Steps for Company Research
1. Identify the Company
Find out about the company and what it does. A good starting place is Hoover's Online. Determine whether the company is public or private. U.S. public companies must file reports with the SEC. Public companies are generally much easier to research. For private companies, you may need to rely primarily on articles in the press.
2. Profile the Company
Check Hoover's Online and Business Source Complete for a good summary of the company's business. In Business Source Complete, you can find company information easily by clicking on "Company Information" in the blue bar at the top. Then you can search by company name.
3. Find Current News and In-Depth Articles about the Company
Articles published in business magazines and trade journals often provide added depth and insight into a company's operations, strategy and competition. DISCOVER is a new search tool that allows you to search many different sources at once. Both ABI/Inform and Business Source Complete index, abstract and provide full-text for leading English language business and economics magazines and journals. You can also check any of the various business websites that focus on business news such as Bloomberg, CNNMoney, MarketWatch, Yahoo! Finance or Google Business News.
4. Visit the Company's website.
You can learn a lot about a company by examining its website. You can usually guess a company's website by going to www.[insertcompanyname].com or by searching it on Google.
5. Check out the Company's Financials and Market Performance
Public companies issue annual and quarterly financial statements containing income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements that reveal their financial status. You can find financial statements from public companies on the SEC EDGAR site. The daily stock market reflects investors' collective opinion on publicly traded companies' current performance and future prospects.
6. Clarify the Company's Strategy
U.S. public companies usually succinctly state their Business Strategy in "Item 1. Business" of their Form 10-K, which is the annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 10-Ks are included in the SEC EDGAR database. The Business overview in the 10-K provides a detailed discussion of the company's strategy, products and services, operations, marketing, distribution, international business, suppliers and government regulation as well as competitive conditions in the industry.
7. Survey the Industry and Competition
When researching a company, it is always important to examine the industry in which that company operates. You can find industry information by going to ABI/Inform and selecting the Data & Reports link at the top of the page. Under Data/report types to include unselect all the options except Industry Reports. In Business Source Complete, click Company Information (in the blue bar at top of screen). Search for the company and then click "Industry Profiles" on the left side of the page. You can also find Market Research Reports here.
The original company and industry guides were created by Peter McKay and licensed by University of Florida Library under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license. Permission to modify gratefully acknowledged
Steps for Industry Research
1. Find the SIC / NAICS codes
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes were developed to help the Census Bureau and other statistical agencies gather data on industries. You may need this code to find lists of companies in an industry or look up statistical and financial data for an industry.
The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) was created to replace SIC codes because so many new industries had emerged there were not enough four digit SIC codes to classify these new industries. NAICS codes are 6 digits. SIC codes are 4 digits. Since older data is still classified under the SIC codes you may need both codes for your research.
(Hint: Try 51121 for software publishers)
You can also find relevant NAICS and SIC codes for a company's industry by searching Business Source Complete under Company Information (in the blue bar at top of screen). Search for the company and then click the + sign next to Industry near the bottom of the page.
2. Locate Industry Surveys and other Reports
You can find industry information by going to ABI/Inform and selecting the Data & Reports link at the top of the page. Under Data/Report types to include unselect all the options except Industry Reports. In Business Source Complete, click Company Information (in the blue bar at top of screen). Search for the company and then click "Industry Profiles" on the left side of the page. You can also find Market Research Reports here.
3. Find Current News and In-depth Articles about the Industry
Articles published in leading business magazines, trade journals and newspapers often provide added depth and insight into an industry’s structure, strategy and competition. Both ABI/Inform and Business Source Complete index, abstract and provide full-text for leading English-language business and trade magazines and journals. The Wall Street Journal covers most major industry developments.
4. Find a Relevant Trade Association
Nearly every type of business has one or more trade or professional associations to promote its interests and provide a forum to collect and share information.
An easy-to-use (but limited) listing of professional and trade associations by category is the WEDDLE's Association Directory
Another handy Directory of Professional and Industry Associations and Societies is maintained by Job-Hunt.org.
The American Society of Association Executives maintains a directory of trade associations, membership societies, and other not-for-profit associations at its Gateway to Associations, which is searchable by keyword (but not by category).
5. Use 10-Ks from Leading Companies to Gain Industry Insight
The Form 10-K is the annual report that U.S. public companies must file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In the Business Overview Section (Item 1, Part 1., Business), companies are required to discuss the nature of competition in their industry. This section often delivers key insights into the competitive factors that shape an industry. You can retrieve 10-Ks in the SEC EDGAR database.