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Business Analysis and Tactics: Group Project
The company project may require some indepth research techniques not addressed here. Please refer to Researching a Company and Researching an Industry research guides for more assistance.
YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO READ A LOT OF MATERIAL IN ORDER TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS ASKED OF YOU.
Be sure to incorporate information generated from within the company:
- Annual form 10-K report filed with the SEC
- President's letter from the annual report to the stockholders,
- Press releases, SEC filings and other company documents
As well as information from outside of company:
- Business journal articles,
- Industry analyses, market research and investment analyst reports,
- Reference materials such as biographies and company/brand histories.
Final Project Topics
This section highlights sources that are particularly helpful for your company and industry descriptions.
| Topic | Sources | | PEST or STEP Analysis | READ articles and reports that discuss political, economic, social and technological issues | | Porter's Five Forces | READ industry surveys and analyses that discuss rivalry, suppliers, buyers, substitutes, and barriers to entry | | Competition | Find lists of competitors, their ranking and market share | | SWOT | READ articles that discuss companies' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Read the DATAMONITOR report for your company. | | Supply Chain | READ articles that discuss location, production, inventory and transportation | | Financial Performance | Look under the financials tab, Refer to the 10-K report only - compare all other available financials to the original 10-K as often numbers can be massaged, Ratio Analysis guide, investment analyst reports | | Company Strategy | READ the President/CEO letter in annual report, Management Discussion & Analysis section of 10-K report, books, and articles |
Finding Business Journal Articles
Use journal articles to expand beyond the corporation's own public relations documents. Be aware that some articles are republished press releases from the company. Best places to start your article searches are:
Check the instruction pages for special tips on searching the different databases. When entering company names, enter full name but omit "corporation" or "inc" as they may be abbreviated in different ways.
Microeconomic Analysis
IBISWorld
- Industry performance and conditions
- Market characteristics and segmentation
- Key competitors and factors
Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage
- Industry trends
- Comparative financial data for industries and major players
- Economic indicators - "Trends and Projections" reports
Marketresearch.com
- Indepth customer information
- Market share
- Major players
Investext
- Company forecasts
- Industry conditions
Company Strategy
10-K and 10-Q Annual and Quarterly Reports - These reports should be your first stop for analyzing the competitive forces and operations of your company.
- Management discussion
- Financial Statements
- Competition
- Supply chain and distribution
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS - Company Generated Corporate Records and Ratios
Capital IQ
- Easily obtain names of suppliers, customers and strategic alliances.
- Provides all available financial content including ratios
- Relationship trees Thomson One Banker
- Download financials in Excel format (use F12 key to save).
- Provides the Standard Industry Classification - SIC Code
- Annual Reports to Stockholders - The most critical piece is the President's
Letter, an executive summary of achievements and strategy.
Mergent Online
- Download financials in Excel format.
- Provides long term debt information
- Access credit ratings easily. Industry Ratios via RMA Estatement Studies
- use NAICS code or use keywords to look up your industry
Citing Sources It is very important to cite EVERY source you use in your project. The instruction pages for our electronic resources have citing examples. For further citing information, consult our Citing Sources guide.  |
