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Business Guide

Databases for Company Research

For company research, you will want to use databases such as Business Source Ultimate, Company Profiles or Mergent Intellect. For product or brand research you can use Business Source Complete, Academic Search Premier or MasterFile Premier.  

In addition, you can also use Google Scholar, which is accessible from the library list of databases. 

Open the file below to view some screen captures on how to create a search using the Company Profiles and Business Source Complete Database to locate company information and also specific product information. We have used Apple and the iPad as examples. You can simply replace the terms with your topic to get relevant results.

Company Profiles in Business Source Ultimate

Search Company Profiles database through Business Source Ultimate. Enter the company name and then use the Source time and date limiter to locate recent reports. Click on Marketline Report PDF to view Company details.

Search for Apple Inc. in Business Source Ultimate with Source Type highlighted

 

Apple inc marketline profile from the recent year

Business Source Ultimate

Search Business Source Ultimate database – enter company title, product or brand. Options can be checked off to refine results to:
  • full text - to return articles you can read immediately

  • publication date - to limit your results to articles written in recent years

  • scholarly peer reviewed articles - to return articles published in academic journals rather than popular or trade publications.

From your search results, select HTML or PDF full text to view the complete article.

Buseinss Source Ultimate search sceen with ipad in top box

 

Mergent Intellect

Search Mergent Intellect database for Company Research.
  • Enter the name of the company and click on the magnifying glass.
  • Use the tabs in the results screen to view company information. 
Mergent Intellect search page

Mergent Intellect Results page

Help and Videos are available in Mergent Intellect after logging into the database

mergent help

Various ways to cite Mergent Intellect: (NOTE: Citations will differ based on the data/reports being cited.)

Mergent, Inc. (n.d.). McDonald's Corp [Company profile]. Retrieved July 27, 2020 from Mergent Intellect database.

Mergent, Inc. (2016). Stryker Corporation: Financial details - income statement. Retrieved October 25, 2016 from Mergent Intellect database.

McDonald's Corporation. (2019, February 22). Form 10-K annual report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018. Retrieved from Mergent Intellect database.

SWOT Analyses

SWOT analysis is conducted to assess a company's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Find a SWOT analysis for a company:

1. Go to the library database, Business Source Ultimate (link listed on this page)

2. Enter company's name in first search box and "Swot analysis" in the second search box.(Note: A SWOT analysis will be available for most companies. If there are no results for your company, consult additional library databases, such as Mergent Intellect , Company Profiles, and external sources, such as the company's official website to gather more information.)