Company Research Guide
>Canada >International >Finding Articles >Rankings > Careers > Biographies > Doing Business in …
>Competitive Environment > Market Share > Business/Marketing Plans > Trademarks and Patents
This guide is an introduction to sources used to research companies. It highlights some of the key research tools available but it is not intended as a comprehensive list of sources. The sources listed below are available in print or electronically at the Peter F. Bronfman Business Library, Room S237, Schulich School of Business.
Research Fundamentals
It is never a good idea to use only one source. If possible you should compare information obtained directly from an organization’s publications or website with information retrieved from an authoritative source such as a database, e.g. Infomart or Mergent, etc. that include company information based on company filings and researcher analysis.
Public vs Private vs Nonprofit Organizations
Public companies are traded on stock exchanges or over-the-counter and are subject to regulation by securities commissions/authorities. They are required by law to report publicly and to provide annual reports to shareholders. You will find lots of information on public companies including mission statements, company profile and history, the executives and officers of the company, a business description, brief product descriptions, stock information, financial statements and ratios, recent developments, career information, community relations/corporate social responsibility statements, etc.
Private company information is much more difficult to find. You may find a profile, contact information, senior executives, brief business description, date of incorporation, and sometimes broad annual sales/revenue estimates that are self-reported.
Nonprofit organization information is also limited but they must report to the Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency so there is a little more information available. Also because they often rely on volunteers, their web pages have more information about their philosophy, activities, career or volunteer opportunities, etc.
As a starting place, company websites are good sources of information.
Most organizations have websites. You can do a Google search to find these or follow the link in the library’s company databases. This may be all you will be able to find for a private company although you may be able to find articles written about the company.
Canada
Note: This section includes those resources which are limited to Canadian companies only. Please see the International section for additional resources on Canadian companies and for information on non-Canadian companies. The arrangement in both sections is print resources followed by online resources.
Dun and Bradstreet’s Canadian Key Business Directory: Provides basic company information including mailing address, sales figures, and key personnel. Alphabetical, geographic, and SIC listings are also included. The most recent edition is in the Reference Room. (HG 4090 Z5 C3).
Dun and Bradstreet’s Guide to Canadian Manufacturers (HF 3223 G85) and National Services Directory (HD 9985 C32 D85) provide basic information about manufacturing and services corporations respectively. Includes contact information, no. of employees, sales figures, year established, and key personnel. Alphabetic, geographic and SIC listings are also included. The most recent editions of both of these directories are available in the Reference Room.
Scott’s Directories: Regional directories with company listings sorted alphabetically, geographically (by city or township), and by SIC code. Available directories include Ontario Manufacturers (Reference Room, T12.5 C22 O58), Ontario Business Directory – 4 volumes – Includes Toronto and surrounding areas (Reference Room T12.5 C22 O6), Western Industries (Reference Room, T12.5 C22 W4), Quebec Industries (Reference Room, T12.5 C22 Q48) and Atlantic Industries (Reference Room T12.5 C22 A8.
Financial Services Canada: Divided into 8 sections: Banks & Depositories; Non-depository Institutions; Investment Management Firms; Insurance Companies; Accounting and Law; Major Canadian Companies (financial officers); Government, Associations and included are geographic and executive name indexes. (Reference Room HG 68 G85)
Ontario Business to Business Sales and Marketing Directory: Includes businesses by city, industry and SIC code. (Reference Room HF 3229 O5 O56)
Online
Infomart (formerly Financial Post Advisor) . Includes a wealth of information on Canadian publicly traded companies organized by category including Company Snapshots; Companies by Industry; Corporate Surveys; Predecessor & Defunct; Analyzer Search; Investor Reports (formerly blue sheets); Historical Reports (formerly yellow cards); Dividends; New Issues; Crosbie Mergers and Acquisitions; and Additional Databases.(e.g. Directory of Directors)
Globe Investor ( http://www.globeinvestor.com): Provides standard company information. This site offers a link to the company’s home page, stock price history, beta, valuation ratios, competitors, price/volume charts and current news stories.
ProFile Canada: Contains marketing and business intelligence on Canada’s largest 38,000 companies with a focus on privately owned businesses. Available via Infomart. Click on Additional databases in the navigation bar on the left side of the FP Advisor opening screen.
SEDAR: This website provides access to documents filed by public companies and mutual fund groups with Canadian securities regulatory authorities . Filings from 1997 to present are available.
