Home › Help › Subject Guides › Business Administration ›

Company Information

Company information is available in a variety of print and electronic sources, including web sites. This guide is a starting point for company research, not a comprehensive source list. Search the Library Catalogue by KEYWORD or SUBJECT using the name of your industry or company for further sources, and definitely ask our Reference Librarians for assistance if you are unable to find the information you need.

Generally, it is easier to find information about large, public, Canadian/US companies than about small, private, or foreign companies.

1.   Company Web Sites
2.   Directories and Reports
3.   Financial Information
4.   Company Histories

5.   Newspaper and Journal Articles
6.   Other Sources
7.   Other Relevant SFU Library Guides

1. Company Web Sites

Many companies have detailed websites.  These can be an excellent "one stop" source for information about the company, including mission statements, press releases, and annual reports. Note, however, that any analysis or news at a company site may present only one side of a complex story and should be supplemented with more objective articles.

Finding a company site is usually as simple as entering a URL of "www.[company name].com" In rare cases it may be necessary to search the web. A search engine such as Google will usually list company sites near the top of your result list if you search for the company name.

Back to top

2. Directories and Reports

Directories often provide brief information such as company addresses, phone numbers, executives' names, etc., but they may also offer things like SWOT analyses, details on recent M&A activity, and key customers. They may list companies from many industries or focus on specific industries or geographic areas.

The titles below are just a small sample of some of the more commonly used directories. You will find many more if you search the Library Catalogue by KEYWORD using an industry name plus "directories." E.g., "high technology directories." Most will be shelved in the Reference Collection in the Bennett Library. Many are also available at the Belzberg Library downtown.

Vancouver/B.C.

Canada

United States

  • ThomasNet
    Information on over 600,000 companies (manufacturers and distributors) and more than 67,000 product categories.  Mainly American coverage but many Canadian companies are also included.

International

  • Hoover's Company Reports
    Hoover's includes basic and in-depth profiles of thousands of companies. Profiles include key financial details as well as lists of top officers and main competitors. Most companies are publicly-traded and based in the USA or Canada, although some non-North American and some privately owned companies are also covered. Hoover's also includes basic overviews of key industries.
     
  • Datamonitor360
    A collection of over 31,000 company reports. More than 2500 of them include SWOT analyses.  Note that a subset of this collection is also available within Business Source Complete.
     
  • GlobalData company profiles (via LexisNexis)
    Descriptive information (competitors, products, etc.) on about 8000 companies, plus much deeper information on the largest 1000 companies: Business Strategy, Financial and Operational Data, SWOT Analysis, Value Chain Analysis, etc. Focus your search on a single company using the following search format: company(your target company here).

  • Company Profiles and Directories
    This LexisNexis group file will allow you to search a broad range of sources including Hoover's and Global Markets Direct (mentioned above) covering thousands of companues around the world. Use the following search format to focus your search: company(your target company here).

  • Hoover's handbook of world business
    Belzberg Reference & Bennett Reference: HG 4009 H668
     
  • Principal international businesses
    Belzberg Reference & Bennett Reference: HF 54 U5 P75
Back to top

3. Financial Information

Annual reports and other financial resources are good sources of information about a company's business history and current performance. Useful print and electronic sources at SFU include:

Canada

  • Many key sources are listed on the Library's Annual Reports and Ratio Analysis research guides.
     
  • CanCorp documents service. 1990-1996. Microforms Classified: HG 044 22
    Note: Canadian reports from the early 1990s only - useful if you need detailed historical financial information on Canadian companies.
     
  • FPinfomart.ca (Financial Post)
    Current and historical financial and operating details on top publicly-traded companies in Canada. Does not include complete annual reports, but does offer much of the same key descriptive and financial information, as well as added details such as analyst's recommendations, operating ratios, and director's biographies.
     
  • Globe Investor.com's Annual Report Service
    The Globe & Mail's free service -- offers annual reports by company name or by industry.
     
  • LexisNexis
    Go to Companies in the left column, then choose Company Dossier.

  • SEDAR (System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval)
    The system used for electronically filing information with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities (since 1997). Includes annual reports, interim financial statements, press releases and prospectuses. Similar to the Edgar Online service available for companies traded in the US (described below).

United States
 

  • EDGAR Database
    The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) database of  corporate filings.  Contains annual reports, press releases, and other public documents for most public companies in the US.  Note that annual reports are "10-K" forms for the SEC.
     
  • LexisNexis
    Go to Companies in the left column, then choose Company Dossier.
International
  • MINT Global
    A database that covers 50,000 publicly-traded companies from around the world + 5 million private companies. Includes detailed financials (with details on whether GAAP/IFRS, etc. were used), as well as links to Financial Times news stories, Datamonitor industry surveys, and more.
     
  • LexisNexis
    Go to Companies in the left column, then choose Company Dossier.
    LexisNexis contains detailed information and full text of current news on Europe, Asia, the Pacific Rim, Africa, the Middle East, and North and South America, including company information, business opportunities and analysis, country analysis and legal information.
     
