Business Tutorialupdated 8/9/2012
Introduction
Sources
of Business Information
General
Business Magazines | Trade
Magazines | Business Web Sites
| Business News Services | Business and Trade Associations
| U.S. Government Agencies
| State and Local Government Agencies
A
Research Strategy
Company
Location & Status | Company
Industry Grouping | Financial
Information | Company
Operations | Competition
& Market Share | Industry
Information | Economic
Context
This tutorial will survey the kinds of business
information generally available at no charge on the Internet. The first
section provides an introduction to sources that provide
business-related information. Commercial sources, associations and
organizations, federal government, and state agencies are among the
sources covered. The second section presents a strategy that the
business researcher can follow -- from research about a specific
company to information about a broad industry and the economic
environment in general.
The problem/solution format set forth throughout this
tutorial is suggestive of kind of searches that can be done. Keep in
mind that there are many other ways to arrive at similar results.
Although the Internet can be a rich source for
business information, there is much information not freely available.
Premium information such as market research reports, industry ratios,
and earnings of private companies are not necessarily available at no
charge on the Internet. We will focus here, however, on information
that is freely available on the Internet.
Sources of
Business Information
General
Business Magazines
Most general business magazines (as commonly found on
newsstands) have Web sites with current articles accessible online.
These are a useful source of news, trends, and industry information. A
partial list includes:
Problem: Many more
business magazines are available online. How can you find them?
Solution: A power search with a
comprehensive search engine can produce the desired results. Try a
search like this: +"business
magazines" +directory [Click
here to try this search]
Trade magazines are the kind of reading we would
expect to see in the offices of a given company. Virtually every
business has its own trade literature. Examples include:
Trade journals contain trends in the industry,
industry statistics, company rankings, feature articles about industry
leaders, and business-to-business advertising (an often overlooked, but
important, aspect of business information gathering).
Problem: You need to find
trade magazines on gourmet coffee.
Solution: Try entering a search
like this into one of the three recommended search engines: magazines
+"gourmet coffee" [Click
to try this search]
Problem: You need to
locate trade literature on e-commerce.
Solution: This search produces
some excellent results: +"trade magazines"
+"e-commerce" [Click
to try this search]
Business Web Sites
Business-oriented Web sites are among the richest
sources of business information. Many of these contain freely available
information. Sometimes these sites also have added value available to
subscribers. Below is a small sampling of this kind of Web site:
Problem: You want to find
more business Web sites like those above.
Solution 1: To find Web sites that
contain similar sites, try searching for lists that include the above
sites, as well as others. Try searching like this: bloomberg
"wall street research net" "motley fool" [Click
here to try this search]
Solution
2 :
Use Google Sets.
Try the same three sources used in Solution 1 above. [Click
here to try this search] Google
Sets no longer exists.
Solution 3 : You might also try
to find research guides already created by librarians, researchers, or
others. To find other business guides try searching a search engine
like this: +"business
research" +guide [Click
to try this search]
Business News
Sources
Business news can be found in newspapers, wire
services (such as the Associated Press), fee-based Web sites, and
freely available Web sites, such as the following:
Problem: You want to find
business news sources freely available on the Web.
Solution: Try this simple search: "business
news" [Click
to try this search]
Problem: You need to find
current news about the business of intermodal transportation.
Solution: Search a comprehensive
search engine something like this: +"intermodal
transportation" +"news releases" [Click
here to try this search]
Problem: You want to find
out current news about initial public offerings (IPOs)
Solution: Try this search: +"ipo
news" [Click
to try this search]
Problem: You want to find
out Coca Cola's human resources policies and decisions.
Solution: Try a search like this: +"coca
cola" +"human resources" [Click
to try this search]
One particular publisher, American City Business
Journals publishes business newspapers in over 40 different markets (http://www.bizjournals.com/)
. Use this strategy to find other such business journals: "business
journals". [Click
to try this search]
Business and trade associations exist to provide
networking, pooling of resources, sponsoring of conferences, and often
publishing special reports and statistics concerning an industry. Below
is just a sampling of available resources:
You can also use your Web searching skills to do a
targeted search.
Problem: You would like
to locate business or trade associations in Connecticut.
