Seeking company information is the most common form of business research. It may involve obtaining a telephone number to make a consumer complaint or purchase, retrieving financial data to decide whether or not to invest in or do business with a company, or preparing for a job interview. There are many other reasons for researching companies.
Once you find the company information you need, you may want to put it into a perspective by obtaining information on the industry in which your company is involved. Seeking industry information, whether as part of company research or a research project on its own, is the second most common form of business research.
This series of pages is meant to provide guidance in performing company and industry research at the Salmon Library.
First, here is a series of questions to consider. Having answers to these questions, or at least an awareness of these issues, may help you to focus your search.
What is the complete,
official name of the company? Are there possible variations in the name?
How is the name spelled? Many companies are known by a popular name
or a tradename which is different from their official name. Most resources
will list companies only by their official name. Be aware of companies which
are named after an individual. First names (eg. Walt Disney Company) or
initials (eg. H. J. Heinz) may be part of the official name. Furthermore,
a resource may either include or ignore first names and initials when entering
and alphabetizing, and some resources are inconsistent. Also, initials can
be alphabetized in different manners. Many researches go awry because of
misspellings. Be prepared with spelling variations, even when you feel you
are certain of the spelling.
Is it a publicly-held
or privately-held company? A publicly-held company is one that openly
sells stock to the public. Those who purchase the stock have an ownership
interest in the company. Because of Securities and Exchange Commission regulations,
a wealth of information is available for public companies. This same detail
of information does not exist for private companies. In addition, many resources
will only include public companies.
Is it a relatively
large or well-known company? Certain resources have size restrictions
as to which companies are included. Thus, the larger the company, the more
likely it is to appear. The more well-known the company, the easier it will
be to find articles on the company.
Is it a subsidiary?
If so, what is the name of the parent company? In some cases, published
information may be available only on the parent company.
Have there been recent
and/or noteworthy activities involving the company that would have been
covered in newspaper, magazine or periodical articles? If so, be sure
to check the Company Activities and News sources. You'll get information
on those activities, but you may also luck out and find that the articles
provide good background information on the company as well.
What level of detail is needed? Databases that provide excellent details on a company's finances may not be the quickest source for merely finding a phone number and address or even a brief profile.
Is there more than
one way to describe the industry? Different resources may describe certain
industries in different manners. Also, while some resources may discuss
an industry in broad terms, others may focus on more specific portions of
that industry. Thus, for example, you may need to retrieve information on
the retail industry, department stores, variety stores, or discount department
stores depending upon the source used.
What Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) or North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
code(s) identify the industry? SIC/NAICS Codes
are used in many directories and industry resources to provide a more consistent
manner of identifying industries.
What level of detail is needed regarding the industry?
Where Are You?
If you are on campus,
go ahead and check those resources which are available to you over the internet,
including both networked databases (campus only) and the selected world
wide web sites . In many cases, they may not be as good as the resources
available in the library, but they may give you the information you need.
If nothing else, they may provide some background which will make your library
research easier.
The same idea holds true if you are in the library; go ahead and check the resources in the library first.
Steps in Company Research | Industry Resources | Business Research Home Page