Start with a broad search term like 'retail' or 'software' and don't hesitate to try different search terms
Search for conferences and professional associations in your area of interest
Often those professional associations have resources for people new to the field, including discussion groups and key competencies
Talking with experts is part of research (informational interviews)
Company Profiles and Industry Information
Wal-Mart Stores
Exxon Mobil
Chevron
General Electric
Bank of America Corp.
ConocoPhillips
AT&T
Ford Motor
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
Hewlett-Packard
Berkshire Hathaway
Citigroup
McKesson
Verizon Communications
General Motors
American International Group
Cardinal Health
CVS Caremark
Wells Fargo
International Business Machines
UnitedHealth Group
Procter & Gamble
Kroger
AmerisourceBergen
Costco Wholesale
Valero Energy
Archer Daniels Midland
Boeing
U.S. Postal Service
Home Depot
Target
WellPoint
Walgreen
Johnson & Johnson
State Farm Insurance Cos.
Medco Health Solutions
Microsoft
United Technologies
Dell
Goldman Sachs Group
Pfizer
Best Buy
Marathon Oil
Lowe's
United Parcel Service
Lockheed Martin
Dow Chemical
Sears Holdings
International Assets Holding
PepsiCo
Bunge
MetLife
Safeway
Supervalu
Kraft Foods
Freddie Mac
Sysco
Apple
Walt Disney
Cisco Systems
Comcast
FedEx
Northrop Grumman
Intel
Aetna
New York Life Insurance
Prudential Financial
Caterpillar
Sprint Nextel
Allstate
General Dynamics
Morgan Stanley
Liberty Mutual Insurance Group
Coca-Cola
Humana
Honeywell International
Abbott Laboratories
News Corp.
HCA
Sunoco
Hess
Ingram Micro
Fannie Mae
Time Warner
Johnson Controls
Delta Air Lines
Merck
DuPont
Tyson Foods
American Express
TIAA-CREF
CHS
Rite Aid
Enterprise GP Holdings
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance
Philip Morris International
Raytheon
Express Scripts
Hartford Financial Services
Travelers Cos.
Publix Super Markets
Amazon.com
Staples
Google
Macy's
International Paper
Oracle
3M
Deere
McDonald's
Schlumberger
Tech Data
Motorola
Fluor
Eli Lilly
Coca-Cola Enterprises
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Northwestern Mutual
DIRECTV
Emerson Electric
Nationwide
TJX
AMR
U.S. Bancorp
GMAC
PNC Financial Services Group
Nike
Murphy Oil
Kimberly-Clark
Alcoa
Plains All American Pipeline
Cigna
Aflac
Time Warner Cable
United Services Automobile Association
J.C. Penney
Exelon
Kohl's
Whirlpool
LexisNexis Company Dossier covers more than 35 million global companies, both public and private. Under Reference link, information comes from Hoover's, Disclosure, Datamonitor, Extel, Vickers, and SGA Executive Tracker.
Includes company description and history; key financials; executive, structure, subsidiaries, auditor, and bank information news by region, topic and publication; patents, trademarks, and brands; and litigation.
Industry market research reports from over 700 United States industries. Each report is 25-30 pages in length, contains key statistics, and is updated regularly. The Library's subscription includes:
US Industry Reports (NAICS)
US Industry iExpert Summaries
US Business Environment Profiles
IBISWorld publishes many other reports that are not part of the Library's subscription. For more information, please Ask A Librarian.
A resource for occupational and career information, providing profiles on a majority of jobs in the United States. Profiles describe the work environment, education and training needed, a ten year outlook, and median pay for workers.
Provides access to statistics and studies gathered by market researchers, trade organizations, scientific publications, and government sources on over 600 industries
Another tip: Check the company's website and look at the mission/vision statement or strategic plan, if there is one.
Helpful Business Databases - For News & Trade Literature
The most comprehensive ABI/INFORM™ database, this comprises ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Trade and Industry, and ABI/INFORM Dateline. The database features thousands of full-text journals, dissertations, working papers, key business and economics periodicals such as the Economist, country-and industry-focused reports, and downloadable data. Its international coverage gives researchers a complete picture of companies and business trends around the world.
Full-text business publications and hundreds of scholarly, peer-reviewed journals covering all aspects of business. Coverage goes as far back as 1886. Additional full text, non-journal content includes financial data, case studies, investment research reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analysis, books, videos, major reference works, book digests, and conference proceedings.
Covers management, economics, finance, accounting, international business and more. Titles include Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, MIT Sloan Management Review and Administrative Science Quarterly.
This source has over 130 full-text journals published by MCB University Press. Subjects include: general management, human resources, information management, library & information services, marketing, property, engineering, quality, training & education, operations, production & economics. Most of the journals have an international perspective.
Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis Academic) provides access to more than 17,000 news, business and legal sources from LexisNexis. Nexi Uni has three primary collections: 1) full-text access to thousands of news sources in the U.S. and abroad back to the 1970s; 2) aggregated economic data on businesses, corporations, and industries in the U.S. and abroad; 3) full-text legal documents, including U.S. Federal and State court cases, and law reviews from the late 18th century to present.