Researching Companies and Industries

As part of your job or career search, one of the most important things that you will need to do is to find information about companies or industries. The most obvious source for information is the Internet. Unfortunately, unless you understand the best places to find information, you can waste a lot of time on the Internet and not find the information you want. You may think you can short-circuit the research by just asking questions of your contacts on social networking sites, such as LinkIn.

Before you ask for help from your contacts, you must have already tried to do some research on your own. If you ask questions that clearly indicate you have not done any research on your own, you risk not getting the support from those who otherwise might be willing to help you.

Before I could help my clients on where to look for information, I had to do the research myself to make sure they would find what they wanted when they used that source. I spent a great deal of time in the US and the UK researching for the information I knew my clients would need. I then examined the information to see how much of it would apply to a range of typical questions. I recognize that my research was not all-inclusive and I am sure I missed some sources that you will find helpful to you. If so, please email me and let me know what you find so I can add it to the lists below.

I've grouped the information into six different sources and then separately for the US, Canada, and the UK. The six sources are (Click on the title to go directly to that source):

1. Company websites
2. Search engines
3. Company filings or registrations with governmental organizations
4. Company resarch on the Internet
5. Media publications with Internet versions of thier print publications
6. LIbrary

1. Company websites

Start by going to a company's website and browse around looking for information that is of particular interest to your job or career search objectives. This helps you to get a feel for the company because what they put up on their website is important to them and what they think should be important to you.

If it is a publicly-held company, check out the Investor Relations or Investor Information section on their website. You often will find a link to their annual report and their SEC annual Form 10K.

Check out their Newsroom or Public Relations section and read press releases.

Go to the Site Index. It enables you to find information quickly that you may not find easily by browsing around on the website.

2. Search engines

Search engines are general information portals. They are the starting points to find information that is on the Internet. Enter the name of the company or industry and search for information about them. Each search engine uses some form of search logic, like Boolean, that you can use to narrow your search by adding qualifiers. For example, in early 2009 using the search term jobs returned 481 million hits (43 million in 2006) (website addresses). Using the phrase executive jobs returned 63.5 million hits (2.5 million in 2006) (meaning that both executive and jobs must be present). The phrase executive job search returned 50 million hits (2.3 million in 2006) (meaning that executive, job, and search must be present), and if you used "executive job search" with quotations (meaning that the website must use the exact phrase), you got 156,000 hits (7,640 in 2006).

Read the instructions on each of the search engine portals so that you understand their particular search logic. You will save a lot of time if you understand the logic before you start running search queries.

The following search engines are the most popular ones:

• http://www.google.com
• http://www.yahoo.com
• http://www.msn.com
• http://www.metacrawler.com - If you do not find what you are looking for using either Google or Yahoo!, try Metacrawler. It searches all of the following search engines: Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Ask Jeeves, About, MIVA, LookSmart, and more.

Canada:

• http://www.Google.ca
• http://ca.yahoo.com

UK:

• http://www.google.co.uk
• http://uk.yahoo.com

Caution! While these search engine websites may be free for you to use, the search results may not be unbiased. Most sites charge companies a fee to have their websites listed on top and/or in small highlighted sponsored sections on the first page. They often charge the site on a fee per click basis so the more the company pays per click, the more likely they will appear higher on the sponsored list.

How a search engine ranks websites in the search results is a closely guarded secret. Companies want to be as near the top of the list as possible because statistics show that people tend not to look beyond the first thirty. When you are searching for information, be careful to observe whether you are only seeing the "sponsored links" or an unbiased list.

3. Company filings or registrations with governmental organizations

• http://www.FreeEdgar.com - If the company you want information on is a publicly-held company, go to Free Edgar where you can access the company's SEC reports for viewing and download financial schedules in an Excel format. SEC reports include the annual 10K report (which can easily exceed fifty pages), quarterly financial reports, reports detailing significant buy/sell agreements, or other significant information that the SEC requires of companies. You are required to register and must pay a fee for a fixed number of months' usage but there is no charge to download reports. There is a link for free downloads for a limited number of companies who have participated in a free service.

Canada:

• http://www.sedar.com - The Canadian Securities Administration website where you can obtain information on companies and download copies of their annual reports.

UK:

• http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk - The website for Companies House. You can download financial accounts and other information for a fee.
• http://www.carol.co.uk - CAROL Ltd. enables you to download copies of company annual reports, some for free.

4. Company research on the Internet

• http://www.corporateinformation.com - Wright Investors' Service provides limited company information and news about companies around the world.
• http://www.hoovers.com - Lists publicly-held or significant privately-held companies. There are different pricing options for different levels of service. (Many libraries will give you access to the information. See the section on Library below.)

