|
|
| Assignment
Directions: Your assignment is to use the research tools
from the library resource presentation to answer the following questions
and/or find the data required by the questions. The company you choose
to research must be approved before you begin your research assignment.
The company must be a service or retail business. NO financial services,
banks, brokerage, credit card and/or credit unions allowed.
Scope:
This guide is a selected list of resources that will be useful
for locating information on companies and industries. These resources
include print materials available in the Stewart Library, and
electronic resources, some of which may be available only to WSU
students, faculty, and staff.
Table of Contents
|
If you cannot decide on
a company, try choosing from one of the company lists below.
Most of the companies on these lists will be a little easier to
find information on, as they are larger companies. This listing
contains only a few selected sites. Select Price's List of Lists
to access more.
Company profiles will
give you a company description, company histories, competitors,
and other general company information.
- International Directory of Company Histories
Reference Table 6 HD2721.I63
- Company Web Sites
Useful for financial information, products, and services of the
company. Try using the most common form of the internet address:
http://www.businessname.com
- Hoovers Online via Lexis-Nexis
A good place to start. To access Hoovers in the Lexis database,
select the Business option from the left hand menu, then
choose Company Profiles. From the search screen,
choose Hoover Company Reports from the drop down source
menu.
- Use the Company Profiles tab in the Business
Source Premier database for a report on
that company that includes a company overview, key facts,
business description, company history, key employees,
major products and services, top competitors, company
view, and locations and subsidiaries.
Some of the larger companies
will have many subsidiaries, branches, or divisions located in different
cities, states, or countries. Use the following sources to
determine the location of your company's facilities.
Directory of
Corporate Affiliations Reference Table 6 HG4057 .A217
Useful for finding parent companies of divisions, subsidiaries
and affiliates for private and public companies. Includes addresses,
number of employees, names of top executives, and indexes by geographic
location, type of business, and brand names.
- Company Home Pages may have a breakdown of
facility locations.
- Use the Company Profiles tab in the Business
Source Premier
database for a report on that company that includes
a company overview, key facts, business description,
company history, key employees, major products and services,
top competitors, company view, and locations and subsidiaries.
|
Use the databases to find
information on your company. This might be useful for finding
current news, or information on their marketing
approach or company culture. A good strategy is to
use the 'advanced' or 'guided' search options from the database
menus. Type in your company name in one search box, and keywords
in the other search box. If one keyword doesn't work, try
other similar terms (marketing approach; market strategy/strategies;
market penetration, market positioning, etc.).
-
Lexis-Nexis
Academic Universe
Lexis provides extensive information on industries and corporations
through full text access to newspapers, magazines, newsletters
and financial reports. To access industry news, select 'Business',
then 'Industry & Market' to access news from over 25 industries.
-
Business
& Industry
Coverage includes important facts, figures, and key events for
international public and private companies, industries, products,
and markets. Includes trade magazines, newsletters, and the
general business press to international business dailies. Some
full text. 1994-present. Updated daily.
-
Business
Source Premier
Coverage includes management, economics, finance, accounting,
and international business topics. Selected full-text.
Use the Company Profiles tab in the database for a report on
that company that includes a company overview, key facts, business
description, company history, key employees, major products
and services, top competitors, company view, and locations and
subsidiaries.
-
ABI/Inform
Coverage includes advertising, business conditions, economics,
finance, trends, corporate strategies, management techniques,
marketing, taxation, and product information. Selected full-text.
Early 80's-date.
-
Business
Abstracts
Coverage includes finance, investments, advertising, public
relations, accounting, insurance, industries, labor, management,
and economics. 1983 - present. No full text.
|
|
Use business
directories to find basic information about your company, such as
addresses, SIC codes, ticker symbols, executives, sales and employee
data. Most of the print directories are located on Reference Table 6.
- Switchboard.com
Choose yellow pages category and enter city and state to find
a listing of businesses in a particular area.
- American Big Business DirectoryReference
Table 6 HF5035 .A49 1999
Includes over 193,000 organizations with 100 or more employees.
Organized alphabetically by company name, city, SIC code, or top
executives.
- American Manufacturers Directory Reference
Table 6 HD9723 .U27 2000
Provides address, phone number, number of employees, sales, credit
rating, and SIC code for over 166,000 organizations with 20 or
more employees indexed alphabetically, by city, and by SIC code.
- Directory of American Firms Operating in Foreign CountriesReference
Table 6 HG4538.A1D5
Basic directory information for American firms operating abroad.
Entries contain phone, fax, principle product/service, number
of employees, and countries with subsidiaries or affiliates. Vol.1
lists firms in alphabetical order, Vols. 2 and 3 list firms by
country.
