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"How do I find out which companies are ranked at the top of their industry?"

answer: 

More than 5,000 company rankings can be found in Business Rankings Annual. This resource is alsoavailable through Business and Company Resource Center

"What are the best databases for researching companies? "

answer: 

Depending on the sort of company research you are doing, you may want to use a range of databases. Check our overview of recommended company databases to determine which database(s) will help you the most.

"I was told to get a "corporate profile" for a company. What am I looking for?"

answer: 

Corporate profiles (also known as "corporate descriptions") are overviews of companies which often include a company history, list of corporate officers, etc. Many resources contain this information, but here are a few top starting points:

 

"How do I find recent news / magazine articles about a company?"

answer: 
  • Try the article databases Factiva and Business Source Complete. Each contains thousands of full-text newspapers and business periodicals.

  • See our Article Research Guide for an overview of additional electronic article/news resources. This guide also provides sample exercises.

"What resources do you have for international company research?"

answer: 

Check out our extensive International Business Research Guide. It will point you to country handbooks, country/regional directories, and selected electronic databases.

Also, remember that researching companies, whether they are international or domestic in scope, involves the same series of steps.

"How do I find analyst reports on a particular company?"

answer: 

The Management Library primarily provides access to analyst reports via Thomson One .

  • Thomson One delivers full-text reports in their original published formats, complete with charts, photographs and graphics. It contains reports (the most recent are usually a couple of weeks old) on companies as well as on industries. To access analyst reports in Thomson One, click on "Research" in the "Company Analysis" menu on the left.

NOTE: Thomson One is only accessible with Internet Explorer.

"Where can I find Vault Guides?

answer: 

All Cornell students have access to Vault's Online Career Library.

"How do I find corporate annual reports?"

answer: 

Consult our How to Find Annual Reports research guide. It will help you locate electronic or paper copies of corporate annual reports.

"How do I find executive compensation data for a company?"

answer: 

Executive compensation packages are published in the "Proxy" statement, an SEC filing which contains items on which shareholders must vote. You can search for individual proxy statements on a company's investor relations website. If you are looking at a large number of companies you can view just the extracted compensation data for thousands of U.S. companies via the ExecuComp database.