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General Resources
- American Demographics
Magazine Contains
demographic information and consumer trends in the US
- Bloomberg Financial Network This
site has many useful features, such as columns from the researchers
employed by Bloomberg. Another interesting feature is the
news
archive, which presents stories about a specific theme
(for example technology or transportation) or about a particular
firm,
this
service is available for a minimal fee of $2.50 per story.
The site also contains information concerning specific firms
researched by Bloomberg reporters and columnists. Additionally,
one
of the
most interesting components of the Bloomberg.com site is
the set of links to Bloomberg Internet sites throughout the world.
For example, the site contains links to Asian, German,
and Italian
Bloomberg sites; these sites are extremely valuable for
finding information about a foreign market or company (assuming
the
researcher is fluent in that country’s language).
- BRINT - A Business
Researcher's Interests is a comprehensive site
that provides links and information on a broad variety
of business-related topics. BRINT is an excellent
starting place for any competitive intelligence search.
It contains countless links to other sources of intelligence
information,
as well as reports and links on broad business issues.
- Business.com Developed
by industry experts and library scientists, Business.com contains
more than 400,000
listings within 25,000 industry, product, and service
subcategories. You will be able to find general industry background
or specifics
about a particular product line. Business.com gives
marketers a powerful new tool to maximize qualified traffic
and lead generation
by reaching business users at the precise moment
they are seeking information. It also gives you a place to learn
the
names of
the people within the competitors companies as well
as the names of people to talk to in the associations.
- US Census Bureau provides
free access to the most recent census information, as well
as estimates conducted
since the last census.
- CEO Express is
a smartly organized site that allows users to link to on-line
journals,
news sites, regulatory agencies, and trade associations in
many industries.
- The
CIA World Factbook is an interesting and informative
summary of environmental factors which impact international
businesses. The CIA Factbook is an
excellent primer for individuals seeking to learn about unfamiliar
markets.
- Corporate Information is
a comprehensive site that boasts over 15,000 research reports
and over 20,000 company profiles. reports are also available
in languages other than English. Through the use of its search
engine, the site can also link the reader to 350,000 company
profiles worldwide.
- Delphion Intellectual
Property Network (IPN)
This site offers a searchable database
of patent documents including
US patents, European patents and applications, International
patents and Japanese patent abstracts (this is a broader patent
base that is available through Lexis-Nexis alone of the US
Patent Office). Along with simple keyword search, IPN offers
alternative
searches by patent number, Boolean text, and advanced text
that allows for multiple field searching. Several links to
relating
documents and additional services are also provided.
- Dismal The web
page offers data about effects of (political) events on the economies
as a whole. It shows market
reactions and developments. The data and analysis cover national,
international markets, and even regional markets. The information
and tools can be especially helpful for people that want to
establish a new business.
- Dun and Bradstreet Contains
links to many articles on research and economic outlook.
- EDGAR stands
for the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system.
The SEC has created
the EDGAR database to help increase the efficiency and fairness
of the securities market in order to protect investors, while
maintaining market integrity for the benefit of investors,
corporations, and the economy. In order to do this, they require,
by law, for
corporations to file certain forms. Since January 1994, these
filings have been entered into the publicly accessible EDGAR
database. It performs automated collection, validation, indexing,
acceptance, and forwarding of these corporate submissions (and
others) with the SEC. Having this type of information online
is supposed to help accelerate the receipt, acceptance, dissemination,
and analysis of time-sensitive corporate information filed
with the SEC agency.
- Hoovers is
an excellent source for collecting financial information on publicly
traded
companies. It features
company capsules, key competitors, and links to SEC 10-A and
10-Q reports, links to articles on companies through news alert.
You can also track insider trades for companies, including
who purchased/sold what when and for how much.