Solution: Try both of these
searchers: +"business
associations" +connecticut [Click
here to try this search]; +"trade associations"
+connecticut [Click
here to try this search]
Chambers of commerce are among the richest sources of
local business statistics and information. Below are several Web sites
containing listings of chambers of commerce. None of these lists
includes all chambers.
Problem: You want to find
the Chamber of Commerce in Waukesha, Wisconsin
Solution: Search like this: +"chamber
of commerce" +waukesha [Click
here to try this search]
Many U.S. government agencies offer publications that
are of interest to those in business. These sites are particularly
important for their statistics, research reports, and legal materials.
Below is a selected list of federal agencies of interest to business
research:
Executive Office of the President:
- United States Trade Representative: http://www.ustr.gov/
Coordinates U.S. international trade and direct investment policy, and
negotiates all U.S. trade agreements, including all matters within the
World Trade Organization (WTO).
Congress:
Department of Agriculture:
Department of Commerce:
- Bureau of Industry and Security: http://www.bis.doc.gov/
Export regulations and assistance.
- Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/
One of the most important government sites for business research.
Business statistics; 2002 Economic Census; County Business
Patterns; Characteristics of Business Owners;
ZIP Code Business Patterns
- Import Administration: http://ia.ita.doc.gov/
Notices, protective orders, and regulations concerning import matters.
- International Trade Administration: http://www.ita.doc.gov/
Information on trade development by country/region and by industry.
- Market Access and Compliance: http://www.mac.doc.gov/
Helps to obtain market access for American firms and workers and to
achieve full compliance by foreign nations with trade agreements they
sign with our country
- Patent and Trademark Office: http://www.uspto.gov/
Searchable databases for patents and trademarks can provide ideas for
innovation and design.
- U.S. Commercial Service: http://www.ita.doc.gov/cs/
Helps business with international trade counseling, trade contact
services, product service and promotion, customized market research,
trade leads, and organization of international trade missions.
Department of Labor:
- Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://stats.bls.gov/
Economy at a Glance, Occupational Outlook Handbook,
and many other data sets.
- Employment Standards Administration: http://www.dol.gov/esa/
Enforces and administers laws governing legally-mandated wages and
working conditions.
Department of the Treasury:
Independent Establishments:
State and Local
Government Agencies
State and local governments usually contain
information of great interest to those doing business research. Not
only can statutes, ordinances, and regulations often be found, but
often these official Web sites provide statistics and assistance for
small businesses.
All fifty states have their own Web sites. Each of
these sites contains links to state business agencies and programs. To
find a state Web site, type the URL as: www.state.xx.us,
where xx
is the two letter postal code for the state. For example, the Web site
for Wisconsin would be: http://www.state.wi.us/
and the site for Nebraska would be: http://www.state.ne.us/.
Notice that many of these "flip" to another site. Yet the trick works
nevertheless. In fact, Colorado is one of the sites that "flips". www.state.co.us
flips to colorado.gov.
You can use the power search features of a
comprehensive search engine to search for specific information within a
state's Web site:
Problem: You want to find
tourism information and statistics for Colorado.
Solution: Use a comprehensive
search engine to do a targeted search of a specific Web server. In this
case, you need to search the Colorado state server: state.co.us.
Try searching for the words tourism
and statistics
within the Colorado state server. [Click
here to try this search]. But, because Colorado has two
domains, to be thorough, you should do the same search on the
colorado.gov site as well. [Click
here to try this search].
The Open Directory Project listing of state Web sites
leads to regional, county, and municipal Web sites (http://dmoz.org/Regional/North_America/United_States/).
Most cities and counties have a Web presence that can
provide links to chambers of commerce, local newspapers, and local
industry statistics.
Determine the Company Location
& Status
A most important distinction must be made at first:
whether the company you are researching is a public company (sells
shares of stock), a private company (does not stock shares). A
researcher can expect to find much information on public companies, and
probably much less on private companies.
Research on public companies is much more accessible
than private companies, since they must file disclosure statements on
finances, operations, and key personnel. They are public because they
offer publicly traded stocks.
Many commercial company directories list companies,
both public and private. On the Internet there are several strategies
that can be used to get basic company information.
