Basic Business Research
Stephen Hayes
Business Services Librarian
University Libraries of Notre Dame
Orientation Session
Goals




Beyond what can be “Googled” – quality business information
Find basic business information such as financial news, company
profiles, and industry
Learn to use 3 University Libraries business resources: Factiva,
Business and Company Resource Center, and S&P netAdvantage.
Working with information professional
Mahaffey Business Information Center


Partnership between Mendoza College of Business and Hesburgh
Libraries of Notre Dame.
College supplies space & Hesburgh Libraries supplies: staff, databases,
resources, and pc’s.
Staff

Stephen Hayes, Entrepreneurial Spirit Endowed Business Librarian

Barbara “Pete” Pietraszewski, Business Services Librarian

Michele Shaw,
Branch Supervisor

Beata Frelas,
Technical Support Consultant/Analyst

BIC contacts,
phone 631-9098
Access to Business Information

http://bic.library.nd.edu/

http://library.nd.edu
Data and Collections
Company Information sources

ABI/INFORM Global


Business And Company Resource Center



Datamonitor Company Profiles with SWOT
Factiva


Investment reports
Financials
Business Source Complete


Hoovers.com content
Publicly traded company
LexisNexis Academic

Company Dossier – includes some private company info.
Problem No. 1

Find information on a company –publicly traded company

Find financial background

Find recent news story, press release, and trade article on your
company
Factiva



Articles from more than 4,000 Reuters and Dow Jones journalists worldwide.
Content in 22 languages from 118 countries not available on the free
web.
Tracks news on more companies than are publicly listed on all the
global stock exchanges combined.

Access to nearly 8,000 sources

Wall Street Journal Full text
Find a company in Factiva

Select Factiva from the “Business Resource” tab on the BIC webpage
(bic.library.nd.edu)

From the Company/Market tab, select Company subtab

Enter your companies name in the name search box

Click search

From the pick list provided, select your “listed” company
Company Information & Reports in
Factiva



The Snapshot, the default company view in Factiva, has lots of basic
company background and information. Scroll down to Latest News and
note you can find press releases, trade articles, and more.
From the left-hand frame select Reports, select Detailed Company
Profile Report with Financial Results Report for a good overview of the
company and its financials.
From the left-hand frame select Reports, select Ratio Comparison
Report for the key ratios for your company compared to the Industry,
Sector and S&P 500.
Other Factiva Content



Using the Search main tab you may find additional article in journals and
newspapers.
Using the Company/Markets main tab Quotes sub-tab get quotes for:

stocks, funds, corporate bonds, market indexes and currencies
Using the News Pages main tab, Factiva Pages sub-tab find the Wall Street
Journal full text.
Problem No. 2

Find more stories on your company.

Locate an analyst/investment report on this company.

Locate an analyst’s report on the company’s industry.
Business and Company
Resource Center



15,030,991+ articles

Many full text many back to 1980
Investment reports and forecasts for more than 11,000 US and international
companies and for 53 industries

Prepared by Wall Street and international brokerage firms
Profiles of more than 100,000 public and private companies
Business and Company Resource
Center



Select Business & Company Resource Center from the “Business Resource”
tab on the BIC webpage (bic.library.nd.edu)
Click on the Search Now within the Company Search icon
Enter your company name in the “Company Name or Ticker Symbol” search box
- Make sure the All Companies radio button is selected

Click on the green search button

Select your company from the list provided
Business and Company Resource
Center – articles & analysts reports

From the tabs across the top, select the News/Magazines tab for articles

Click the Investment Reports tab at the top of the record for analysts reports

Click on the Industry Overview tab

Select the SIC or NIACS code for the industry you associate with your
company
Problem No. 3

Locate the additional industry information
Standard & Poor’s netAdvantage


Site license for users campus wide.
Content included:

Company profiles

Stock Reports

Executive Compensation

EDGAR interface and Global Annual Reports

Industry Profiles and Surveys

Wire reports

Country information
 DRI-WEFA Risk Reports


CIA World Factbook
28,000 companies covered
Standard & Poor’s netAdvantage

Select S&P netAdvantage from the “Business Resource” tab on the BIC
webpage (bic.library.nd.edu)

Select the INDUSTRY tab from the top of the screen below netAdvantage.

From the Industry pull down, select the industry your company operates within.