  • Wall Street Transcript
    Interviews with sector research analysts, money market managers, and CEOs. See the BUEC Buzz for a full description.

Private companies

Financial information about private companies is difficult to find as they are not legally required to publish such data. First of all, check with sources such as LexisNexis corporate affiliations [HG 4057 A221] or Who Owns Whom [HG 4057 A561] to confirm that the company is completely private and not actually a subsidiary of a public company.  If they do have a relationship with a public company, you may be able to get some financial details from the annual report of the parent company.  In addition, directories such as the Business in Vancouver Book of Lists (HF 5073 V3 B8) sometimes contain basic details on local private companies.  Other sources to try include:

  • Forbes Largest Private Companies list (2011 / 2009 / 2008 / 2007 / 2006 / 2005 / 2004 )
    Covers the largest U.S. private companies.
     
  • Globe & Mail's Report on Business: Top 350 Private Companies in Canada (2010 / 2009 / 2008 / 2007)

  • BC Business: Top 100 Private, Public & Crown Corporations (2011 / 2010 / 2009)

  • Hoover's & Datamonitor company reports
    - Hoover's reports (available via LexisNexis) include some private companies.
    - Datamonitor company profiles available within Business Source Complete and in Datamonitor360.
     
  • MINT Global
    A database that covers 50,000 publicly-traded companies from around the world + 5 million private companies. The majority of the private companies included in this database are from outside North America where filing regulations are more demanding for private companies.
     
  • LexisNexis
    Go to Companies in the left column, then choose Company Dossier.
Back to top

4. Company Histories

Brief company histories can often be found in directories and financial information sources. The histories of large and "newsworthy" companies, e.g. Microsoft, may be published as books. Check the Library Catalogue by SUBJECT under the name of the company. There are also specialized sources of company histories:

  • The blue book of Canadian business (web edition is also known as CBR: Canadian Business Resource). HC 112 B58
    Note that the book version contains the full company data.  You only get a limited amount of the same information for free at the web site.
     
  • Canadian company histories. HD 2809 C35 1996
    Note: Canadian Company Histories published in 1997 are available fulltext online via the database: CPI.Q
     
  • FPinfomart.ca
    Detailed descriptions on operations, 7-year consolidated financial statements, capital stock changes and company history dating back to incorporation for the top currently and formerly traded Canadian companies.
     
  • International Directory of Company Histories
    Covers over 8500 companies, each of which is a leader in their industry or geographic area.
     
Back to top

5. Newspaper and Journal Articles

Newspapers, trade magazines and business journals provide current information about company performance, products and problems. Articles may often be the only source of information about small or private companies. Use indexes to locate articles about your company, its competitors, and its industry. Connect to the following indexes under "Journal articles & databases" on the SFU Library Home Page.

  • Business Source Complete
    Thousands of business journals, industry magazines, and industry & market reports. BSC also includes 10,000 company profiles for the world's largest companies from Datamonitor, although our Datamonitor 360 database holds the full collection of Datamonitor profiles.
     
  • Canadian Newsstand
    The fulltext of most major Canadian newspapers, as well as of some local British Columbia papers. Newspapers from the hometown of the headquarters of a company can often be a great place to get unusual company information.
     
  • CBCA
    CBCA is the major index for Canadian newspapers, popular and business magazines, and scholarly journals. CBCA provides comprehensive coverage of Canadian topics, including business, politics, literature, history and news events.
     
  • Regional Business News
    Fulltext from 75 regional business publications in the US. May be useful if the company you are researching is relatively small and is based in the United States. Also useful if you want news from the city where the headquarters of a company are located.
     
  • Academic Search Premier
    Indexes/abstracts articles from more than 3,200 journals and provides full text for more than 1,000 journals. Covers a broad range of disciplines, including political science, public administration, language and literature, communications, business administration, biological and medical sciences, computer sciences, education and history.
     
  • LexisNexis
    LexisNexis covers thousands of full text information sources from U.S. and overseas, including newspapers, magazines, journals, newsletters, wire services and broadcast transcripts.
     
  • ThomsonOne Investment Banking
    Includes Reuters news coverage of companies and industries. Requires Internet Explorer to access.
     
  • Wall Street Journal
    Online access for SFU researchers from 1984 to the present. (Access also available from 1889 to 18 years ago.)
Back to top

6. Other Sources

Your company may be a subsidiary of a larger or foreign company. To find the parent company name, check:

  •  LexisNexis corporate affiliations. HG 4057 A221
     
  • Inter-corporate ownership (Statistics Canada).
    Print edition up to 2000: HD 2807 A19 & StatsCan: 61-517.
    CD-ROM version (2008) is available in the Maps/Data/GIS area on the 7th floor of the Bennnett Library (special loan only).
     
  • Who owns whom: North America. HG 4057 A561
     
  • MINT Global
    Has detailed ownership and subsidiary charts. 
Back to top

7. Other Relevant SFU Library Guides

Back to top
Owned by: Mark Bodnar
Revised by: Mark Bodnar
Last Modified: 2012-01-09