Public, Private, or Subsidiary?
Public Companies: Note the ticker symbol, stock exchange, and the NAICS & SIC codes. Publicly traded companies are required by law to disclose financial information to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and therefore public companies are much easier to research.
Private Companies: Since privately held companies are not traded, they are not required to release any financial information. Therefore, finding information on a private company can be difficult. Articles are often the best source of information on a private company's activities.
Subsidiaries & Affiliates: A company's subsidiaries are not analyzed individually. Try searching [i.e. 'find in page'] within the parent company's annual reports, and business news and journals, for information on the activities of a subsidiary.
Company Histories
International Directory of Company Histories by
Call Number: SAWYER REFERENCE HD2721 .I63ISBN: 0912289104Publication Date: 1988-11-15Vol. 1 -74 in print. Vol. 1 (1988) - Vol. 153 (2014) available at Gale Virtual Reference.
These company histories are also contained within the Business Insights: Essentials database. To be included, companies have to have made at least $25 million in sales and to have achieved some sort of leading influence in their industry or geographical location. Coverage includes companies that are public, private, nonprofit, state owned, and wholly owned subsidiaries and divisions that qualify for inclusion.
- Hoover's Handbook of American BusinessCall Number: SAWYER REFERENCE HG4057 .A28617
- Hoover's Handbook of Emerging CompaniesCall Number: SAWYER REFERENCE HG4057 .A28618
- Hoover's Handbook of World BusinessCall Number: SAWYER REFERENCE HG4009 .H66
All of the Hoover's Handbooks include brief snapshots of companies, with descriptive histories.
- Mergent Online This link opens in a new windowDue to the extensive financials that are included in MergentOnline, Mergent provides a financial history of included companies.
Company Profiles
- Mergent Intellect (Includes Hoovers First Research) This link opens in a new window
Hoovers provides an overview, history, a description of products and operations, summary financial statistics, and a list of competitors, and annual reports. - Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage This link opens in a new window
This tool aims to give users the information they need to choose investment strategies. From the 'Simple Search' [Resources] > "Company Profile" results: be sure to read the Stock Reports (+ the business description), the linked Industry Survey and the "How to Analyze" section, and take note of the links to competitors. - Mergent Online This link opens in a new window
Mergent Online contains global business and financial information on over 15,000 domestic and international public companies. Highlights include several year's worth of annual reports and extremely detailed financial data. The Sawyer Library has three licenses for simultaneous use of Mergent Online, therefore when ending the session, please "Logout." - Business Insights This link opens in a new window
NOTE: In this database, when searching for a public company, it is best to search by using the company's ticker symbol. Results may include investment reports, SWOTs, market research, and market share reports. - Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
In addition to articles, BSC offers SWOTs. There are 3 ways to find these reports:
1. Select the 'Company Information' tab in the top banner, to use the company search form. If SWOTs are available, there will be a labeled category.
2. Run a search for the name of the company, then look in the left side bar for 'Source Types' and choose 'Show more.' Depending on the company, SWOTs may be available.
3. Point to "More" in the top blue banner, and choose Company Profiles. Some major private companies may be found here.