Yellow Page Directories
The headings in yellow page directories are not those
used in traditional business research, but rather the familiar phone
book headings. Below is a partial list of Web-based phone book services.
Search Engine Company Directories
Several major search engines also provide directory
services, helpful when trying to identify company locations and company
Web sites:
Special Services
Some specialized Web sites offer much more than simple
directories of companies. Below is a partial list.
- Hoover's Online: http://www.hoovers.com/
This fee-based service has much material that is also freely available.
It should be noted that if you are accessing Hoover's Online from the
DU campus or DU wireless, you will be able to get to the fee-based
information.
Find the Company Industry Grouping
In order to understand a company's business, it is
necessary to find the classification(s) which most closely identifies
the business.
All business can be classified according to a detailed
classification system set out by the United States government. Through
1996 the Standard Industry Classification (SIC) system was used to
classify businesses. Beginning in 1997 companies were required to file
corporate filings using the new North America Industry Classification
System (NAICS). This new classification system is much better able to
accommodate new emerging industries such as Web designers and other
businesses in the information sector.
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)
The SIC code system is a hierarchical arrangement. To
illustrate, Major Group 54
is Retail: Food Stores; Industry Group 541
stands for Grocery Stores; and the specific SIC code 5411
includes Grocery Stores: convenience stores, food markets, frozen food
plans, grocery stores, and supermarkets.
The entire Standard Industrial Classification Manual
is available at: http://www.osha.gov/oshstats/sicser.html.
It is both searchable and browsable.
The Major
Group breakdown is as follows:
| Division A |
Major Groups 01-09 |
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing |
| Division B |
Major Groups 10-14 |
Mining |
| Division C |
Major Groups 15-17 |
Construction |
| Division D |
Major Groups 20-39 |
Manufacturing |
| Division E |
Major Groups 40-49 |
Transportation, Communication,
Utilities |
| Division F |
Major Groups 50-51 |
Wholesale Trade |
| Division G |
Major Groups 52-59 |
Retail Trade |
| Division H |
Major Groups 60-67 |
Finance, Insurance, Real Estate |
| Division I |
Major Groups 70-88 |
Services |
| Division J |
Major Groups 90-99 |
Public Administration |
North American Classification System (NAICS)
The creation of NAICS became necessary because of
growth and changes in business and industry. This new system consists
of six digits and can accommodate more distinctions. The North American
Classification System manual and help is available at: http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html
(includes tables to translate from SIC to NAICS and NAICS to SIC).
The sectoral breakdown is as follows:
Once the classification number is discovered, much
useful research can be found about your company and similar companies.
For instruction purposes, let's assume our company is
a hotel. Using the SIC Manual, we discover that the SIC code for hotels
is 7011: see http://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/sic_manual.display?id=111&tab=description.
The NAICS code is 721110: see http://www.census.gov/epcd/naics/NDEF721.HTM#N721110.
Keep in mind that NAICS codes are being gradually implemented over the
next several years. Most of the current available data will still be
available using SIC codes.
Let's say we want to get data on hotels in a
particular ZIP code area. We can use ZIP Code Business Patters
(available through the Census Bureau Web site at http://censtats.census.gov/).
We can enter our ZIP code and get results by SIC code.
An example of data sets using SIC or NAICS codes
includes:
Many library reference books and commercial
publications also publish data using SIC or NAICS codes. Especially
important are those that provide company directories by these codes.
Discover Company Financial
Information
For public companies, financial information is easy to
find, since public companies must report their revenues to the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Private companies, on the other
hand, do not report through these public filings, and their financial
information is usually gathered through company intelligence gathering
or educated guesses. This information is generally not easily found on
the Internet for private companies.
Since public companies are required to file their
Annual Reports (10-K reports) to the Securities and Exchange
Commission, these are easily available at the EDGAR Archives through
the Securities and Exchange Commission site: http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm
Stock Market
The stock market, a major source of company financial
performance for public companies, is one of the easiest areas of
research to conduct via the Internet. We are all familiar with the
major U.S. stock exchanges:
Problem: There are many
smaller stock exchanges in the United States and in other cities around
the world. How can you locate them?
