Company information, in the form of profiles, histories, government filings, financial data, analyst reports, and more, can be a great way to learn about specific companies in the country you are studying or visiting. Use the resources below to find some of these sources.
There are many places you can find information about a company and its history. Try the following approaches:
Accompanying image is from a company report in the Mergent Online database.
Although it might take some digging and persistence, searching for articles that refer to your company can prove helpful. Try the below databases, along with Google and Google Scholar.
The following databases are great places to find SWOT reports, which provide additional insight into a company.
SWOT : Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
"...A framework for identifying the internal strengths (S) and weaknesses (W) of a firm, and the external opportunities (O) open to it and the threats (T) it faces, which can be used by corporate planners in formulating the firm's competitive strategy and marketing strategy in individual product markets and its overall business strategy." - Collins Dictionary of Business
Use the information found in SWOT reports to search for additional articles that might go into more depth.
Image by Xhienne, CC-BY.
Michael Porter claims that "the state of competition in an industry depends on five basic competitive forces" (1980, p.3). The five forces are: threat of new entry, threat of substitution, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, and competitive rivarly.
*Porter, Michael E. 1980. Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. The Free Press. New York.
While you will often need to conduct your own Five Forces Analysis, you can find some pre-made reports in the following databases.
You can sometimes find Five Force Analysis Reports in journal and magazine articles.
1. Type your industry in the first search box, and "five forces" in the second.