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LIBRARY RESEARCH
BA 316 Management: Value through People
COMPANY RESEARCH
Company Information / History
Databases
- Directory of Corporate Affiliations
- The Directory of Corporate Affiliations covers U.S. and non-U.S. public and private companies, their parents, affiliates, subsidiaries and divisions. Data includes leadership, financial and ownership information for each company.
- ReferenceUSA
- Contains directory data for over 12 million US firms and business establishments of all sizes.
- Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage
- Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage brings together a dozen financial and investment publications that provide information for corporate research and for industry, competitive, and investment analysis. Among the publications included are such familiar titles as S&P's Corporation Records, Industry Surveys, Stock Reports, Stock Guide, Bond Guide, Dividend Record, Earnings Guide, Mutual Fund Reports, and the Outlook. Also included are S&P's Register of Corporations, Directors, and Executives and the Security Dealers Directory.
Reference Source
- International Directory of Company Histories
- DOCS REF HD 2721 .I63
-- A valuable source to find company information and histories - DOCS REF HD 2721 .I63
Company's home page
Search the company's home page by typing the company's name plus .com. For example:nike.com
You can also use a web search engine such as Yahoo to find a company's home page.
Useful Web Sites
- Companies Online -- Information on over 900,000 public and private companies..
- Hoover's Online -- Database of company information; can search for a company by name or ticker symbol. Includes some private companies.
- Thomas Register -- Search for more than 520,000 distributors, manufacturers, and service companies in all key U.S. industrial markets.
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission -- Access to EDGAR Database.
- Webster's Business Guide --Search by product, industry, company, SIC or NAICS code, and region.
Mission Statement, Philosophy, Objectives
- Mission Statement Book
- DOCS REF HD 30.285 .A27
Contains 301 corporate mission statements from America's top companies. - DOCS REF HD 30.285 .A27
- Missionstatements.com-- Largest collection of mission statements from companies (Fortune 500, Inc. 500, Manufacturing, Marketing/Public Relations...), non-profit organizations and more.
Other Options
Company mission statement, philosophy and objectives for the forthcoming years are often stated in the corporate annual report.
If the mission statement is not a section of an annual report, check the section of Corporate Statement or Chairman's Statement. Look for words such as "our vision", "looking forward", "our objective" etc.
Also look at the sections such as "responsibility", "social responsibility", "our commitment", etc.
Top Officers
To find names of top officers of a company, use business directories listed in the section of Company Information / History.
To search for the educational background of these officers, use the following resources.
- Biographies Plus Illustrated
- Contains more than 46,000 biographies and obituaries. Searchable by name, profession, title, place of origin, gender, race/ethnicity, titles of works, date of birth, date of death, and keyword.
- Biography and Genealogy Master Index
- A comprehensive index to nearly 12 million biographical sketches in more than 2700 volumes and editions of current and retrospective reference books, covering both contemporary and historical figures throughout the world.
- Biography.com
- Includes thousands of short biographies of over 25,000 famous people, past and present.
- D&B Reference Book of Corporate Managements
- DOCS REF HD 2745.D85 [On Business Index Table]
- Encyclopedia Britannica.com
- A search and directory service that combines selected websites and magazines and book citations with the complete, updated Encyclopedia Britannica.
- Who's Who in America
- REF KNIGHT E663.W56
Ticker Symbol
Is the company you are researching a publicly held (traded on a stock exchange), privately owned, or subsidiary of a publicly held organization? A key factor is that public companies must report certain financial information to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and their shareholders. To identify the stock exchange ticker symbol for a public company, search either of the following sites:
Company directories also include ticker symbol in addition to address, phone/fax number, number of employees, SIC codes, prior year sales, year founded, officers, and stock exchange. Please see Company Information/History
Company Rankings
- Business Rankings Annual
- DOCS REF HG 4050 .B88 [On Business Index Table]
- D&B Business Rankings
- DOCS REF HG 4057 .A237 [On Business Index Table]
- Web100: Big Business on the Web --Ranks the largest American and international companies by revenues.