TSX-CFMRC The Toronto Stock Exchange – Canadian Financial Markets Research Centre database provides data on stock prices, trading volume and transactions, etc.
Canadian Company Capabilities . This database within the Industry Canada Website provides information on about 50,000 Canadian businesses and includes hundreds of specialized manufacturing, service and product specific business directories.
International
Ward’s Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies: Volumes 1-8 provide alphabetical listing of companies. Each entry contains company name, address, phone numbers, websites, basic financial figures, SIC codes, and company type (private, public, subsidiary, etc.). Available in the Reference Room (HD2709 W37).
D&B Million Dollar Directory. Includes basic information for both public and private American companies. Available in Reference Room (HC 102 M5)
Directory of Corporate Affiliations: Directory of U.S. and international public and private companies. Available in the Reference Room (HG4057 A22 ).
Online
Bloomberg: Bloomberg is a real-time financial service that provides current and historical data, news and financial analysis of companies, stocks, bonds, and indices. Economic statistics are also available. Restricted to the York University Community and available in the Bronfman Library only.
CRSP : Database provides access to NYSE/AMEX/NASDAQ Daily and Monthly Security Prices and other historical data related to over 20,000 companies.
Datastream: Provides current and historical time series data for stocks, indices, bonds, futures, options, derivatives, interest rates, currencies, commodities and economic indicators. Coverage is global and most economic data is available monthly, quarterly and annually. Prices and other data for stocks, indices, bonds, etc. is generally available on a daily basis. Restricted to the York University community and available in the Bronfman Library only.
Edgar: Provides access to submissions from public companies required by law to file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). For most companies, documents from 1994 to present are available.
Factiva : Provides an overview of companies, a few years of financial data and specialized reports such as financial health and ratio comparison. Click on Companies/Markets tab on the menu at the top of the screen to begin search. After displaying the company use the links in the left navigation bar to find the information.
Hoovers : A company directory containing information on public and private enterprises worldwide. Provides basic company information including company ticker symbols, capsule history, officers, and financials.
Investext Plus: A database providing company and industry research and forecast reports from key brokerage firms. This database is useful for competitive analysis, researching industry trends, conducting market research and company studies. It is international in scope. USE IE browser only for full functionality
Lexis-Nexis Academic : Provides access to news, business, and legal information sources. Included are current international newspapers, as well as comprehensive company and industry reports. Information available includes trade and marketing reports, patent details, merger and acquisition analysis, country reports and industry and legal publications. Lexis-Nexis also provides access to numerous reference tools, including biographical information, company directories, etc.
Marketline Advantage: Formerly Datamonitor 360, this database is divided into Industry, Country, and Company. It covers SWOT company profiles for over 2500 public and private enterprises worldwide, accessing fast and reliable insights on thousands of industry sectors including Porter’s Five Forces analysis, accessing a top-level view of the business landscape in over 110 countries.
Mergent Online : Provides detailed business descriptions, corporate histories and up to 15 years of financial statements, information on subsidiaries, joint ventures, etc. Also provides links to SEC Filings .
NetAvantage Standard & Poor’s database provides comprehensive information on business and investment information
SEC US Securities and Exchange Commission see Edgar
Yahoo Finance ( http://finance.yahoo.com/): Provides company information, including historical stock data, financial ratios, and industry comparisons for US, Canadian, and International companies.
Finding Articles about Companies
Information on companies may be found by searching the following databases for newspaper, journal and magazine articles.
ProQuest Business: This link allows you to access the 6 preselected ProQuest business databases. The 6 databases are ABI/Inform Global, ABI/Inform Trade and Industry, CBCA Business, CBCA Current Events, ProQuest Asian Business and Reference, ProQuest European Business. These databases contain citations and abstracts for business and management publications, many of which are available in full-text or full-image. This resource incorporates management, industry and company-specific information of both a practical and theoretical nature. Subjects covered include: finance, public administration, marketing, management, economics, taxation, telecommunications, corporate strategies, competitive and product information
Business Source Premier: Contains full text for approximately 8000 periodicals and other sources, including scholarly journals, trade and general business magazines, monographs, country economic and industry reports, industry yearbooks, and market research reports.
CBCA Complete (ProQuest): Contains full-text for over 400 Canadian business-related periodicals including leading daily newspapers, business magazines and trade journals from 1996 to the present.
Canadian Periodical Index (CPI.Q): Provides comprehensive Canadian and international periodical coverage from 1997 to the present.
