Company research focuses on a specific company: you will need to find infomration about consumers, finances, and regulations on a smaller scale than industry research.
A great place to start is the company's website. Look in About Us or News/Media sections to learn about the company's mission, goals, and public relations.
Is is important to determine: is the company public or private?
Private company information?
These are the companies that do not trade on stock exchange. Information on private companies is often difficult to find. Begin by searching market research reports. Market Research reports provide valuable and timely information about the industry, its market size, key players, mergers and acquisitions, costs, profitability etc.
Public company information?
Public companies sell their shares on the stock market. They are legally obligated to disclose financial information to their shareholders and to legislative bodies. To fulfill this obligation Public companies produce reports, which are sent to the shareholders and filed with regulatory bodies like the Canadian Securities Administrators or the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission.
The company SEC filings are a crucial source of financial information and acts as a basis for historic analysis and forecasting. They contain not only the company's financial statements, tables, notes, and management reports, but also anything else that the company is required to disclose.
Use directories to identify companies within industries, and to learn more about the companies such as locations, histories, and employees, officers, and directors.
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Content for this guide from:
Dalhousie Library Business Research Guide: http://dal.ca.libguides.com/business