Company Financial Information
To find the most recent financial results of a company, use the following resources:
- 10K Wizard -- Provides a search engine allowing users to search SEC filings by words, phrases and names.
- Lexis Nexis Academic
- Go to the Business section and use the "Company Financial" to search for company financial information. Use "SEC Filing and Reports" to find corporate reports.
- EDGAR Database
- A database of corporate filings submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission electronically. The database includes annual reports, proxy statements, and forms.
- FreeEDGAR
- Search the SEC filings with EDGAR ONLINE.com.
- Public Register's Annual Report Service (PRARS)
- Largest annual report service with free annual reports on over 3,600 public companies.
- Report Gallery
- Lists approximately 2,200 annual reports.
Company Bond Rating
- Search Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage for Bond Reports
Current Stock Price
Consult with business/financial newspapers, such as the Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition)
Search the Internet for stock quotes and analysis:
For Stock exchange, search:
Corporate Watch Web Sites
- Best Practices and Company Profiles
- Responsible Shopper (http://www.responsibleshopper.org)--Offers in-depth social profiles on countless companies.
- Corporate Watchdogs
- CorpWatch (http://www.corpwatch.org) --Offers news on human rights abuses abroad, public policy, and environmental news-plus on-site reporting of protests.
- Corporate Predators (http://www.corporatepredators.or)-- Offers a compilation of weekly e-mail columns called "Focus on the Corporation". They offer a valuable, quirky voice in corporate responsibility.
To find corporate environmental and sustainability reports, please search
CERES Network for Change site:
- Click on Reports.
- Select Corporate Report on next page.
- Select a company to read the report.
INDUSTRY RESEARCH
Industry Classification Systems: SIC and NAICS
Standard Industrial Classification
What is SIC?
The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) is a system of 4-digit codes that attempts to classify all business establishments by the types of products or services they make available. Establishments engaged in the same economic activity, whatever their size or type of ownership, are assigned the same SIC code. Most business directories and directory databases use the SIC codes to classify companies or businesses. The SIC codes are also used to gather and analyze information on U.S. businesses and industries.
SIC Structure
The Standard Industrial Classification system uses a hierarchical structure, getting more specific at lower levels. This system is divided into 11 broad divisions (Division A-K) and these divisions are subdivided into 99 two-digit major groups. There are four levels in the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC).
- Division -- broad types of activity.
- Major Group -- a recognizable sector of the economy.
- Industry Group -- relatively broad families of outputs.
- Industry Class (an Industry) -- a group of establishments who produce a similar set of goods or services, or who are engaged in a similar kind of activity. For example:
| 1987 SIC | Name | Classification Level |
|---|---|---|
| D | Manufacturing | Division (Letter designation) |
| 39 | Miscellaneous Manufacturing Industries | Major Group |
| 394 | Tools, Toys, Games and Sporting and Athletic Goods | Industry Group |
| 3949 | Sporting and Athletic Goods, Not Elsewhere Classified (e.g. Golfing equipment: caddy carts and bags, clubs, tees, balls) |
Industry |
Where Do You Find the SIC Codes?
- Standard Industrial Classification Manual
- DOCS REF HF 1042 .A55 (1987 is the latest edition) [On Business Index Table]
Industry codes for specific companies can also be found in:
Search the SIC on the Web
- Standard Industrial Classification Search -- This is the 1987 SIC manual available at OSHA site. Searchable by keyword(s) or code number.
North American Industry Classification System
What is NAICS?
NAICS is an industry classification system that groups establishments into industries based on the activities in which they are primarily engaged. It is a comprehensive system which covers the entire field of economic activities, producing and nonproducing. There are 20 sectors in NAICS and 1,170 industries in NAICS United States.