Computer Database : Computer industry and consumer news and developments. Contains the full text of articles appearing in various computer industry and computing periodicals such as PC magazine, along with related newsletters. Also indexes and provides abstracts to articles published in additional computer-oriented publications. Items indexed include computer product reviews, new product announcements, industry overviews, buyer’s guides, product specifications, vendor profiles and other documents.
Factiva : Includes nearly 9,000 sources from 118 countries in 22 languages, including more than 120 continuously updated newswires. For newspapers, the service provides same-day and archival coverage of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, Financial Times, Les Echos, South China Morning Post, Australian Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald, Straits Times, Yomiuri Shimbun, and local newspapers from every corner of the globe. General business and industry publications like The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, Time, Newsweek, Finanz & Wirtschaft, Satellite News, BusinessWeek, and more are also covered.
Lexis-Nexis Academic: Lexis-Nexis service makes available over 30,000 news, business, and legal information sources. Included are current international newspapers, as well as comprehensive company and industry reports. Information available includes trade and marketing reports, patent details, merger and acquisition analysis, country reports and industry and legal publications.
Scholars Portal Journals: The Ontario Scholars Portal provides a single point of electronic access to published research from a broad range of disciplines. Journals published by Academic Press , Berkely Electronic Press, Cambridge University Press, Emerald Publishing, Elsevier Science, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Kluwer Law International, Oxford University Press, Project MUSE, Springer-Verlag, and John Wiley & Sons are included.
Wall St Journal: ABI/INFORM Global provides full-text access to articles from the Wall Street Journal, from 1984 – present, but it excludes the Reuters service articles and the financial and stock market data. Also available in ABI/Inform Global and Business Source Premier.
Rankings
Annual rankings are available from sources such as
- Report on Business Magazine 1000 - Canadian content - (Reference Room HD 2807 R46)
- FP 500 is available on a stand-alone workstation in the Bronfman Business Library. – Canadian Content
- Forbes: See special issues on a variety of topics. (In print HF5001 F685 in the Current Periodical Room, Bronfman Business Library, but also available online),
- Fortune: See Fortune 500 and other issues. (In print HC411 F18 in the Current Periodical Room, Bronfman Business Library, but also available online),
- Market Share Reporter: Search by company name, brand name or industry (Reference Room HF 5410 M33) Focus is United States but some information is available for Canada and other countries.
- Business Rankings Annual: Search by business categories (Reference Room HD 2709 B88)
Career Resources
- Canada’s Top 100 Employers is a useful resource in addition to the online job sites such as Workopolis and Monster.ca.
- Schulich School of Business students have access to a Career portal
- Working in Canada from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
- Career Research Resources Guide
Competitive Environment
Many directories and databases allow you to search by SIC and/or NAICS codes.
The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) and the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) are useful tools for identifying competitors within an industry. These codes group together companies based on the goods and services produced. Although NAICS codes will become commonplace, at present some directories and databases continue to use SIC codes.
The SIC manual is available on the U.S. Department of Labor website.
Note that in some cases, the SIC codes used in Canada differ from those used in the U.S. SIC codes for Canada are available on Statistics Canada’s web site .
Canada – NAICS 2007
Doing Business In …..
For information on starting a business, regulations, labour, etc. use the following databases.
Business Monitor Online: Select the country or region from the tabs at the top, then select the Country Risk service on the left menu, then click on Business Environment from the options that appear below Country Risk.
Global lnsight: Select Country intelligence link in centre of page, then select country from the drop down menu Country reports. Select legal tab on the left navigation bar.
Doing Business: Benchmarking Business Regulations (World Bank)
Doing Business Guides (US Dept of Commerce)
Market Share
Please click here to go to the Bronfman Business Library guide to Market Share resources.
Business and Marketing Plans
Bronfman Business Library Guide to Business and Marketing Plans.
Biographical Information
Financial Post Directory of Directors: Search by personal or company name (Reference Room HG 4090 Z5 F5). Also available in Infomart database by clicking on “additional databases”.
Many of the databases provide links to short biographical information on the senior management and directors within the company records.
Trademarks and Patents
Canadian Trademarks Database : The Strategis Trademark database contains the Trade-mark, Status, Application number, and Registration number (if it exists) of the document.
Canadian Patent Database : This database lets you access over 75 years of patent descriptions and images. You can search, retrieve and study more than 1,400,000 patent documents.
Created by Elizabeth YUL/BBL/ February 2010 Revised November 2012
