Business Geography at University of Florida
GEOGRAPHY 5157 
GIS For Economic Geography and Business Decisions
(Last revised, January 04, 2005)

Department of Geography,
University of Florida
SpringTerm 2005 -- Section 4814X

Thursday periods 7, 8, 9(1:55 - 4:55)
Location: 3018 Turlington Hall		 Grant Ian Thrall, Professor 
Office Hours: 
   Click here for information

Office: 3121 Turlington Hall
URL: www.thrall.cjb.net tel: 1-352-392-4652
E-mail: thrall@geog.ufl.edu

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Course Description
Additional Readings By Topic

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COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course examines the general methods of business geography, including those of William Applebaum and extending through to the contemporary GIS technology and data sets. Emphasis is on the use of GIS and geographic analysis in business decisions.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is the technology for the creation, modification, display and analysis of spatial information. To be knowledgeable of GIS one must be familiar with geographic analysis and reasoning, knowledgeable of geographic data bases, and familiar with computer software and hardware technology, and familiar with the geography technology industry. This course builds upon Geo 3171, Foundations of GIS, by examining each of these topics as they relate to how professional human economic geographers practice GIS in the business community.

Advances in geographic information systems (GIS) technology has increased the value and stature of the human economic geographer in the business community. This course focuses upon the practice, technology and reasoning of human economic geography as applied in the business community today.

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PREREQUISITES

Students must have completed Geo 3171 and Foundations of GIS, or their university level equivalent. Undergraduate students must also have senior level standing, or permission of the instructor. Students must have completed Urban Geography 3602 or 4620.

Students are required to either be familiar with ArcView GIS software, and skilled in the use of a microcomputer, or have permission of the instructor. Students are required to have access to their own microcomputer capable of running ArcView, as well as storing about 20 MB of data.

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Course Outline

Required Reading: Grant Thrall, 2002. Business Geography And New Real Estate Market Analysis, Oxford University Press: Oxford and NY.

The following topics proceed through Thrall (2002), chapter by chapter. Additional readings follow, most of which are on-line to registered students in this course.

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RECOMMENDED ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND READINGS

Students are recommended to have mastered the following. Some possible background readings are provided for each topic:

Students should become familiar with the two leading trade publications of the industry: GeoInfo Systems and Business Geographics.

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LINKS TO GIS SOFTWARE COMMONLY USED IN BUSINESS GEOGRAPHY
 


Name

Headquarters

Example Product

Internet URL

Caliper Corp. Newton, Mass. Maptitude http://www.caliper.com/
Autodesk  San Rafael, California  World GIS http://www.autodesk.com/
Intergraph Huntsville, Alabama GeoMedia http://www.intergraph.com/
ESRI  Redlands, California  ArcView http://www.esri.com/
MapInfo Troy, New York MapInfo http://www.mapinfo.com/

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TEXTBOOK

Grant Thrall, 2001. Business Geography And New Real Estate Market Analysis, Oxford University Press: Oxford and NY. (a photocopy version will be available pending printing by Oxford).

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ADDITIONAL READINGS BY TOPIC

I. Introduction And Motivation

GIS and Business Geography

This introduction to the course answers how GIS can conceptually be applied to business decisions, what are the issues and obstacles. Business geography is inherently applied. Equal to the issue of rigor in business geography are the concepts of relevance and cost effectiveness. Analysis and the strategic management performing the analysis, will ultimately be evaluated on the basis of the value added to to the business decision, and the cost of that value added.

GIS Reasoning

This section deals with the conceptual organization of the myriad of facts and information into a structure that can be evaluated and reasoned with using geographic technology.

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II. Housekeeping, Data, Spatial Data Functions, Mapmaking

It can be said that GIS is 90% data. In business geography, issues of data are paramount. Business geography differs from say planning geography and other applied divisions of geography in that in business geography it is seldom economically feasible to build unique databases strictly for the purpose of geographic analysis. Business geographers purchase data that, through high volume distribution, becomes inexpensive for the individual consumer. Data that is normally maintained by the business can be made to be geographically enabled through various batch mode geocoding procedures.

Data - Getting Started

Data - Business Applications

Software functionality issues

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Most of GIS is descriptive. Because few business managers have backgrounds in geographic analysis and geographic reasoning, their first introduction to output of GIS will be in the form of descriptive reports of data that they are already familiar. Spatial data visualization is important because it comes early in the development cycle of a business GIS and must be relied upon to generate additional and continuing funding.

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Descriptive presentations should naturally evolve into searches for explanation for the spatial pattern. Ideally, the general theory should proceed the descriptive GIS. So, for example, Grant Thrall's 1987 book Land Use and Urban Form, referenced above as background reading, provides anticipation of how cities evolve spatially. The GIS analysis then can be used to link the general theory to description and thereby be used for explanation.

With explanation, predictive models have their foundation in general theory, and thereby become linked to the larger body of understanding. Business decisions normally require judgment for an action today whose consequences will be felt into the future. Therefore, knowledge of the future consequences of actions today, and knowledge of the geographic landscape are imperative for good business decisions.

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The degree to which judgment is improved by geographic analysis and geographic technology places limits on how much business is willing to invest in the creation and maintenance of their GIS. GIS staff also cannot ignore the process by which their GIS output contributes to decision making.

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After a decision has been made, the results of the decision must be monitored to notify the analyst if additional attention, and perhaps reevaluation, should be done. Not only should the consequences of the decisions be monitored, but also the process and procedure of how the decision is made must continually be reexamined with respect to changing technologies, and improved forms of analysis.

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VIII. The Technology For Business

It has been said that GIS is data, software, hardware, analysis, and people to put it all together. To that list should be added "knowledge of the GIS industry." Business geographers make recommendations on which technology (data, software, hardware) to purchase. Without knowledge of the industry, appropriate analysis might not be produced, and analysis performed might not be completed in the most cost effective manner.

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In the below series of articles, the authors provide a detailed outline of how a retail business can use GIS to improve its management decisions. In the authors' conceptualization, retail location is approached from the viewpoint that the decision is made top-down:

Marketing And Business Geography Background

Strategic Management - Red Lobster Example

  1. which regions should be entered, in which order, and when
  2. where within the regions should trade zones be established
  3. where within the trade zones should the retail facility be built
  4. monitor the decision

Office Market Absoprtion Series

Retail Market Analysis

Draft of Chapter 7 in Grant Thrall, 2000. Real Estate Market Analysis, Urban Land Institute: Washington D.C.

Other

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Additional Readings

Lists

  • Housing - owner occupied
  • Housing - rental
  • Office
  • Industrial
  • Retail
  • Hotel
  • Mixed Use

    • GRADING

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    (c) 1999 - 2002. Grant Ian Thrall, Gainesville FL and Vail CO. All rights reserved.