LibGuides: International Management & Entrepreneurship: Companies

Company Research Checklist

As you research your company be sure to locate these sources:

For internal information provided by the company at their web site:

Letter to stockholders from the president, usually in the annual report
Full annual filing, either:
- Annual Form 10-K filing with the SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission
- Annual 20-F with the SEC, if a non-US company
- Full S-1 SEC filing, if a recent initial public offering filing
- SEDAR annual information form, if Canadian
- Or other full annual report for private or international companies
Latest quarterly filings
Sustainability, corporate responsibility & similar reports
Recent press releases, conference calls

Most internal information can be found at a companies web site, but sometimes you may need to go to the filing agency.

For sources for an external point of view look for

Analysts reports available in S&P Capital IQ and Euromonitor
Social responsibility reports
Articles and news on specific topics

Sources for Company Reports

Company Web site
Look for About Us, Investor Relations or Corporate Information, often at the bottom of the web page. Here you may find:
- Company status: public, private, non-profit, subsidiary or branch?
- Ticker symbol if public - for quick info retrieval in other sources
- Products & Services and clues to organizational structure
- Mission statement & code of ethics
- Sustainability, corporate responsibility & similar reports reports
- SEC Filings, particularly latest annual Form 10-K, quarterly & proxy statements
- Recent press releases, conference calls, etc.
The organization of the web site will also give you clues to their target market, marketing strategy, and organization structure.

Capital IQ NetAdvantage - S&P Global This link opens in a new window
Find company, market news, downloadable 5-year financials, S&P analysts reports & Industry Surveys, Argus Industry Reviews and SEC filings. Create charts and more at this academic version of Capital IQ. Financials in various formats link to calculations and data source.
Visit our Capital IQ (S&P) Guide for more details
Nexis Uni Company Dossier This link opens in a new window
Click the Business graphic to search a public or private company, create a list or compare companies with quick links to Quick links a wide range of sources including mergers & acquisitions, legal and intellectual property, SEC Filings, news and more. Now part of Nexis Uni, the replacement of LexisNexisAcademic.
SEC EDGAR Search - free This link opens in a new window
Search this free SEC site by company name or ticker to obtain annual 10K, 10Q, proxy, S1 and other required filings. Annual filings are critical sources of company & industry data. The annual report to stockholders may also be included, but not always.

SEDAR for Canadian companies

Hoover's Company Profiles - ProQuest This link opens in a new window
Hoover's profiles are particularly helpful for private and small companies with overview and history that provide insights into strategy. Click Link to Fulltext for full record!

Analysts Reports & News - External Opinions

Capital IQ NetAdvantage - S&P Global This link opens in a new window
Find company, market news, downloadable 5-year financials, S&P analysts reports & Industry Surveys, Argus Industry Reviews and SEC filings. Create charts and more at this academic version of Capital IQ. Financials in various formats link to calculations and data source.
Visit our Capital IQ (S&P) Guide for more details
Business Insights: Global - Gale This link opens in a new window
For US and global business, find company profiles, brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, chronologies and articles plus industry reports and news. For complete listing of SWOT reports, choose Companies at the top menu.
MACKsearch This link opens in a new window
Find books, ebooks, streaming videos, DVDs, articles, reports and more from a wide selection of McQuade's databases, the Library Catalog and beyond.
ProQuest Business This link opens in a new window
Search 8 ProQuest databases on global business including ABI/Inform with the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times; Accounting & Tax, Banking Information; regional groupings (Asia, Canada, India, etc.) plus Business Market Research Reports with Hoover's Company Profiles, Oxresearch, and quarterly First Research Industry Profiles. Selective ebookCentral and Alexander Street videos are also shown in results.
Nexis Uni, formerly LexisNexis Academic This link opens in a new window
Find US & international news, company data, and law cases, statutes, reviews and IRS and TaxAnalysts publications. See our Nexis Uni research guide for tips on using the new site.
Business Source Premier - EBSCOhost This link opens in a new window
BSP materials are included in MACKsearch, but you may want to search it for more focused results with company profiles, industry and market research reports, country reports and articles from trade and scholarly business publications. Use the Business Searching Interface for browsing reports by country, industry or company. Mobile users: click here for Corporate Profiles.

Corporate Responsibility Reports

What does the company say about its social responsbility and sustainability initiatives?

Global Reporting Database
The Global Reporting Initiative has helped to set standards for corporate reporting on sustainable issues and now maintains a database of corporate reports. A link to the full pdf report is at the bottom of the reports record.
CorporateRegister
Register for free access to corporate non-financial reports, including Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), sustainability, environmental and social reports.
Sustainability Reports
Current corporate reports listed by country and sector.
BSR Insights - Business for Social Responsibility
Check out their Insights with Reports and Primers on topics including Conflict Minerals, Human Rights, Women Empowerment and the State of Sustainable Business.

World Suppliers

ThomasNet
Directory of manufacturers and distributors of industrial products.
Alibaba
This online consumer and industrial selling site includes company profiles of major providers.
Kompass
Worldwide directory of companies: producers, importers and distributors. Merrimack does not have a subscription to the detailed company information.