Introduction| Steve Cramer UNCG Business Librarian smcramer@uncg.edu 336-256-0346 AIM: stevebizlib |
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Not much information is available for researchers of private companies. Company directories (see below), articles, industry overviews, and corporate web sites are the best options.
- Provides descriptions of 14 million U.S. companies.
- Search results can be downloaded.
- You can also use this database to find types of companies in a geographical area using NAICS or SIC codes or industry names (ex. you could find all the finance companies in Charlotte).
Other options:
Business & Company Resource Center (2 concurrent users)
- A "one-stop shopping" business database that covers around 114,500 U.S. companies.
- Larger private companies will also have a history and some news articles.
- Industry overviews are available for all companies.
- Covers public and private companies from around the world.
- Provides basic company profiles and corporate structures on 65,000 parent companies and 135,000 affiliates, subsidiaries, divisions, and outside service firms.
- Companies can be searched by name, location, SIC code, number of employees, personal name, products, and more.
Overview of the main company databases:
Here are the best public company sources for a time-pressed student about to have a first interview with a public company.
Business & Company Resource Center (2 concurrent users)
- A "one-stop shopping" business database that covers all famous public companies.
- Histories, news articles, industry overviews, investment reports, and more are included.
- Provides 10,000 company profiles, many including a SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunity, & threats) analysis.
- Also provides industry overviews.
Company Web Site
Of course.
A student who has more time to research for the initial interview, or is preparing for a second interview, should try some of these databases, too.
Another Company Database:
- Provides detailed financials and descriptions of 42,000 US & international public companies.
- Covers product, service, and business lines, sales by continents and product lines, balance sheets, income and cash flow statements, ratios, stock, bond, and earnings information, top shareholders, subsidiaries, board members, senior executives and their salaries, and merger and acquisitions.
- Companies can be easily compared using the Peer Report and Peer Analysis tabs.
Annual Reports:
- These are self-published by each public company.
- An annual report provides a glossy, promotional section (often covering corporate culture, the nature of their employee base, growth strategies, etc.) and an unaudited financial section.
- Together, both sections can provide a wide-variety of information.
Analyst Reports:
- An investment database for stocks (and also mutual funds).
- Covers all stocks on the NYSE, NASDAQ, and ASE.
- Provides Morningstar Analyst Reports for 1,000 stocks.
S&P NetAdvantage: Stock Reports
- Provides performance data and investment advice for 5,000 U.S. stocks.
- Covers each company's activities, development, performance, outlook, and industry.
- Presents 10 years of data. Updated weekly.
Useful for learning about a company's "family tree", and for finding US companies that are part of a larger international company.
- Covers public and private companies from around the world.
- Provides basic company profiles and corporate structures on 65,000 parent companies and 135,000 affiliates, subsidiaries, divisions, and outside service firms.
- Companies can be searched by name, location, SIC code, number of employees, personal name, products, and more.
Uniworld (U.S. Firms Operating in Foreign Countries/Foreign Firms Operating in the U.S.)
- Searchable by country, state, region, keyword, industry sectors (NAICS), zip codes, postal codes, company employees and company revenue.
- Covers companies in over 190 countries.
- Results can be downloaded to Excel.
OneSource Global (select "International Businesses" in ReferenceUSA)
- Covers 4.6 million international companies.
- Search results for companies can be sorted, and downloaded into Excel or PDF.
You should also be familiar with how the relevant industry operates, its trends, major players, etc. This kind of information can be very helpful for those researching private companies -- a lot of the gaps in the research may be able to be filled in (ex. the nature of the workforce, common business strategies, challenges being faces, technological changes, etc.)
S&P NetAdvantage: Industry Surveys
- Provides 30-40 page reports on 52 industries.
- Updated twice a year.
- These many look long, but are easy to scan through, and provide the key info in small chunks.
- Topics include current environment, industry profile, glossary, industry references (sources of more information), composite industry data, and comparative company analysis.
- Provides detailed U.S. industry reports for over 720 US industries.
- Each report covers topics like "Market Characteristics," "Industry Conditions," and "Outlook."
Often the best place to research topics like corporate culture and retention issues. Also a useful source for otherwise hard-to-research companies, like small, private companies. Unfortunately, there's no one database that includes articles from all local newspapers.
Best article databases for big or famous companies:
Business Source Premier
Our largest full text database for business articles.General OneFile
Particularly strong in trade/industry journals.Best newspaper databases for small or local companies:
