This is a selected guide for research on Company Information in the McFarlin Library Collection.
There are many tools available for doing company research. Basic search strategies are needed for locating company background such as corporate structure, history, mission and objectives, services and products, and financial background.
The strategies will focus on researching public companies. Finding information on smaller private companies can be more difficult. Wherever possible, suggestions for finding information about private businesses will be included.
The majority of businesses in the U.S. are privately owned and are not legally required to disclose information to the public. Since only publicly held corporations must disclose information to the public, only a very small percentage of American businesses can be readily researched.
Finding information about companies is basic to business research. Good background research allows informed decision-making for assessing competitors, analyzing companies for investment, and evaluating potential employers.
Consider the following outline for beginning company research:
| Identify the company or companies |
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| Mission and objectives of the company |
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| Internal operations of the company |
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| External environment of the company | ||||||||
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The following steps will help organize the research process:
To find information about company history, search the following online databases:
Corporate financial reports (often called disclosure statements or filings) must be submitted to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) by all publicly-traded companies. These disclosure statements provide the investing public with essential information about corporate activities.
This information is important for tracking company performance. The data are most useful when compared over a period of time. The reports are one of the first places to start company research.
There are several options for retrieving corporate financial filings.
SEC filings may be available in the EDGAR database on the Securities & Exchange Commission website, if the company has filed electronically.
Financial ratios provide a method for comparing one company to another or to an industry average. They are a valuable tool for analyzing financial statements. Ratios are used to provide meaningful relationships between values. They are used to compare average ratios for a particular industry or by comparing them over a period of time.
Sources for locating financial ratios include:
Rankings are useful when comparing companies. They can provide a broad measure of performance within an industry. Most company rankings are based on financial factors. Sometimes, companies may be ranked by other measures, for example, number of employees.
Sources for locating company rankings include:
Market share is considered an important indication of competitive strength. It is expressed as the percentage of total sales of a given market held by each competitor.
If you don't find market share information in secondary sources such as databases and websites, you may calculate an estimated market share. Divide your company's sales (if your company has only one type of product) or your product's sales (if your company has multiple products) by industry revenue.
In the US, private companies are not required to release their financials. Therefore, most of the time you won't be able to get detailed financial statements on a private firm. Here are some strategies on researching a private company:
Library of Congress Guide on Private Company Research
** Frequently, information on privately held companies can be obtained by contacting the company directly.