- Directory of Corporate Affiliations Reference
Table 6 HG4057 .A217
Useful for finding parent companies of divisions, subsidiaries
and affiliates for private and public companies. Includes addresses,
number of employees, names of top executives, and indexes by geographic
location, type of business, and brand names.
- Utah Business Directory Reference Table 6 HF5065.U8U78
Four sections include bus nesses by city, businesses by yellow
page category, major employers, and manufacturers by city and
product.
- Directory of Franchising Organizations Reference
Table 6 HF5429.3 .D5 1998
Lists over 1300 current franchises in 45 categories. Provides
short description, amount of investment required, and contact
information.
- State of Utah Global Business Directory Reference
Table 6 HF5065 .U8 U8 1997
Directory of Utah exporters. Includes contact information, Internet
address, number of employees, date established, product description,
and export regions. The beginning of the directory includes sections
on Utah's economy, a Utah business brief, and export figures.
- Standard & Poor's Register of Corporations, Directors,
and Executives Reference Table 6 HG4057 .S57 1999
Listing of over 55,000 public and private U.S., Canadian and major
international businesses. Provides titles and duties of all leading
officers, executives, department heads and technical personnel,
annual sales and number of employees. Volume 2 includes biographies
for more than 70,000 high-level executives.
- Utah Directory of Business & Industry Reference
Table 6 HD 9727 .U8 U82
- Ward's business directory of U.S. private and public
companies Reference Table 6; Reference Davis Library
HG4057.A575 2001
Excellent source for private companies.
|
These sources will
give you an overview of the industry. Some sources cover
all industries, and other cover specific industries.
-
Standard
& Poor's NetAdvantage
Electronic version of Standard & Poor's Industry
Surveys.
-
Mergent
News Reports (For Industrial manual, OTC
industrial manual, Transportation Manual, Public Utility
Manual, Bank and finance manual, International manual,
and Municipal & Government manual and news reports)
- Service Industries USA : Industry Analyses, Statistics,
and Leading Organizations Reference Table 5B
HD9981.1 .S47
Covers service industries (SIC 7011-8999). Part I organized
by SIC and includes industry description, general statistics,
indices of change, selected ratios, leading companies, nonprofit
organizations, occupations, maps, and state-level statistics.
Part II provides tables for metropolitan statistical areas
and is organized alphabetically by metro area. Data is placed
in SIC order for each table. Includes indexes by SIC, service,
company, nonprofit organization, metropolitan area, and
occupation.
- Wholesale and Retail Trade USA: Industry Analyses,
Statistics, and Leading Organizations Reference
Table 6 HF5421.U5W56 1995
Covers wholesale (5012-5199) and retail distribution (5200-5999)
industries. Part I is organized by SIC and includes general
statistics, indices of change, selected ratios, leading
companies, occupations, maps, and state-level statistics.
Part II provides tables for cities and metro areas, organized
alphabetically by city or metro area. Data is placed in
SIC order for each table. Includes indexes by SIC, subject,
company, city, and occupation.
- Encyclopedia of American Industries Reference
Table 6 HC102 .E53 1998
Volume I covers Manufacturing Industries, and Volume II
covers Service and Non-manufacturing Industries. Both volumes
arranged by SIC code. Entries include an industry snapshot,
organization and structure, background and development,
current conditions, and industry leaders. Also includes
a bibliography for further reading.
- Manufacturing USA : Industry Analyses, Statistics,
and Leading Organizations Reference Table 6
HD9721 .M364 1998
Covers manufacturing, wholesale trade, and the retail sector.
Vol. I covers Manufacturing by SIC code and begins Vol.
II, Manufacturing by NAICS code. Vol. III completes Vol.
II and begins Wholesale and Retail Industries by SIC code.
Most entries include trends, general statistics, indices
of change selected ratios, leading companies, materials
consumed, product share details, occupations employed, maps,
and industry data by state.
- Utah Directory of Business & Industry
Reference Table 6 HD 9727 .U8 U82
- Moody's/Mergent Industry Review Reference
Table 6 HG 4961 .M68
Provides comparative financial data by industry for approximately
3,500 companies.
- Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys
Reference Table 6 HC106.6 .S74
Analysis of current and historical trends on an industry
basis. Current edition available online via Standard &
Poor's NetAdvantage
- Dun and Bradstreet/Gale industry reference handbooks
Reference Table 6
Contains an industry overview, statistics and performance
indicators, financial norms & ratios, company directory,
and rankings. v. 1-Entertainment and hospitality v.2-Insurance
and health & medical services v. 3-Construction and
agriculture v.4-Chemicals and pharmaceuticals v. 5-Computers
& software and broadcasting & telecommunications
- U.S. Industry Profiles: The Leading 100
Reference Table 6 HC 106.82 .U6 1998
Organized in alphabetical order by industry, with two indexes:
the Industry Index, which provides access via SIC code,
and the General Index, which references all companies, associations,
publications, and key government agencies. Entries include
references for further reading.
- U.S. Industry & Trade Outlook Reference
Table 6
Provides evaluations and projections of major industrial
and commercial segments of the domestic economy.
- Value Line Investment Survey Reference
Desk
Provides ratings and reports on industries and major companies.
Each industry section covers major issues as well as composite
industry statistics.
- Industry
Link
Links to industry web sites.
- Industry
Research Desk
Provides tools for researching specific companies, industries,
and manufacturing processes. Includes a tutorial on how
to learn about an industry or a specific company, industry
data, industry home pages, and manufacturing process home
pages.
- Business.com
Industry Profiles
This site includes in-depth and updated industry profiles,
industry-specific news, events, and associations for various
industries.
In some databases,
you can search by industry classification numbers. Some
use SIC, some use NAICS, and some use both.
- North
American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
Provides common industry definitions for Canada, Mexico,
and the United States. This new system is replacing the
countries' separate classification systems with one uniform
system for classifying industries. In the US, NAICS will
replace the Standard Industrial Classification system (SIC).
Provides information about new industries and sectors as
well as correspondence information between NAICS and SIC.
- Standard
Industrial Classification Code Search
Allows a search of the 1987 version SIC manual by keyword,
access of descriptive information for a specified 4-digit
SIC, and examination of the manual structure. The SIC manual
may be searched by keyword or by SIC code from this site.
- Standard industrial classification manual : SIC
2 + 2 Reference Table 6 HF1042.S73 1988
- North American industry classification system
Reference Table 6 PREX2.6/2:IN 27/997/
|
|
Competitors
- Switchboard.com
Choose yellow pages category and enter city and state to find
a list of your company's competitors in a particular area.
- Hoovers Online via Lexis-Nexis
Hoovers via the Lexis database will provide an extensive list
of competitors. To access Hoovers in the Lexis database,
select the Business option from the left hand menu, then
choose Company Profiles. From the search screen,
choose Hoover Company Reports from the drop down source
menu.
- Utah Directory of Business & Industry Reference
Table 6 HD 9727 .U8 U82
For Utah companies.
- Ward's business directory of U.S. private and public
companies Reference Table 6 HG4057.A575 2001
Excellent source for private companies.
- Any of the directories above will provide you
with lists of competitors in a specific geographic location or
in a certain industry (ie. find all companies in Salt Lake City
with SIC code 4812).
|
Industry
Ratios
- RMA Annual Statement Studies Reference Table 6; Reference Davis Library HF5681. B2 R58
Contains composite financial data on manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing,
service, and contracting lines of business. Arranged by SIC code,
this work makes it possible to compare one company's performance relative
to other companies in the same line of business.
- Industry Norms & Key Business Ratios Reference
Table 6 HF5681. R25153
Includes both public and private US corporations of all sizes.
- Standard
& Poor's NetAdvantage
Analysis of current and historical trends on an industry basis.
- Value
Line Research Center
Provides ratings and reports on industries and major companies. Each
industry section covers major issues as well as composite industry
statistics.
|
- Directory of Corporate Affiliations Reference
Table 6 HG4057 .A217
Useful for finding parent companies of divisions, subsidiaries and
affiliates for private and public companies. Includes addresses, number
of employees, names of top executives, and indexes by geographic location,
type of business, and brand names.
- Company Home Pages may have a breakdown of facility
locations.
- Use the Company Profiles tab in the Business
Source Premier
database for a report on that company that includes a company
overview, key facts, business description, company history,
key employees, major products and services, top competitors,
company view, and locations and subsidiaries.
|
Remember that you will not
find this information for privately-held companies!
- SiliconInvestor.com
Enter company name or ticker symbol, then choose "Hist. Prices"
from the menu bar. Includes opening, closing, high, low prices and
volume.
- BigCharts
Select "Historical Quotes" from the menu. Includes closing price,
open, high, low, volume, split-adjusted price, and adjustment factor.
Displays only one date at a time.
- Historical Data for
S&P 500 Stocks
One year only. Includes links to other historical sources.
- NASDAQ
Click on the stock charts to see the underlying data.
- Value
Line Research Center
|
|
For publicly-held corporations, the two most
commonly published sources of information are:
1) Annual reports to the shareholders. include descriptions of the company's
operations, goals and financial statistics. Publicly owned companies are
required to file annual reports with the SEC. These reports are excellent
sources of detailed information about the operations of these companies.
2) SEC Reports (10-K Reports) - the official financial reports filed with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.Information in the annual
report is often duplicated from the 10K. This is one of the most comprehensive
sources of company information.
