association's website. Note: A new window opens when you click on the association name. To view the website URL, move your pointer to the Navigation buttons at top, click RIGHT and select the Address Bar (to view URLs).
2. Copy the association's URL into team work space. Move the pointer to the Address box and highlight the URL (click the left mouse button). Press C to copy the URL. Time permitting, add other website subpages to team work space. Look for pages that provide industry reports, membership listings, conference information, or other significant content areas. Use this citation format as a model:
   
   National Association of Energy Service Companies (2001). Trade Association Website. Retrieved September 23, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://www.naesco.org.
   
   
3. Select the Save button to save the URL and citation in team work space (Make sure to check the citation for errors and to test the URL address).
4. After posting the URL for the trade association, open a Word document, and write a one-page report about the trade association's website content. This report should be double-spaced, using left and right margins of 1.25 inches, and top and bottom margins of 1 inch. The font for your report should be Times New Roman (12 point). At the very top of your file, list the name of the file on the first line, and Team members on the second line. These 2 lines should be placed against the right margin. The rest of your file should be placed against the left margin (see example).
5. When you finish the one-page report, save it to your diskette in the A: drive. Then, using the Add Document option in your team work space, Add the Word file with your report to your team work space.