- The Illinois Institute
for Rural Affairs Located at Western Illinois
University, the Illinois Institute
for Rural Affairs' website is primarily geared towards facilitating
smart growth and economic prosperity in rural Illinois. However,
it does provide information seekers with an often overlooked
source of current information about Illinois communities and
economic development organizations in the state. The site contains
an interactive database of Illinois communities and counties,
allowing visitors to access specific retail trade information
(sales data and pull factors), demographics, and thematic county
maps.
- Intelligence Data is
an excellent collection of trade association research including
statistics,
economic
indicators, analysis, forecasts and surveys. It provides authoritative
industry information, including premium content from the world's
leading business publications, newsletters, and newspapers.
It also allows you to create customized collections of in-depth
research reports.
- Journalist Express is
a companion site to CEO Express. Among the more useful things
found at this
site are links to wire services, search engines, and international
news sites.
- Lexis-Nexis LEXIS®-NEXIS® Academic
Universe is one of the services available through Lexis-Nexis.
They have a searchable
index that is very well maintained and allows for keyword searching
in newspapers, journals, and even broadcast transcripts.
- Multex
Investor This site
provides access to financial records of publicly-traded
corporations. One way the information can be used is to compare
the income statement of one corporation against the income
statement of another corporation in the same industry.
- Organization
for Economic Development and Cooperation Contains
data on unemployment, interest rates, consumer prices, GDP,
etc.
- The
US Patent and Trademark Office has a searchable database.
Want to find out if a certain name is available for use? Check
it here under "combined marks
search." By entering a corporation name, you can see what
names your competitors are protecting.
Public Register’s Annual Report Service www.annualreportservice.com
contains annual report information for over two thousand companies.
The user can search for a company or scan an alphabetized list
of companies. The annual report may be viewed on-line or a free
hard copy can be requested. Links are provided to company websites
and Edgar On-line. A link to the New York Stock Exchange is available
for companies traded on the NYSE. The site lists each company’s
stock symbol and the exchange on which it is traded. Data is
also available by industry. The website is an excellent starting
point to acquiring preliminary data. The link to Edgar On-line
is very useful because it directly accesses the requested company
data.
- Red Herring is
another excellent source for financial information on publicly
traded companies
(particularly
in technology-related areas), with links to other useful sources,
like the US Patent and Trademark Office. Available information
includes links for company profiles, analyst recommendations,
stock quotes, summarized financial data, and SEC filings. They
also provide links for patents and trademarks, press releases,
competitors, insider trading, earnings, splits, ratios, stock
discussion messages, and contact information.
- SkyMinder The
Skyminder website provides its users with information for millions
of companies and industries world-wide
on financials, credit information, company profiles, news and
tables, industry information, industry trends and forecasts,
company list (list of companies with marketing data), executive
list (list of executives with marketing data on the company),
and market research. Skyminder is a "one-stop shopping" tool
for business information on markets, partners, and competitors
to help individuals and companies make more informed decisions
in the global marketplace for public and private companies.
- Thomas
Global Register maintains a database
that boasts 45,000 companies and 5,000 products that are exported.
You can search by either the name of the company or the name
of the product. The service requires you to be registered,
but
most users can register for free.
- US State Department Contains
information on most major nations worldwide, including information
on conditions
in other nations.
- Wall
Street Executive Library The
Wall Street ExecutiveLibrary.com was created for executive
management to conduct business research in the areas
of Current Events,
Finance, Stocks, Economic Trends, Demographics, and other
industry specific information. This information is well
organized and
easy to find.
- Wright Investor's Service offers
immediate links to real time corporate information for companies
from one of 52 countries can be accessed through this
site. Users
can
also search for world companies by way of the 22 different
industrial categories on hand. Spanish and French are
offer as alternative
languages to English for users to utilize. The site
allows
users to search for a publicly traded company by name
or ticker symbol.
Finally, alphabetical groupings are listed so users
may again have another method to search for a particular
world company.
(submitted by Brian Nagle).
Legal Information/Freedom of Information Act
- The
Society for Professional Journalists can provide guidance to you on making a request for documents
through the Freedom of Information Act. Sample letters and useful
tips
are provided.
