BUS 495 - Business Analysis

Vocabulary is a key to searching. Find terms in a reference source, textbook or ask your professor. Reference sources

Sage eReference

What is SEC? - "Security and Exchange Commission is the primary federal government regulator of securities markets in the United States... publicly traded firms are required by the SEC to disclose, through regular reports to investors, information about the firm's financial condition along with any other information..."  

What is EDGAR? - "Electronic Data Gathering and Retrieval system(EDGAR). All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR. Any member of the public can access and download this information for free over the Internet." 
            Overdahl, James A. "Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)." Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society. 2007. SAGE Publications.   

SEC and Annual Reports - search tools  - TIP: Use the exact corporate name or Ticker for a company. For this information try a directory like
Standard & Poor's register of corporations, directors and executives - Print Ref HG4057.A4 
        Includes addresses, phone, officers, sales, # of employees, products or business, NAICS numbers, some listings include stock exchange and ticker.  

EDGAR Search for SEC Filings and Forms EDCAR Company Search. Free source

LexisNexis use 'Get Company Info' to find company snapshots, or 'Search the News' for worldwide news
          SEC filings
          Company Profiles more comprehensive search for company info.
          Power search to help build search structure.
               NOTE: To quickly view search terms within a document click on Show select KWIC
          Progressive Media � Company Profiles: Identifies key information for publically listed organizations including SWOT analysis, business operations, company history, major products and services, prospects, key employees, financial ratios, locations, and subsidiaries. Available from LexisNexis.

AnnualReports.com - search for Company annual reports by corporate name or ticker. Free source

More tools for finding company & industry information and news.

EBSCO Business Source Premier - some scholarly articles, news and SWOT reports. Also available from ELM for Minnesota residents
ProQuest Newspapers - full-text for Wall Street Journal, national and international news. Also available from ELM for Minnesota residents

Scholarly journal articles and Business Databases for Management topic

Sage eJournals - full-text scholarly articles. For free search
ScienceDirect & Scirus - scholarly/technical articles (ex: science, accounting, management).  

Other search tools to try

Google Scholar - check dates, oldest most frequently cited articles come to the top of the search results. Free source
Ingenta - some scholarly content. Many items are pay per view. Use FindIt to find or request. Search is free
JSTOR - archive of scholarly journals. Search is free
ProQuest scholarly - psychology, sociology, education, pais and some full-text    

 What does citing and cited information mean for a research article?

Citing sources: Business documents may look different than most academic research papers, however citing resources is still required. In business citing your resources gives added credibility to your document. RefWorks

---

Maintained by Theresa Borchert.  Last update 1-29-12
Send comments or corrections to borchert@cord.edu
Carl B. Ylvisaker Library, Concordia College, Moorhead,Minnesota