International Company Research
Company Research /International Company Research
Many of the issues and techniques that apply to researching U.S. companies will also come into play when research is conducted on international companies. Information on public companies is always more widely available than information on private companies. The level of overall business activity in a geographic locale affects the amount of information available. There is more information to be found on European companies than on companies located in emerging markets. A particular difficulty may be that the company to be researched is located in the U.S. but ultimately owned by a foreign entity and the most easily obtainable information is on the parent company.
In this section we have provided sources of basic company information. If you are unable to find your company through these sources, you will need to fall back on using private company research techniques.
I. Resources available in LangsdaleLibrary
A. Directories
- Directory of American Firms Operating in Foreign Countries. 18th ed. Uniworld Business Publications, Inc. 2005 edition available in Reference HG4538.A1D5
Three-volume set lists name, principal product or service, number of employees and telephone numbers. Can be searched by company name or country. - Directory of Foreign Firms Operating in the United States. 9th ed. Uniworld Business Publications. 1998 edition available in Reference HG4057.A155.
- LexisNexis Corporate Affiliations. New Providence, NJ:Lexisnexis Group. Multi-volume annual includes foreign parents of American companies. 2007 edition available in Ready Reference HG4057.A219.
B. Other print sources
- Mergent international company archives manual. New York: Moody's Investors Services. 2001 edition availabe in Reference
HG4009 .M663.
Includes brief history, type of business, financial data, major officers, subsidiaries for approximately 6,700 companies. Also contains international business statistics. - Financial Times. London: MacRae, Curtice & Co., 1991-1998. Microfilm H11.F4.
Considered the "Wall Street Journal of Europe." Extensive coverage of business, economic, financial, and political issues worldwide, but especially Europe. Also carried full text from 1982 in LexisNexis Academic. - Wall Street Journal. New York: Dow Jones, 1920-Present. Microfilm HG 1.W2, with most recent 2 weeks on second floor.
Coverage of economic, financial and business information. Also available full text online.
II. Electronic Resources Available From Langsdale
These databases can be accessed through our electronic databases menu. Library registration is required for remote access to the indexes through the Researchport link.
Coverage:
1970 - present. Indexes more than 1,300 journals on business, management, with
75% full-text.
Business
and Company Resource Center [on-campus]
[help]
Coverage: 1979 - present. Profiles 400,000 companies. Provides company histories,
business articles, industry rankings and analyses for selected public companies.
Business
Source Premier [on-campus]
[help]
Coverage: Varies– present. Business Source Premier provides full text for nearly 8,350 scholarly business journals and other sources, including full text for more than 1,100 scholarly business publications. Coverage includes virtually all subject areas related to business. This database provides full text (PDF) for more than 350 of the top scholarly journals dating as far back as 1922. Funded by the Maryland Digital Library (MDL). Includes company profiles, many
of which contain SWOT analyses.
Lexis-Nexis
Academic [on-campus]
[help]
Coverage: 1970 - present. Features full text of many newspapers and periodicals.
Also offers business news, legal materials such as federal & state codes,
case law and legal journals.
Wall Street Journal [on-campus]
Coverage: 1984 - present. Includes full text of Eastern edition of Wall Street Journal newspaper.
III. Resources on the Internet
Try a web search engine or a combination catalog and search engine site such as Yahoo's Business Resources.
IV. Ask a Langsdale Librarian!
You can call 410-837-4274 when the Library is open, email langref@ubalt.edu or chat at http://langsdale.ubalt.edu/info_services/contact.htm
1/06 sw, updated 12/08 asd