- The
Illinois Judicial System Online (Office of the Reporter of
Decisions) maintains a
searchable index (since 5/1/96) of Illinois Appellate and Supreme
Court decisions. You can see if the Appellate or Supreme courts
have heard any cases on individual companies by search under
the company name.
- Brief
Reporter
has a very useful search engine which allows you to search
for federal or state court cases concerning specific topics
or company
names. Searching is free, but downloading the actual brief
incurs a charge.
- FindLaw's LawCrawler is
another search engine for finding court decisions.
- Also,
see Lexis-Nexis above.
Resources by Selected Industry AEROSPACE/AVIATION
- AeroworldNet companie.htm
is a listing of the names, phone numbers, and links to the home
pages (where
available) of aerospace companies. There is also a section
on news and an electronic bulletin board for discussions about
the
aerospace industry.
- International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the counterpart to the ICAO (International
Civil Aviation Organization).
The IATA web site provides information concerning the world
air transport industry. Some parts are available for free. But
to
receive a whole surveys or study you have to pay a small fee.
Content:
Aviation links, press releases and speeches, aviation information
and research, financial information, forecasts, statistics,
airports, market research, business traveler research, aviation
consultancy
services.
AUTOMOTIVE
- Ward's is a good source for finding
suppliers to the auto industry. You can search by the type of
component and
receive a listing of companies that manufacture the selected
components.
- AutoIntel provides
basic intelligence about several aspects of the automotive industry.
The news section
is updated daily and weekly on a wide range of automotive related
subjects. A note of caution, the news articles are very industry
specific and can be somewhat hard to follow unless you are very
familiar with the auto industry. The site contain some data on
companies in the auto industry, broken down by manufacturers,
suppliers and consultants. There is some basic financial data
here, but unfortunately,
it is two years old. Overall this section has only very basic
information. But, if you know nothing about the auto industry,
it’s a
good place to start for company listings and news items.
Regional/National Directories
AFRICA
- Africa Business
Direct is the all-business portal for Africa. Its mission is to expand
African
business globally. The website gathers links to other websites
that gives a lot of information about trade, finance, logistics,
and infrastructure in Africa, especially South Africa. If
you are planning to do a business in Africa, I recommend you
to browse
this website first. It contains seven (7) groups of information
center, which are news center, travel center, market intelligence
center, trade center, investment center, franchise center,
and training center. Some of websites that are linked by Africa
Business
Direct are the World Bank (to find economic indicators),
Dun & Bradstreet
(to find credit analysis), and the CIA World Fact Book (to
find country profile).
EUROPE
- Eurostat - Statistical
Office of the European Commision Eurostat publishes around 140
news releases a year. Eurostat offers
up-to-date summaries of the main results of statistical surveys,
studies and analyses. Eurostat provides the main key indicators
on EU15 and Euro-zone, the Member States and their partners.
Panorama of the European Union: This collection highlights the
features
and trends of a multisectoral theme or a sectoral sub-theme.
Catalogues and databases afford rapid access to concise information
on Eurostat's
products and services.
INDIA
- Indiaccess is a directory of
companies in India in the following industries: computer hardware,
computer
software, electrical & electronics goods, exporters, real
estate, silks, marble and granite, seafood, rice and grain,
leather, jewelry
and gems, carpets and rugs, knitwear and readymade apparel,
handlooms and handicrafts, engineering goods, travel and tourism,
and medicine.
Limited information is available on individual companies, but
you may find the listings of competitors useful.
UK/IRELAND
- Applegate First
Directory is a directory of 8,500 companies in the UK and Ireland in the
following industries: agribusiness, electronics, engineering,
oil and gas, plastics and rubber, and recruitment services.
MARKET
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- Try the Marketing
Research Roundtable. It's a bulletin board for posting/answering
questions related to marketing research. You'll need to verify
the information you get from
here, but it can help to get
you "unstuck" in the area of research.
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