Research Guides: Business Guide: Company Research

Company Research

When you start researching a company, it is helpful to answer these initial questions:

Is the company you are researching public or private?

Public companies must file certain disclosures with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including financial statements and annual reports. Stock prices, market capitalization, and other financial ratios are available online, and library databases include company profiles.

Is your company a parent or a subsidiary?

Subsidiaries are part of a parent company. Researching the subsidiary may be more challenging than finding information about the parent.

Is it a company or a brand?

Procter & Gamble (company) owns Charmin, Bounty, and Gillette brands.

Begin your research at the company's website. Note contact information and other benchmark data, but keep in mind that the information posted by the company may be biased.

Continue your research using the library databases:
1. Look for company profiles or directories.
2. Search for articles and current news or events about your company.
3. Search government websites.
4. Use trade and professional associations to find information.
5. Use the information gathered from the company websites to validate the information gathered from the databases.

Off-Campus Database Access

Sign in with your NECC Microsoft account (StudentID@student.necc.edu or StaffName@necc.mass.edu) to access library databases off-campus. See the Office 365 Help page for help with your NECC Microsoft account.

Company Research

Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Coverage includes scholarly journals, trade journals, and news sources on all areas of business and management. Includes company profiles, SWOT analyses and industry reports.
Business Collection This link opens in a new window
Provides information on company performance and activity, industry events and trends. Articles from trade publications, newspapers and journals.
Newspaper Source This link opens in a new window
Full-text for more than 40 national and international newspapers. Contains full-text television & radio news transcripts, and selected full-text for more than 200 regional (U.S.) newspapers

Consumer Expenditure Surveys
Provides information on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers) characteristics. This includes information on the complete range of consumers' expenditures and incomes and their characteristics.
Eurostat
Providing high-quality European statistics to policymakers, businesses, researchers, and the public.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics collects, calculates, analyzes, and publishes essential data for the public, employers, researchers, and government organizations. It measures labor market activity, working conditions, price changes, and productivity in the U.S. economy to support public and private decision-making.

CSRwire
CSR-related new and company reports.
Corporate Register
View a collection of sustainability reports and related reports.

Researching Massachusetts Corporations
Finding information on Corporations and Non-Profit Organizations
Mass.gov: Business Resources
Massachusetts information on apprenticeships, support, small business banking, and taxes.

US Securities and Exchange Commission
"All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR. Anyone can access and download this information for free."
Annual Reports
Find annual reports, links to Responsibility reports, and fact sheets by company, stock exchange, and industry or sector.
Big Charts by MarketWatch
Provides access to professional-level research tools such as interactive charts, quotes, industry analysis, and intraday stock screeners, as well as market news and commentary. These tools combine with a graphical interface and our intuitive navigation to make your research experience productive, entertaining, and fun.