MGT 499 Public Company Research Guide

MGT499 Public Company Research

 Self-directed Exercise Worksheet

(Updated Fall 2025)

The Company Name: ______________________________________________________________

1. Try to do a Google search with [Company Name] investor relations.

• Locate the company's investor relations webpage
• Find their SEC Filing 10-K (annual report)
• Download the most recent 10-K Report

* if it is hard to locate the 10-K Form the investor’s relation’s page, Google Search [company] 10-K directly.

2. Access IBISWorld Industry Research Profile

A. Find Company Benchmarking Report

Search the company name; or Go to Products Company (Company Benchmarking) Browse the list or search the company’s name using ctrl+f (windows) or ⌘+f (MacBook); if available, download the Company Report.

B. Find Industry Report

If the company benchmarking report is available, identify the industry that the company is analyzed for, and search the industry in the search box at the homepage. If not available, you can directly search the industry at the homepage in the search box or Go to Products Industry Researchbrowse or search the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code Download the report.

• Industry Report: 700 NAICS industries
• Specialized Industry Report: small or new industries complementing NAICS industries

3. Search First Research Industry Profile (public website) with the company’s name or the NAICS code identified from the IBISWorld Report. Identify the Title of the available industry Report.

* Other ways to try: search a larger competitor’s name, search the industry, or browse the industry categories.

Access Mergent Archive

• Follow D&B Manuals--> First Research;
• Browse the list of the report and find the report with the same title from the public website;
• Scroll to the right and see the PDF document,
• Download the First Research Industry Profile report.

4. Access Business Source Complete

A. Find SWOT Analysis or Company Profile (including SWOT and more)

• Search the [Company Name];
• Click All Filters under the search box; change Source Types to Company Profiles/SWOT Analysis (may need to expand the list to see more options) and click Apply;
• Find the most recent Company Profile/SWOT analysis, Click Access Now PDF and Download the Company Profile/SWOT analysis.

B. Find Industry Profiles

• Change the Source Types to Industry Profiles and Publisher to MarketLine (which has industry profiles with Porter's Five Forces analysis); If available, Select Publisher - Business Monitor International (BMI) (which has industry SWOT analysis & forecast); if needed, use Geography to limit to the United States;
• Identify one of the most relevant and most recent Industry Profiles (verify the most recent report by clicking the title, and then clicking the sources, then the sources will be displayed by year). Download the report. 
• Create the citation using the Cite Tool (click the three-dot icon at the search result page or click the title of the article, then find “ icon on the page).

B. Find A Journal/Trade Publication/Magazine Article

• Limit the Source Types to Academic Journals or Trade Publication or Magazine, then
• Find a relevant article for the company,
• Download the article.
• Select Multiple Articles on the search result list and use the three-dot tool to put the articles into a Project Folder.

5. Access U.S. Major Dailies

• • Use advanced search, search the company’s name and change in Anywhere to Company/organization, add another keyword for the topic you are interested in such as strategy, plan, culture, challenges, etc.;
  • Drag the Publication Date bar to recent years;
  • Find a newspaper article for the company on the topic, then
  • Download the PDF of the Newspaper Article.
  • Create the citation for the article using Cite tool.

If you have any questions, contact Grace Liu, Associate Professor, Business Librarian at yliu@wcupa.edu

Find the library guide at: https://library.wcupa.edu/mgt499