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To research a company, an industry, and the current economic/social environment, consult the resources listed below. Good luck!
Company Resources
Business Directories | Company Financial Overviews | Business Rankings/Market Share | Annual/10-K Reports | Other Company Information
Industry Resources
Other Resources
Business Directories: Learn About Your Company and Competitors
- Business directories are an excellent resource for gathering basic information about a company and serve as a good first step in researching a company. In particular, business directories generally will provide information on whether a company is public, private, or a subsidiary. In addition, most business directories will include sales and employee data for each company, and some even rank companies by size within industry classifications. Try one or more of these directories for information on your company.
- Million Dollar Database
- Available from the library's Databases by Subject page at http://library.oakland.edu/articles/sub_indexes.htm, listed under Business. Also available in print as Million Dollar Directory (Ref. HF 5035 .M5).
- Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private & Public Companies
- Ref. HF 5035 .W38
- Directory of Corporate Affiliations
- Ref. HG 4057 .A219
- Thomas Register of American Manufacturers
- Ref. T 12 .T612; also available online at http://www.thomasregister.com
- Michigan Industrial Directory
- Ref. T 12 .M55
- Hoover's Handbooks -- also available online via Lexis Nexis (choose Company Profiles from the Business section, then select Hoover Company Reports from the Source menu). Note: Although Hoovers.com provides some company information for free, a subscription is required to view a complete company report. Therefore, it's better to access Hoover's through Lexis-Nexis.
- American Business (Ref. HG 4057 .A28617)
- Private Companies (Ref. HG 4057 .A28616)
- World Business (Ref. HG 4009 .H66)
Mergent Manuals (formerly Moody's Manuals) --now available online through the Mergent Online database.
- ValueLine
- Ref. HG 4501 .V26 (The ValueLine index is kept at the reference desk; the most recent Valueline reports are housed at the circulation desk.)
- Standard & Poor's Corporation Descriptions
- Ref. HG 4501 .S7664
- Disclosure
- via Lexis Nexis (choose Company Financial Reports from the Business section, then select Disclosure Reports from the Source menu)
Company Annual Reports/10-K Reports
- In general, publicly traded U.S. companies must file various documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports are accessible to the public through the SEC's EDGAR database. To find a company's annual financial statement in EDGAR, limit your search to 10-K reports. Mergent Online also provides access to annual reports and SEC filings.
- Company's website -- Hint: A public company's annual reports and other financial data are usually included in the Investor Relations section.
- Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe --From the business section, click on SEC Filings & Reports.
Business Rankings/Market Share
- Many business directories, such as Ward's Business Directory, rank companies within a particular SIC/NAICS by revenue (or sales) and/or number of employees. Other resources for determining business rankings and market share data include:
- Market Share Reporter
- Ref. HF 5415.1 .M36
- World Market Share Reporter
- Ref. HD 2757.15 .W67
- Business Rankings Annual (corporate rankings)
- Ref. HG 4061 .B9
- Dun's Business Rankings
- Ref. HG 4057 .A237 2003
- Company Profiles
- Ref. HG 4009 .C65
- International Directory of Company Histories
- Ref. HD 2721 .I63
- Brands & Their Companies
- Ref. T 223 .V4 A22
NAICS (North American Industrial Classification System) is a system designed to categorize companies (or establishments--generally, a single place of business) based upon their economic activity. It is a hierarchical system, with two-digit codes representing sectors, three-digit codes representing subsectors within these sectors, four-digit codes representing industry groups, and five- and six-digit codes representing individual industries. Establishments are classified to a particular industry based upon the establishment's main product or service; if an establishment engages in two or more industries, generally its primary NAICS code is determined by sales/revenue data.
Here is an excerpt from the 1997 NAICS codes for the beginning of the Manufacturing sector:
- 31-33 Manufacturing
- 311 Food Manufacturing
- 3111 Animal Food Manufacturing
- 31111 Animal Food Manufacturing
- 311111 Dog and Cat Food Manufacturing
- 311119 Other Animal Food Manufacturing
- 3112 Grain and Oilseed Milling
The SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) system, also a system for categorizing the economic activity of establishments, is the predecessor of NAICS; in other words, NAICS has replaced the SIC system and government economic data now uses NAICS to organize data. However, many reference materials still arrange information by SIC code; therefore, you may also need to determine your company's SIC code.