Solution: To find listings of all
exchanges the world over, try a search like this: "stock
exchanges" argentina japan germany "hong
kong"
[Click
here to try this search in Alta Vista ]. [Same
search in Google].
Most of the business Web sites mentioned in the
beginning of this tutorial have links to stock price and performance
information, as do the sites below:
Corporate Filings (Annual Reports and Other Filings)
Public companies are required by law to file certain
reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC
provides a helpful listing of the various forms and filings (10-K,
10-Q, etc.) and describe the information they provide: http://www.sec.gov/info/edgar/forms/edgform.pdf
Company filings provide major sources of information
including: ownership, directorship, financial statements, financial
performance (including ratios). Public companies are required by law to
file with the SEC electronically. EDGAR, the Electronic Data Gathering,
Analysis, and Retrieval system, performs automated collection,
indexing, and forwarding of SEC filings. To read about the EDGAR
database, and to begin to search it, go to: http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.
Apart from the official SEC Web site, some third party
Web sites provide annual reports as well:
Gather Research About Company Operations
This area of research is generally the most difficult
to do with freely available resources. Company research can include
virtually everything you want to know about a business: marketing
strategies, personnel policies, management styles, business plans,
overseas ventures, company history, patents, and pending lawsuits are
but a few examples.
Several Web sites provide helpful information
concerning company research:
This area is challenging because it gets into
competitive intelligence. With creative searching using principles in
this tutorial, information about company operations can occasionally be
uncovered.
Problem: You need to see
if you can find a business plan from the Coca Cola company concerning
expansion into Latin America.
Solution: Try a search like this: +"coca
cola" +"business plan" +"latin america" [Click
here to try this search]
Problem: You want to see
what you can discover about Walmart's management style.
Solution: Try this search in a
power search engine: +"management
style" +wal-mart [Click
here to try this search]
Investigate Competition
& Market Share
In a competitive environment, businesses are
continually concerned about their position within the market and how
they rank in market share.
Market Share
Market share, the percent of the market a given
product or company has, is often tracked in trade publications or Web
sites.
Problem: You want to find
the market share for shampoos.
Solution: Try a power search like
this: shampoo "market
share" [Click
here to try this search]
Problem: You need to find
the market share for retailers such as K-Mart and Walmart.
Solution: Here is an example
search: +"market
share" +"k-mart" +wal-mart [Click
here to try this search]
Rankings
Ranking within an industry is an important way of
determining position of a company within a market. Major public
companies are ranked by major business magazines:
Other ranking services also are available:
To find more lists, try searching AltaVista, Fast, or
Northern Light: "business
lists" or "company lists".
Suppose you wanted a list of hotel company rankings. You could search: rankings hotels
[Click
to try this search]
Examine Industry
Information
Moving from company research to the industry within
which the company operates, it is necessary to gather news and other
information about the specific industry. Think in terms of the SIC and
NAICS classifications mentioned earlier. Many of the Web resources
mentioned above in the Business News
section of this tutorial include this information.
Industry News & Trends
Industry trends can be gathered from a variety of
sources. The Census Bureau's Current Industrial Reports (http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/cir/)
provides this information. Several Web services cover trends
and news:
Industry Ratios
Selected ratios for public companies can be found in
the financial section of the annual reports. Ratios show the
performance of a company. By comparing the ratios of a company with
ratios of other companies of similar size in the same industry sector,
we can judge a company's performance relative to others. An explanation
of how to calculate ratios in doing financial statement analysis can be
found at: http://www.cpaclass.com/fsa/ratio-01a.htm.
Unfortunately, this kind of analysis is generally not freely available
on the Internet. BizStats claims to have some free ratios: http://www.bizstats.com/.
Typically, ratio analysis is done in libraries with
books such as:
- Almanac of Business and Industrial
Financial Ratios (by Leo Troy)
- Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios.
(published by Bun & Bradstreet)
- RMA Annual Statement Studies (published by Robert
Morris Associates)
Place in the Economic
Context
Since all business is conducted in the larger context
of the national and international economic conditions, it is necessary
to study economic context of business. The following Web sites and
publications will provide a basic start for doing this:
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