BGEN 105: Introduction to Business: Company Research

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The APA Style Blog is maintained by the American Psychological Associate and often explains how to cite unique or tricky sources that you may not find on other basic citation guides. 

The amount of information you can find about a specific company often depends on whether a company is public or private. By law, public companies have to disclose information to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). This means a lot of information about public companies is available to the public.

Private companies are not required to disclose information to the SEC. This means information often is not available to sources outside the company, and it can be difficult to find reliable information about a private company.

Company profiles can contain in-depth information about individual companies, including company history, top executives, competitor lists, financial data, and overviews of the company's products and industry.

Business Source Complete

• Type the name of the company in the search box.
• Below the search boxes, find the Document Type box and click on Company Report to highlight it.
• Click Search.
• To find the newest report, click on the Relevance tab above the search results, and change this to Date Newest.

Gale Business Insights

• Type the company name in the search box.
• Click search.
• You will get a company profile with many different sections. Click on links in different sections for more information.

ProQuest Central

• Type the name of the company in the search box.
• Below the search boxes, Find the Document Type box and click on Company Profile.
• Click Search.
• Change the date on the left side of the page under Publication Date for the newest information.
• The search results will have options for Hoover's Company Records (company profile including financials & competitors), Plunkett Corporate Benchmarking Reports (includes financials and financial averages for the company's primary industry and companies within the industry), and various SWOT analyses.

S&P Global Net Advantage

• Type the company name in the search box.
• Click search.
• You will get a company profile with many different sections. Use the menu on the left side of the page to access People, Financials, and more!

Business databases are a great place to start your company research, but they may not have every bit of information you need.

• Company websites are another place to look for company information. Websites will vary, but you may be able to find company overviews/history, marketing campaigns, news releases, and more.
• Company social media may have information on marketing campaigns and company news.
• Newspapers and news media are a good place to start a search for legal and ethical issues with a company, such as lawsuits. For bigger companies, these kinds of issues tend to be reported in the news.

In general, APA citations for a company profile found in an electronic database will appear in the Reference List with this format:

Information Provider. (Date of report). Report title. Database name. Permanent URL.

The address bar link expires after you close your browser, and will give you an error message if you try to use it to go back. For most databases, there is a button or link to get a permanent URL that does not expire. Use the permanent URL link in your citations!

 Gale Business Insights:

Gale Cengage. (2023). Ulta Beauty, Inc. Company profile. Gale Business Insights database. https://link.gale.com/apps/profile/Company/WGFIGB204559103/GBIB?u=mtlib_1_1041&sid=bookmark-GBIB.

Use the Get Link button to get a permanent URL. You can find the button on the upper right side of the page. The address bar link will expire after you close your browser and will give you an error message if you try to use it to go back.

Business Source Complete:

MarketLine. (2023, April 23). Company profile Ulta Beauty Inc. Business Source Complete. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=163792771&site=ehost-live

From the search page, click on the resource title. On the right side of the screen click on Permalink to get a permanent link. The address bar link will expire after you close your browser and will give you an error message if you try to use it to go back.

ProQuest Central

D&B Hoovers. (2023, April 1). Revlon, Inc Profile. ProQuest Central. http://hctproxy.lib.umt.edu:7048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/reports/revlon-inc/docview/1860780888/se-2?accountid=86987

Click on the Copy URL button to get a permanent URL. You can find the button on the upper right side of the page. This will copy the link to your clipboard. You can paste the link into your document. The address bar link will expire after you close your browser and will give you an error message if you try to use it to go back.

S&P Global Net Advantage

You need to cite things from S&P a little differently. This database has content only found in this database, and it does not have a way to get a permanent URL. The database updates information consistently, too, which requires a date retrieved in the citation even though this is not required in most APA citations. This is the format to use:

Information Provider. (Date of report). Report title. Retrieved date from Database name.

This is an example from the database:

S&P Global. (2023). Ulta Beauty, Inc.: Public company profile. Retrieved November 15, 2023, from S&P Global Net Advantage database.