Click on arrow

From the left frame, select the S&P Industry Surveys in pdf

(Note: take time to load)
IBISworld


5 digit NAICS codes
Report has:









Executive Summary
Key Statistics
Segmentation
Market Characteristics
Industry Conditions
Key Factors
Key Competitors
Industry Performance
Outlook
IBISworld










Retail Trade (62 Reports)
Mining (10 Reports)
Manufacturing (193 Reports)
Wholesale Trade (69 Reports)
Information (30 Reports)
Real Estate and Rental and
Leasing (19 Reports)
Administrative and Support and
Waste Management and
Remediation Services (29
Reports)
Health Care and Social
Assistance (31 Reports)
Accommodation and Food
Services (11 Reports)
Other Services (except Public
Administration) (32 Reports)









Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing
and Hunting (38 Reports)
Utilities (8 Reports)
Construction (31 Reports)
Transportation and
Warehousing (42 Reports)
Finance and Insurance (32
Reports)
Professional, Scientific and
Technical Services (34 Reports)
Educational Services (13
Reports)
Arts, Entertainment and
Recreation (20 Reports)
Special Reports (3 Reports)
IBISWorld



Select IBISWorld from the “Business Resource” tab on the BIC webpage
(bic.library.nd.edu)
In the SEARCH box, enter either your company name of the key word of the
industry you wish to research
From the SEARCH RESULTS select the industry your company operates within.
Suggested Methodology/Strategy

1) Develop a “Client information needs statement”

Articulating all anticipated data and information needs

Client maybe a true client or yourself

2) Identify potential sources of information,

Keep in mind this may be people/expert, primary or secondary sources

3) Plan a strategy of research

Allocation of time, which product or individual first, develop a list of terms,
synonyms, concepts, codes, etc.

4) Consult with an information professional, a.k.a. librarian, about gaps in your
information
Search Strategy-1

1) Business and Company Resource Center

Establish industry and find or select SIC/NIACS codes

Baseline industry background – “Industry Overviews”

Investment reports

Ranking of competitors, products, services, etc. sometimes including market
share

Competitors self-classifying as providing the same product and service.

Articles
Search Strategy-pt.2

2) Factiva





Background on publicly traded companies
Overview of financials – income and balance sheets
“competitors” list
Key ratios of company vs. industry
3) Standard and Poor’s netAdvantage



S&P Industry Reports
Stock information
Financials
Search Strategy-pt.3

3.5) IBISworld academic


4) Mergent Online




Industry background
Broad industry reports by world region
Annual reports publicly traded companies
Financials in Excel format
5) Business Source Complete (EBSCO)

Datamonitor reports on Companies and industries for SWOT analysis
Search Strategy-pt.4

6) Mintel Oxygen; MarketResearch.com – Academic; Forrester Research; &
Faulkner advisory for IT studies.
True market research reports

7) Assess the information gaps that exist; visit with an informational professional
in the BIC

8) Lexis Nexis Academic

Fill in specific information gaps from newspaper or journals articles

Local specific information

Proximity Searching


Within the same sentence = “w/s”
Within the same paragraph = “w/p”
Gaps in Information




Ask specific questions
In what format do you want data ( i.e., paper, electronic, for use in
Excel, etc.)
Information may reside in non-published sources
Send Questions to bicref@nd.edu

Name

Contact method

Best time

Want/settle for…

What you have done
Key Points to remember
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Google does not search the “invisible” or “deep” web where
high quality and high cost traditional business information is
found.
No one is a completely independent researcher – you will
have to talk with experts and information professionals – the
librarians
BIC and the BIC web site is THE starting point for business
information
Bic.library.nd.edu
Wall Street Journal is full text in Factiva – both owned by the
same company
Key Points to remember
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Analyst’s reports, a.k.a “investment reports” for companies and
industry are found in Business & Company Resource Center
Standard and Poor’s Industry Surveys are the “gold standard” of
industry reports and found in Standard and Poor’s netAdvantage
SWOT analysis may be found in the Datamonitor reports located in
Business and Company Resource Center and Business Source
Premiere.
Lexis/Nexis allows searching “within the same sentence” (w/s) or
“within the same paragraph” (w/p)
Send your business questions to BICREF@nd.edu
When you have a business information questions –
Ask A Business Librarian
Questions?