Business Overview: BA 507 - Business Communications

• Choose a publicly held company! Privately owned companies generally don't publish the information you need. You can double-check their status on their Wikipedia page.
• Google the company to find its official web site, or follow the link from its Wikipedia page. For example, if I want to find information on Tootsie Roll Industries, I search the company name. The first hit is http://www.tootsie.com/. So far, so good. 
• Find the company's annual report and other financial data. Check the very top or very bottom of the page. Look for words like: 
  • company information  
  • corporate 
  • about 
  • investors 
  • title of the company (as in Tootsie Roll Industries)  
• Look for a link to financial information, annual reports, SEC filings, etc.  (http://www.tootsie.com/financials/)
• Troubleshooting: the information you need can be hidden in the website. You may need to click through the links to find the information. Click the "site map" link on the company website to see a list of major pages. 

Be selective when choosing a company. You will need to locate information and analysis on both the company and its industry.

Company and Industry Reports

• Mergent Online This link opens in a new window

  In-depth data and analysis on individual companies. Very useful for BA507 company analysis assignments.

• IBISWorld This link opens in a new window

  Industry-level data and analysis. Very useful for BA507 industry analysis assignments.

• ABI/INFORM Collection This link opens in a new window Company and industry reports, scholarly, trade, and news articles on companies and industries.View the Video Tutorials for help

• Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window Click the Menu icon in the top left, then select Company Dossier

• Business Source Complete - Business Searching Interface This link opens in a new window Company and industry reports, scholarly, trade, and news articles on companies and industries.View the Video Tutorial for help

• Hospitality & Tourism Complete This link opens in a new window 

Need an Industry Code for Your Research?

NAICS - North American Industry Classification System 

Company & Industry Ratios

• Morningstar

• Yahoo Finance

• Bloomberg

• BigCharts: Stock Charts, Screeners, Interactive Charting and Research Tools

  "...comprehensive and easy-to-use investment research Web site, providing 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. Best of all, BigCharts is a free service..."

• ProQuest Central ProQuest Central brings together 30 highly used ProQuest databases to create the largest single academic research resource. Researchers can choose to search individual databases for targeted research or search all at once to find relevant results and information from other disciplines. This allows cross-searching with other ProQuest business resources as well as creation of RSS feeds, content alerts, Smart Search, article linking, and much more. Part of the Database Offerings from GALILEO, Georgia’s Virtual Library

• ABI/INFORM Collection Company and industry reports, scholarly, trade, and news articles on companies and industries.View the Video Tutorials for help

• Business Source Complete - Business Searching Interface Company and industry reports, scholarly, trade, and news articles on companies and industries.

• ScienceDirect A leading full-text scientific database covering the life and health sciences.

• Sage Journals Premier 

A Very Correct APA Style PAPER

https://libguides.brenau.edu/ld.php?content_id=53817279

How to Cite IBISWorld

IBISWorld reports usually name the person who wrote the report. Use that person's name as the author, then add the year and month it was written. Enter the report title in italics, then the report number in parentheses. End with the URL of the report. 

Diment, D. (2021, August). Candy production in the US (US Industry Report 31134). https://my.ibisworld.com/us/en/industry/31134/about

If the report doesn't name an author, follow this example.

IBISWorld. (2021, August). International trips by US residents (US Business Environment Profiles Report F316). https://my.ibisworld.com/us/en/business-environment-profiles/f316/business-environment-profile

How to Cite Corporate Annual Reports

How to properly cite corporate annual reports:

Online annual reports

When accessed online from the company’s website:

The Coca-Cola Company. (2021). United States Securities and Exchange Commission form 10-K. https://investors.coca-colacompany.com/filings-reports/annual-filings-10-k/content/0000021344-21-000008/0000021344-21-000008.pdf

When accessed online from someone else’s website:

The Coca-Cola Company. (2021). United States Securities and Exchange Commission form 10-K. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/21344/000002134421000008/ko-20201231.htm

Note that the publication year is 2021, even though the report is for the year 2020. That is because the report was actually written and published in 2021, after the fiscal year ended. 

Also note that the second citation has an extra element. It lists the SEC website as the place where the report was found. The first citation didn't need that, because it would be redundant to say that the Coca-Cola Company is both the author and the website. 

In-text citation

In the text, use the first two elements of the reference entry - The company's name and the date of the annual report.

According to The Coca-Cola Company (2021), ...

...(The Coca-Cola Company, 2021).

• How to Recognize Plagiarism: Quiz and Tutorials

  An overview, practice exercises, and quiz to sharpen your skills for avoiding plagiarism.