3. Finding company and industry information
| Site: | OpenDesk |
| Course: | Study Support for Business |
| Book: | 3. Finding company and industry information |
| Printed by: | Guest user |
| Date: | Sunday, 5 May 2024, 4:11 AM |
Description
This guide will help you to find company and industry market information for your assignments in MKT1001.
When researching a company, it is important to know whether it is:
- public
- private
- or a subsidiary of a larger company
Public companies are the easiest to research because they are generally required to provide detailed information on a quarterly basis and must also issue annual reports.
Subsidiaries of public companies can be difficult to research because the parent company is not required to report on each of them individually.
Private companies are not required to release any information about themselves and are therefore more challenging to research.
USQ Library provides access to a number of databases that you will find helpful for finding company and industry information. This guide provides help for using four key databases you can use:
- IBISWorld
- MarketLine Advantage
- Factiva
- Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
In the Finding and Using USQ Library Databases tutorial, you will have learned how to access these databases in order to search for information. The guides that follow this will explain the purpose of each of these databases and how they work.
IBISWorld database independent, accurate, comprehensive, current research on over 500 industries, including statistics, analysis and forecasts, and reports on Australia's top 2000 companies.
Why use IBISWorld database?
Marketline Advantage database contains marketing profiles for major companies, industries and countries; as well as the Base Drivers database. Content includes market segmentation, SWOT analysis, industry competitors, locations and subsidiaries as well as case studies and company news.
What is Marketline Advantage?
Watch this instructional video to learn about finding company and industry information using Marketline Advantage.
Factiva provides access from 2002 onwards to newspaper articles and business/industry publications from around the world, many in full text. Current and historical financial market data and a variety of information about selected companies is also available.
Please note access to Factiva is limited to 3 simultaneous users. If you are unable to access the database, please wait 5 minutes and try again. When you are finished using the database, please logout so others can use the database.
What content does Factiva contain?
Factiva search builder
Watch this video to learn how to use keywords to search for news articles.
How do I find company information?
Watch this video to learn how to find company information.
How do I find Industry Reports under Companies/Markets?
Industry Reports are accessible from the Industry tab under Companies/Markets, in the Analysis and Profiles channel of the Industry Snapshot.
Industry Reports help you quickly understand the most relevant data about an industry. For additional information, refer to Article ID # 10815 - Thomson Reuters Analyst Collection: Company and Industry Research Reports.
Please follow the following instructions to locate Thomson Reuters Analyst Collection and MarketLine Market Research Profiles provided Industry Analyst Reports:
| Steps | Action |
| 1 | Mouse over the Company/Markets tab, then select Industry. |
| 2 | Select one of the listed industries which results in opening the Snapshot for that industry. |
| 4 | Click Analysis and Profiles from the column on the left side of the Snapshot. Result: Industry reports are listed by provider. |
| 4 | Select the report you wish to view by clicking on the report headline. The report will be in .PDF format to be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Note: To save a report to your desktop, click the Save As icon (it looks like a diskette) located on the tool bar within the PDF document. |
Search examples for Search and Alerts
How do I search for content about a particular country or region?
Factiva search builder quick reference guide (please download for future reference)
* These instructional guides are also available in the Help section of the Factiva database in languages other than English.
What kind of information is available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics?
The ABS website provides access to information about Australia, its population, economy, workforce, industry, and environment.
Instructions for finding statistics on the ABS website
http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/Finding+statistics+on+our+website
When used well and with caution, search engines can be a very effective search tool for finding company and industry information.
Usually, a simple search using a search engine such as Google will lead you directly to company websites. Take care to check you find the official company website you are seeking. Make use of the Advanced Google Search functions to do broader product or industry searches. It can be helpful to use the filters to restrict your searching to a geographic region or to a file type (many reports are uploaded to the web in PDF format). Google Scholar won't necessarily be helpful when searching for this kind of information as it indexes primarily scholarly literature.
Company information
Company websites may offer important information to help you begin your research. Many companies provide access to their latest annual report (sometimes previous reports) and financial statements. It is important to note that company websites are usually designed to promote the organisation and its products.
Search engines such as Google are the most effective way of finding company websites.
Look for sections labelled:
- About Us
- Investor Relations or Investors and Media
- Corporate Information
- Company Information or Our Company
- Company News
- Publications.
Other websites that you may like to search are:
- Australian Financial Review (some freely available content)
- Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)
- Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) Connect
- Wikipedia list of company registers - incomplete worldwide registry of most companies engaged in any type of financial transaction
Industry information
There are a number of websites that offer industry information.
- AusTrade Industry Profiles - Industry profiles for exporting goods to countries other than Australia.
- Australian Government Industry Factsheets - Provides an overview of the legal, operational and business issues relevant to specific industries
- Australian Government Industry Groups information
Other websites
You may also find the following useful:
- Queensland Governments Statistician's Office (QGSO) - QGSO is the Queensland Government's statistical and economic agency. It provides a wide range of demographic, economic and social data relating to Queensland.
Thank you for taking the time to work through these tutorials and instructions. We are sure that your information searching will be quicker and effective.
Remember, if you need further assistance, contact USQ Library.