UK:

• http://www.management.org.uk - The Chartered Management Institute has an excellent list of sources of information.
• http://www.hemscott.com
• http://www.kompass.com

5. Media publications with Internet versions of their print publications

Go to the websites of information publishers and various print and online media and do a search on an industry or a specific company. Most of the websites require that you register but there is no charge for a basic level of service. If you want more details, you will have to pay a fee to get some more but not always current information. Some of these sites are excellent sources of information on topical issues. The sites that might be worth a try are:

• http://www.businessweek.com - BusinessWeek Online
• http://www.marketwatch.com - CBS MarketWatch
• http://www.cnn.com - CNN.com
• http://www.money.cnn.com - CNN and Money Magazine co-developed this site.
• http://www.fastcompany.com - Fast Company Magazine
• http://www.forbes.com - Forbes Magazine
• http://www.fortune.com - Fortune Magazine
• http://www.nytimes.com - New York Times newspaper

Canada:

• http://www.canadaone.com - Canadian business resources and directory
• http://www.en.canoe.ca & http://www.fr.canoe.ca - Canadian business news source in English and French
• http://www.strategis.gc.ca - Canadian business and consumer site

UK:

• http://www.economist.com - Publisher of The Economist, the UK business magazine
• http://www.ft.com - Publisher of The Financial Times (UK), the UK business newspaper

6. Library

You might be thinking, "Go to the library! Why would I go to the library to do research any more now that I have the Internet and can do it all from the comfort of my home?" Well, you can't do it all from the comfort of your home. The library was and is still the best source of research information. And, it is even better with the Internet.

The library has a wealth of information in the Business reference section and in the International Business section. You can find reference books that allow you to select companies by industry, product, and location. You can also find lists of companies grouped by their SIC code (the NAICS codes replaced the SIC coding system in 1997. NAICS stands for North American Industry Classification System).

You are still able to use the books to gather the information you want at no cost. Better yet, libraries subscribe to a large amount of research material online that you can only access from the library, most at no cost to you (the library pays the fee). Some information you might need to pay to access and you usually need to pay photocopy costs to print the information. But these are small compared to the cost for you to subscribe to only one source online yourself.

The real bonus to going to the library is that you want a library card. With it, you can access quite a lot of information from your home computer by logging on to the library's website and, using your library card number, directly access the information you want. Check out the New York Public Library online resources at http://www.nypl.org and the Los Angeles Public Library online resources at http://www.lapl.org to get a feel for the type of information that might be available to you at the library and at home. As a university alumni, contact the university to see if alumni can access the university's library system.

The reference numbers in parentheses below, e.g., (R338.09), reflect the Dewey Decimal Classification system that was conceived by Melvin Dewey in 1873 and is the US standard of classification for the US Library of Congress and all public, private, and university libraries in the US. Some of the reference books you will find helpful are (not all libraries carry all the books):

