What are the best business management publications? This is a highly subjective question depending on whether you're a small entrepreneurial group or a global corporation with thousands of employees.

For those small entrepreneurs who may not know where to begin when gathering information on managing a new business, it may be best to sample a wide variety of business management magazines to see what resonates to your company's needs and style.

Fortunately, there is a great deal of free business management information available to sample online, from a wide variety of reputable and well known sources offering business articles from academic studies to general and specific interest business magazines.

Sources of business management publications and articles include:

1. General interest business magazines and books on management.
2. University or trade association sponsored business magazines and academic management studies.
3. Corporate sponsored business operations management and administration publications.
4. Localized business publications with management sections.
5. Online only business management journals, magazines, and blogs.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Take advantage of free online business management magazines

Business information-aggregator websites offer a wide sampling of business management articles. Nielsen Business Media has a number of good online articles for business information that offer management tips and advice

I recommend: BPubs.com is a business publications search engine with a large selection of articles submitted by government agencies and business pundits. Nielsen Business Media has a number of good online articles for business information that offer management tips and advice.

Browse publications for managers at local magazine stands

Some people prefer hard copy reading to online reading. Magazine stands should preferably be located in a large bookstore, where browsing and in-store reading is acceptable behavior. Favor print magazines that also have significant online presences which may include Internet-exclusive information and special subscriber-only features.

I recommend: BusinessWeek's management section offers management-related news along with expert advice, reviews of business management books, and Internet-exclusive articles on their website. Forbes Magazine has a very robust Leadership section on their website. Inc. Magazine and Entrepreneur Magazine also have extensive online management sections; their content, however, is aimed at a more entrepreneurial audience.

Consider online-only sources of information such as a business management journal or blog

In recent years, some people have preferred getting their business information online, in blog format.

I recommend: The CEO Refresher offers a blog format with multi-author posts, each author highly respected in the business management field. FastCompany's management section is geared more toward a wired audience with an active blog focused on management issues.

Utilize academic-oriented business publications for managers

There are a variety of options if you prefer to explore a more statistically-driven theoretical approach to business management thinking.

I recommend: The Sloan Management Review, Massachusetts Institute of Technology's journal of management research and ideas, is a business management publication. Issues are available by subscription and individual articles can be accessed by subscribers or purchased from their searchable database. Working Knowledge offers sample articles from their academic journal as well as an online forum on business leadership issues from the faculty of the Harvard Business School, including excerpts from various management books.

Review available operations management and administration publications

If you're a chief executive officer, chief information officer, or in middle management and moving upward, these job-specific magazines may be for you.

I recommend: Chief Executive Magazine's website has sample articles offering advice on upper management issues from other CEOs. For the more wired executive, CIO Magazine provides sample articles aimed toward chief information officers at technology companies.

Find articles and business books on management published by corporate or trade associations

Some major corporations and associations publish business magazines, articles and journals, online and otherwise.

I recommend: PeopleReady is an online business resource from the Microsoft Corporation with a focus on disseminating information on management issues to businesses. Sponsored by the nonprofit National Federation of Independent Business, MyBusinessMag.com includes a blog aimed at management issues and an archive of articles from MyBusiness magazine.

Choose business management articles geared toward companies that are globally oriented

In a growing global economy, it makes sense to keep up with cutting-edge management trends in countries around the world.

I recommend: Venerable Europe-based financial magazine, The Economist, offers an online source of business management news, opinion, and information from a global perspective. London-based international management publication, The Financial Times, offers up-to-date world news and information with a focus on business management issues.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Because business and economic information comes from an array of perspectives, it may be best to subscribe to management and administration publications representing more than one political and/or economic viewpoint.
• •  When subscribing to a business management publication, be sure to check out the publication's website for any additional online-only features and services available to subscribers.