- EDGAR
Database
Click on Search for Company Filings, then Companies and
other Filers to look up forms for a specific company. The Descriptions
of SEC Forms link will give short descriptions of the most common
corporate filings made with the SEC. Filings are posted to this site
24 hours after the date of filing.
- FreeEDGAR
Requires free registration to access reports. Search by ticker
or company name.
- Lexis-Nexis
Academic Universe
Select the 'Business' category from the main menu, then choose 'SEC
Filings & Reports'. Search by company name, SIC, or ticker symbol.
- Annual Report Gallery
Many reports available in PDF format
- Public Register's Annual
Report Service
- Annual Report
Service
-
Historic Corporate Annual Reports
Contains historic corporate annual reports from the Lippincott
Library at the University of Pennsylvania. Reports available in PDF.
- Tips
for Reading an Annual Report
- The Analysis and Use of Financial Statements HF5681.B2W4678
1998
A good reference on how to use and interpret the footnotes. (It is
a good idea when analyzing financial statements to check the "footnotes"
for explanations on how various numbers were contrived.)
- Financial statement analysis HF5681.B2B46 2001
- How to Use Financial Statements: A Guide to the Numbers
HF5681.B2B285 1994
A good source for novice investors or accountants to understand the
balance sheet.
Jobs
and Career Options
For information on training
programs, benefits, and any other career information specific to that
company, it is a good idea to contact HR at that company. Many
company representatives are willing to send you information. For
job openings, check the company homepage or local papers for listings.
- Occupational Outlook Handbook
Working conditions, job requirements, outlook and more for hundreds
of occupations.
- Also check company homepages for job openings in
that company.
|
Mutual
Funds
|
Bonds
|
|
A few questions to ask yourself before you begin:
- What company are you researching?
If you need help in selecting a company, try the Fortune 500 web
site. This site lists the Fortune 500 companies in order of Fortune
500 rank and provides links to their homepages, a company snapshot,
industry information, and other information pertaining to the
company. Since these companies are large publicly held companies,
it will be relatively easy to find information.
- Is the company public or private?
a. Determine whether the company is publicly held, privately
owned, or a subsidiary of a publicly held organization. Remember,
information is more easily found for publicly held companies.
b. Public Company stock can be bought on public
stock exchanges. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
requires that public companies disclose financial information
to the public. Therefore, there is a lot of financial data and
disclosures about public company practices.
c. Private Company stock is typically owned by
the principles in the company (founders, family members key employees,
etc.). Financial disclosures do not have to be made to the public.
The best strategy is to search for a company web site, news sources
or inquire directly to the company. See
Private Company Resources for suggestions
on how to research privately held companies.
Beware of 'hidden company names' when researching
a company. If you cannot find any information on a public company
after searching by company name, try potential variants of the company
name or use the ticker symbol. Here are a few examples:
- DuPont: The company's name is actually E I Du Pont de Nemours
& Company. For companies with initials in their name, try
searching both forms. Another example is E. W. Scripps.
- IBM: is actually International Business Machines
- AT&T: really IS AT&T (but used to be American Telephone
and Telegraph Company)
- The Gap: Some directories will list this company under the T's,
while others will list it under G. If a company has a 'The' at
the beginning of its name, try both.
- Alcoa: Commonly known as 'Alcoa', it's proper legal name is
Aluminum Company of America. Some directories list it under 'Alcoa',
and some under its proper name.
- Using punctuation: Some databases don't mind periods or commas-
they simply ignore them. Others are more picky: if you don't include
punctuation, you won't get results, OR including punctuation gives
you no results. Again, if you're unsure, try both.
|
Research
Tips for Industry Research
Some questions to consider
include:
- What are the industry trends and areas of growth?
- Who are the leading companies in the industry?
- What products and services are in the greatest demand?
- What new technologies are impacting the industry?
This information can be found
in some of the general industry sources listed above.
When searching for materials, try
a variety of databases- ask a librarian for suggestions based
on your topic. Remember- different databases will have
different coverage, and will look a little different.
One good strategy is to try to find one or two GOOD articles-
once you've found them, look at the terms they use, and try
another search using those terms. For more detailed
information on finding full text articles from business database,
see 'finding
full text articles online'.
GET STARTED
EARLY! If you can find it, we can get it, but
you need to start your research early. You might find
some really great stuff that is not available in full text,
or articles from journals that we don't have access to.
If this is the case, all you have to do is fill out the online
article request form, and it will be sent to the WSU library
for you to pick up. These things might take a
few days or a week.
If you STILL can't
find exactly what you need, or have questions...
- CALL the Reference desk at: 626-6514
- CLICK on the Live assistance button for
real time help during library hours.
- Email us at
refdesk@weber.edu
- or COME IN! The Reference Desk is on
the main floor, North.
|
|