|  |
Home > Research Help > Business > Company > Company research guide
- Consult multiple resources. No one resource comprehensively includes all companies or provides the same information.
- Suppliers use different methodologies, criteria for inclusion and time intervals in gathering their data. Which is most current? Does it match another resource?
- Know what you are gathering and evaluate your information for credibility, accuracy, currency and consistency.
- Ascertain from your professor exactly what you need (e.g. closing fiscal year-end, adjustment for stock splits or not).
- Be consistent when comparing data. Employee counts, financial figures or SIC codes for a company may differ from one resource to another. If you are comparing companies, try to compare them by resource ("apples to apples").
- Consult the Industry Guide for comparing companies within an industry.
- Read the Introduction or User's Guide or consult the supplier for its methodology or definitions.
What information is included?
How often is it updated?
Who releases the data?
How was it gathered?
Start with a company directory or profile. Consider the following questions as you explore the contents. This information will be useful in choosing or searching within resources. - Does the company sell stock to the public (public), or is it privately held (private)?
- Is it a nonprofit organization?
- If it is public, on which stock exchange does it sell and what ticker symbol does it use on the exchange?
- Is the company relatively large or small? Does it have a regional/local, national or international scope?
- Corporate hierarchy--Is the company owned by or affiliated with another company, and is the parent company public or private?
- Does it serve more than one industry? What are the primary or secondary SIC or NAICS codes for the company or the parent company?
- What specific information do you seek?
|
