Researching Companies and Industries


Need help with your research? Contact:

Kelly Cannon
Outreach and Scholarly Communication Librarian
Humanities & Business Subject Specialist
phone: x3602
email: kcannon@muhlenberg.edu
IM (AIM, Yahoo, MSN): refcannon
Reference desk IM: talktotrexler

    NOTE: The electronic databases listed on this page and marked with a * are available from the Trexler Library Homepage (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library). Select either "Articles A to Z" or "Online Reference Shelf."

    Subscribed to by Muhlenberg College for a substantial fee, these databases can be accessed on campus without restriction, or off campus by entering name and student ID.

How can I summarize my business' activities and the industry or industries in which it operates, and show how my company ranks in the industry?

    Succinct descriptions of a company--what it does, how it operates, and the industry to which it belongs--can be found by searching on a company in the business section of Lexis-Nexis Academic*.

    Market share and company size can often be located in Market Share Reporter (Business Ref. 338.74 M345s) and Business Rankings Annual (Business Ref. 338.74 B979r).

        A note about Standard Industry Classification (SIC). . .

    Many business information sources still employ the Standard Industry Classification (SIC). This classification system can be very useful in analyzing an industry group and comparing individual companies within that group. To identify the SIC code to which your company has been assigned, try looking your company up in Reference USA* , or the business section of the Lexis-Nexis Academic* database.

    NOTE: Regrettably, different publications assign different codes to companies. Select the code that best suits the comparison you want to make with other companies. Consult the Standard Industrial Classification Search (http://www.osha.gov/oshstats/sicser.html) for assistance in making your decision.

    Over time a new system called the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is to replace the older and now inadequate SIC. For more information, visit the U.S. Census Bureau's NAICS page (http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html).

How can I identify subsidiaries and their business activities?

    Two databases that identify parents and subsidiaries are Reference USA* and the business section of Lexis-Nexis Academic*.
Where can I find 5 yrs. net revenue (or net sales), net income, basic earnings per share, dividends per share, and working capital?.

    Two places that provide this information are ValueLine*, and the business section of the Lexis-Nexis Academic*database.
How do I find industry standards for these ratios: current, debt to total assets, profit margin?

    One excellent source for industry standards, arranged by SIC, is Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios (Business Ref. 338.0973 I42a). See also Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios (Business Ref. 338.0973 A445o) and Robert Morris & Assoc. Annual Statement Studies (Business Ref. 657.3 R627a).
Where can I locate an industry profile, including a description, major companies, size in total sales dollars, and industry trends and hot topics?

    Reports of industry performance--past, present, future--are best located in a database called Plunkett Research Online *. See also the business section of Lexis-Nexis Academic*.
How can I find an archive of closing stock prices for my business?

    An archive of closing stock prices can be found at BigCharts: Historical Quotes (http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/)
How do I locate complete 10K reports?

    10K reports are available free online from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm) from about 1994-present, depending on when your company started filing electronically, and downloadable in a variety of formats from the business section of LexisNexis Academic *.

How do I locate biographical and contact info. about corporate executives and other individuals?

Reference USA* contains lists corporate staff down through corporate secretary, HR, and purchasing. No biographical info. is given, and just a general business address and phone. Hoover's, found in the company profiles in LexisNexis Academic*contains a similar directory. LexisNexis Academic* also contains a People section that can be searched by a person's name. Key company leaders plus brief bios. can also be found in Business Source Elite*, under the Company Profiles tab (from Datamonitor).

Style guides for composing a bibliography

    Trexler Library's Citation Guides (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/reshelp/citations.html) offer examples for citing print and electronic resources in a bibliography in the APA style and in other styles.

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Last modified: 1 April 2008