NAICS Structure
NAICS uses a six-digit coding system to identify particular industries and their placement in this hierarchical structure of the classification system. The first two digits of code designate the sector, the third designates the subsector, the fourth digit designates the industry group, the fifth digit designates the NAICS industry, and sixth digit designates the U.S. detail industry. For example:
| 2002 NAICS | Name | Classification Level |
|---|---|---|
| 31-33 | Manufacturing | Sector |
| 316 | Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing | Subsector |
| 3162 | Footwear Manufacturing | Industry Group |
| 31621 | Footwear Manufacturing | Industry |
| 316211 | Rubber and Plastics Footwear Manufacturing (e.g. Athletic shoes, plastics/rubber or plastics/rubber soled fabric upper manufacturing) |
U.S. Detail Industry |
Where Do You Find NAICS?
- North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) <
- DOCS REF HF 1041.5 .N674 1997 [On Business Index Table]
Users should note that effective with the 1997 Economic Census, the NACIS is replacing the SIC system. However, it has not yet come into wide use among commercial providers of business data. Consult the U.S. Bureau of Census NAICS site for a list of NAICS codes, tables showing correspondence between NAICS and the SIC system, and other information on how NAICS differs from the SIC System.
- 2002 NAICS Search-- Searchable by keywords.
Industry Overviews
- Current Industrial Reports
- Search products by subject. Includes annual, quarterly or monthly data for selected manufacturing industries, at the 7-digit SIC level, which typically include production, total value of shipments, and quantity of shipments.
- Encyclopedia of American Industries 2d ed.
- DOCS REF HC 102.E53 2001 [On Business Index Table]
Brief (1-10 pages) descriptions of industry groups, by SIC, with lists of recent articles. - DOCS REF HC 102.E53 2001 [On Business Index Table]
- Encyclopedia of Emerging Industries
- DOCS REF HD 2324 .E528 [On Business Index Table]
Details the inception, emergence, and current status of 108 newly flourishing U.S. industries and industry segments - DOCS REF HD 2324 .E528 [On Business Index Table]
- Forbes
- KNIGHT HF 5001 .F6 br />The magazine's January issue contains the Annual Report on American Industry, with financial figures for over 1200 firms and medians for each of 75 industry groups.
- Market Share Reporter
- DOCS REF HF 5415.2 .M37 [On Business Index Table]
- Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage
Industry Norms and Financial Ratios
The following reference sources provide a "typical" balance sheet and income statement for a company in each industry with ratios. Usually arranged by SIC.
- Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios
- DOCS REF HF5681.R25 T68 2001 [On Business Index Table]
- Annual Statement Studies. Robert Morris Associates
- DOCS REF HF 5681 .B2 R6 [On Business Index Table]
- Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios
- DOCS REF HF 5681 .R25 I53 [On Business Index Table]
Finding Books & Articles
Secondary information about a company can be found in books or journal, magazine or newspaper articles.
Search the library's online catalog, for books or government documents or other materials.
To find magazine & journal articles on companies, industries, and marketing topics search the following databases:
- Academic Search Premier
- Covers current news, business and company information, government and legal information.
- Business Source Premier
- Full text from nearly 930 journals covering business, management, economics, banking, finance, accounting, etc.
- Lexis-Nexis Academic
- Provides comprehensive coverage of current news, business and company information, government and legal information, and more.
- Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition)
- The Wall Street Journal, the financial newspaper of record, is an indispensable source for business professionals, providing business and financial news coverage, personal and company profiles, feature reporting, special reports, and regular columns. The database provides the full-text articles from the Wall Street Journal going back to at least 1986, with some material from earlier years. It includes the entire text of written articles, but no graphs or data, such as stock prices.
Once you find the citation of an article, you need to search he library's online catalog, to find the call number of a journal or magazine. Current periodicals are on the second floor, Current Periodical Room, arranged by call numbers.
Maintained by: Kaiping Zhang, kzhang@uoregon.eduLast Modified: 01/17/2008