To determine a company's NAICS and SIC codes, consult the following:
- North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Manual
- Ref. HF 1042 .N6; also available online at http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html
- Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Manual
- Ref. HF 1042 .S82 1987; also available online at http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naicstab.htm
- Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys
- Ref. HC 101 .S72 (Index at Reference Desk; latest surveys at Circulation Desk)
- ValueLine Investment Survey --Ratings & Reports
- Ref. HG 4501 .V26 (Index at Reference Desk; latest surveys at Circulation Desk)
- WEFA Industrial Monitor
- Ref. HC 101 .W44 (2000/2001)
- Encyclopedia of American Industries
- Ref. HC 102 .E53 1998 (2 vols.)
- County Business Patterns, a Census Bureau data series, provides data about industries (by NAICS) by state, county, zip code, and metropolitan area. Data in the series includes the number of establishments, mid-March employement (i.e., # of employees), and first quarter and annual payroll figures. The most recent data is for 2001. This data series does not include information on revenue or sales. To access the County Business Patterns series, go to http://www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html.
- The Economic Census, which is conducted every five years, provides data, by NAICS, about industries (but not individual companies), including the number of establishments, revenue, and employment. Data can be viewed for the US as whole, or by state, county, and metropolitan area. To access the most recent Economic Census (1997) data available, go to http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/econ97.html. In particular, you might want to consult the Product Summary -- Manufacturing -- Subject series (http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97m31s-ps.pdf) for data on manufactured products.
- The Census Bureau has other data series that you might find useful. These are linked from the Census Bureau Economic Programs website (http://www.census.gov/econ/www/index.html).
- For international market research, consult GLOBUS/NTDB (National Trade Data Bank) via STAT-USA (available from the library's Databases by Subject page at http://library.oakland.edu/articles/sub_indexes.htm, listed under Business).
- For additional industry statistics, consult the resources for Industry Overviews listed above.
Industry-wide Financial Ratios
- Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios
- Ref. HF 5681 .R25 D81 (latest ed. in Reference Reserve at the circulation desk)
- Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios
- Ref. HF 5681 .R25 T68
- RMA Annual Statement Studies
- Ref. HF 5681 .B2 R6
International Economic/Social Data
- Europa World Year Book
- Ref. JN 1 .E85
- US Commercial Service (Export.gov)
- http://www.export.gov/comm_svc/ (click on Research Other Markets for international market data, including Country Commercial Guides)
- Stat-USA
- Available from the library's Databases by Subject page at http://library.oakland.edu/articles/sub_indexes.htm, listed under Business
- Statistical Yearbook (UNESCO--a United Nations international data series)
- Ref. HA 1 .S77
Academic and Trade Journal Indexes/Full-Text Databases
To look for journal articles on your industry or company, try using one of the following databases. You can also search these databases for information on market share, trends, advertising, economic conditions, etc. These databases are all available from the library's Databases by Subject page at http://library.oakland.edu/articles/sub_indexes.htm, listed under Business.- ABI/Inform -- Search for full-text articles on companies, industries, economic trends and issues. Also includes the Wall Street Journal online.
- Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe -- Includes full-text trade journals and magazines, as well as some general interest business magazines.
- Wilson Business Abstracts -- Contains abstracts to articles in business and economics journals and magazines. Includes some full-text articles. Available through FirstSearch.
- Reuter's Investor Portal
- http://investor.reuters.com
- Yahoo! Finance
- http://finance.yahoo.com
- Forbes
- http://www.forbes.com
Business Research Guides (if you still can't find what you need!)
- Business Information: How to Find It, How to Use It
- Ref. HF 5356 .L36 1992
- Using Secondary Data in Marketing Research
- Ref. HF 5415.2 .P38 1995
- Marketing Know-How: Your Guide to the Best Marketing Tools and Sources
- Ref. HF 5415.2 .F72 1998
- Online Competitive Intelligence: Increasing Your Profits Using Cyber-Intelligence
- Ref. HD 38.7 .B867 1999
- Researching Companies Online
- http://home.sprintmail.com/~debflanagan/index.html
