Library: MBAE 699 Capstone: Choosing a Firm in Distress

Overview

Please see your Final Project Playbook for your deliverables for this week.

Choose a public firm based in the United States and listed on major U.S. stock exchanges.

Some suggested firms are included in your Final Project Playbook.

Use our business databases to find company overviews and industry reports.

First, collect and read company profiles for your firm by searching Business Source Complete and Business Market Research Collection.
- Separate SWOT analysis may also be available.
Second, search for industry reports for the sector your firm falls into. Use these to identify gaps between your firm and the industry needs as well as opportunities for growth.

Search for your company by name
- Tip: If your company's name is made up of multiple words, surrounding the name in quotes (ex. "spirit airlines") is a good idea!
- Another tip: If you get a ton of results, try filtering by source type. It is suggested to limit to Company Profiles and SWOT Analysis.

Industries exist on a continuum from very broad (retail) to niche (customized gift baskets). Many sources are biased towards broader industries.
The same industry can be described in many different ways, depending on the source!
Industries are classified by NAICS and SIC codes. You can search many databases by these codes. They are often quite specific.

Begin by searching your industry by name
- Narrow your search by adding a geographic region
- Narrow your search to reports published in the last 5 years
- Narrow your search by selecting "industry profiles" as source type
Identify and make note of NAICS codes listed in the report.
Search other databases by these codes to find more info!

Check out the database "Statista." Search for your company to find statistics and facts, reports, and brand KPIs.

Business Source Complete
Business Market Research Collection
ABI/INFORM Collection
Business Databases (ProQuest)
Statista
OneSearch: Search most of our databases at once

Why search here? A good starting point for all subjects. Find peer reviewed scholarly articles, eBooks, and videos. This is the same as OneSearch on the library homepage.

EDGAR: Filings & Forms
Search for filings from 1994 on in the SEC database.
Find the company's website using Google
Don't forget to look at the public/parent company's website. Many companies link their annual reports and SEC filings under an “Investor Relations” section on their website.

NAICS: North American Industry Classification System (5-6 digits)
The newer system (1997) of industrial codes for US, Canadian and Mexican industries.
SIC: Standard Industrial Classification (2-4 digits)
Though this 1930s system was superseded by NAICS, some sources still use SIC codes.
Bloomberg Businessweek
Provides some free (and some not so free) content such as Industry Outlook reports.
Census Bureau: Current Industrial Reports
Government data on production and shipments of selected manufactured products as reported by the Manufacturing, Mining & Construction Statistics division of the Census.