• American Business Disc (Reference USA) - Search for over 12 million companies and 120 million residences. Like a giant yellow pages, the information is limited. Available online through a link to your library from home with a library card access code.
• America's Corporate Families (R338.09) by Dun & Bradstreet. A print version is usually available and may be accessible online through some library systems. It lists companies by parent and subsidiaries, divisions and major branches with cross references from a known name. This is still an excellent way to find all the companies associated with a parent.
• Business & Company Resource Center by Infotrac/Gale - Available online through a link to your library from home with a library card access code. Reflects brief company profiles, brand information, rankings, investment reports and other company information.
• Corporate Affiliations.com (R338.7) by Lexis-Nexis - Some libraries carry this in print version instead of the Million Dollar Directory because it is a lower cost guide. Available online at the library only. It comes in 8 volumes and includes an alphabetical listing by company name reflecting officers and key functional heads. Has cross-reference for who owns whom, regional groupings, brand names, and SIC codes.
• The Directory of Business Information Resources (R016.65) by Grey House Publishing - Lists industry associations alphabetically by business description and includes an SIC cross-reference. Also lists industry newsletters, trade shows, directories and databases, with reference to websites. This is an excellent source to find where to network, prepare articles for a trade publication, or to obtain copies of the publications to research an industry.
• Dun & Bradstreet Industrial Guide (R338.0025) - Lists companies alphabetically by city and state. More libraries will have this because it contains most businesses in every community. It only lists company contact details. No size, SIC, or management information is included.
• Gale Business Resources (Thomson - Gale) - Available online through a link to your library from home with a library card access code. Contains detailed information on more than 200,000 U.S. companies including 54 industrial categories.
• Hoovers Handbook of American Business (R338.74) by Hoovers - A five-volume print version available in many libraries. This is the same information that is available online but you must pay a significant fee to access the material online. Includes alphabetical listings, profiles of most exciting companies, growth enterprises, major global enterprises, and major US private companies.
• Million Dollar Directory (R338.09) by Dun and Bradstreet - Many libraries have this in print. Accessible online at the library only. Probably the most comprehensive listing. A five-volume set that lists over 1 million of America's leading public companies including many private companies, if they have 180 or more employees, or 900 if a branch and they have $9 million or more in annual sales. Volumes 1 - 3 list companies alphabetically showing contact details, sales, employees, bank and accountants, SIC code with description, and officers and directors. Volume 4 lists companies by city within states. Volume 5 lists companies by SIC code and grouped by industry. If you want companies in a particular industry or industry segment, this is the place to look.
• Regional Business Directory (R338.7) by Dun & Bradstreet - Many libraries carry this three-volume series in print. It includes business rankings by employees and sales, cross-references by city and SIC codes.
• Standard & Poors Industry Studies (R338) - Provides descriptions of 52 industries including recent developments, industry basics, and summary financial and statistical data for major companies in that industry. Great starting point if you are looking to change fields (industries) and you want to get some basic information before you start networking.
• Standard & Poors Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives (R332.67) - Most libraries have print version. Accessible online at the library only. Three volumes include SIC and NAICS codes, alphabetical, a separate directory of directors and executives, and cross-references by SIC, NAICS, and city and state.
• United States Business Directory (R338.702) by InfoUSA - Lists 12 million companies with 20 or more employees by city and state, including SIC codes, contact details, number of employees and sales (uses a code to define a range).
• Who Owns Whom (R338.025) by Dun & Bradstreet - Most libraries carry the print edition and it may be available online at the library. Alphabetical listing of companies worldwide showing subsidiary operations in other countries. Sorted by parent and sub and sub by parent. Great reference if you are an expatriate looking to make a job or career change or if you are trying to find subsidiaries of major companies that operate in a specific country. Includes names and contact details of senior management, although the information is typically two years old.

UK:

Go to the Reference Desk at your local library and explain what you want to find. If the librarian seems unclear, mention some of the sources listed below. That should get them started.

• Britain's Top Foreign Owned Companies by Jordan & Sons Ltd. Lists 3,000 foreign owned companies with rankings for various criteria. Includes name, address, phone/fax, business description, chief executive and foreign affiliates.
• Britain's Top Privately Owned Companies by Jordan & Sons Ltd. Lists 10,000 companies alphabetically, by sales volume, and by net tangible assets. The top 2,000 companies are listed by various other categories. Alphabetical listing includes name, address, phone/fax, business description, and chief executive.
• Directory of Directors by Hemscott PLC. Section 1 lists 50,000 directors of major British companies showing company name, address and other company affiliations. Section 2 lists director names by business code (US SIC), and Section 3 lists the details of 16,000 companies listed alphabetically with contact details and limited financial information for the last three years.
• FAME (Financial Analysis Made Easy) is a company information database that most libraries access through Business Insight. You must use this service at the library and there is a fee for use depending on the type of information retrieved.
• Key British Enterprises by Dun & Bradstreet. Annual four-volume reference set listing company information on over 50,000 major companies in the UK. Includes director and other key management contacts, lines of business, SIC (US) codes, sales, profits, number of employees with cross-references by SIC codes, town or county, alphabetical listings, and rankings for top 5,000 in the same categories. The print edition should be available in most libraries and the online version will be at most larger ones.
• Kompass published annually in 5 volumes by Kompass UK (Reed Business Information). Includes corporate information on over 100,000 industrial companies.
• Major Companies of Europe by Graham & Whiteside (Thomson - Gale) is published annually in 4 volumes. Includes alphabetical listing of companies showing contact details, principal activities, products and services, parent, subsidiaries, and other information. Most libraries carry the print edition.
• Who Owns Whom (United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland) by Dun & Bradstreet. Published annually in 2 volumes and updated quarterly. Includes information on UK companies with parent ownership and subsidiaries.

The library will have what you are looking for or they can suggest another reference book that they have in print version. Ask about what reference material they have online and have them show you how to access their material using the library's computers. In addition to just looking at the information, you will be able to get lists sorted on pre-defined criteria and be able to print them for your own use. Perform some searches to see what is available and what information you can get. The listings should also indicate whether the resource material is available at another more central library, a regional or local library, or from your home computer.