Business Research for “Non-Business” Librarians SLA Conference – Nashville June 9, 2004 Helen Katz Manager Research & Information Services Ontario Ministry of Finance
Business Research for “Non-Business”
LibrariansSLA Conference – Nashville
June 9, 2004Helen KatzManager
Research & Information ServicesOntario Ministry of Finance
Outline
• Business and Management Topics• People• Industry Codes• Companies• Industries
Business and Management Topics
• Terminology• Sources
Terminology
• Dictionaries• Google – define function (still need
to evaluate sources) Example:
Define: initial public offering
Sources of Management Information
• ABI/Inform Proquest – Dialog, Factiva, Lexis, Firstsearch
• Business and Management Practices - Dialog
• Business Periodicals Index (Wilson Business Abstracts) – Firstsearch, Dialog
• Canadian Business and Current Affairs (CBCA) – Dialog, FPInfomart
Proquest - ABI/Inform Classification Codes
9110 Company specific9120 Product specific9150 Guidelines9160 Biographical9510 Multinational companies9520 Small business9540 Nonprofit institutions
People
• Biographical sources• Regulatory filings• News & magazine articles
People
• Company officers• Directors
People Sources
• Company web sites• Marquis Who’s Who - Dialog• Standard & Poor’s Register of
Corporations, Directors, and Executives – Dialog, Lexis
• 10-K, Proxy statement
• News articles from business periodicals, national or local newspapers – Dialog, Lexis, Factiva
Industry Codes
• NAICS – North American Industrial Classification System
http://www.census.gov/epcd/naics02/
http://www.statcan.ca/english/Subjects/Standard/naics/2002/naics02-index.htm
• SIC – Standard Industrial Classification
Other Industry Codes
• Product Codes• Trade Codes
• International Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) is used for classification of foreign trade
Companies
• Public or Private• Large Companies• Financial Information• Regulatory Filings
Basic Company Information
• Company address• Officers and directors• Background/history• Financial• Investment/stock• Corporate families• Bankers/Accountants/Lawyers
Basic Company Sources• D & B Million Dollar Directory: America’s
Leading Public & Private Companies - Dialog• D & B America’s Corporate Families - Dialog• D & B Principal International Businesses -
Dialog• D & B Canadian Key Business Directory - Dialog• Standard & Poor’s Register of Corporations,
Directors, and Executives – Dialog, Lexis• Private company reports – Lexis
• Specialized directories – by geography or industry
Companies
• Private company does not sell securities (shares) to the public• State registration
• Public company sells securities to the public• Has greater disclosure responsibilities
Companies in the U.S.
• 5,657,774 U.S. firms (2001 Statistics of U.S. Businesses from County Business Patterns)
• 2,750 companies listed on New York Stock Exchange (2004)
• 3,300 companies listed on NASDAQ• 10,000 public companies on Mergent
Large Companies
• Fortune 1000• Forbes 2000: The World’s Leading
Companies• Financial Post 500• Canadian Business Investor 500• ROB Top 1000 (Globe & Mail)
Fiscal Year
• Full year of operation• Date to end the year is set for
financial purposes• Often December 31
• for retail – January 31 (or 52 weeks ending early January)
Financial Statements
Six components: Auditor’s Report Earnings Statement Balance Sheet Retained Earnings Statement of Changes in Financial
Position Notes to Financial Statements
Auditor’s Report
• Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)• U.S., Canadian, International
• Opinion of auditor
Earnings Statement
• Income Statement, Statement of Revenue & Expense, Profit Statement, Results of Operations
• Operating Income – earned from operations of company
• Other Income – investment income
• Money earned & spent over the course of the fiscal year
Earnings Statement
Revenue from Sale of Goods Expenses incurred from Sale of
GoodsOperating Income
Non-operating IncomeIncome before TaxesIncome TaxesNet Income
Balance Sheet
Three parts:AssetsLiabilitiesShareholders’ Equity
Snapshot at the end of the fiscal year
Assets
What is owned by a company• Cash & investments• Inventories• Property (land & buildings)• EquipmentWhat is owing to the company• Accounts receivable
Liabilities
What a company owes• Payments• Loans• Bonds
Definition of Current Assets and Current
Liabilities
Shareholders’ Equity
• Shareholders’ ownership or investment in company
• Capital stock• Earnings retained (Cumulative
retained profit)
Difference between value of capital stock and market capitalization
Retained Earnings
• Link between Earnings Statement & Balance Sheet
• Cumulative profit
• Also known as Consolidated Statement of Shareholders’ Investment
Retained Earnings
Retained Earnings, Beginning of Period
Net Earnings for the Period
Dividends Declared
Retained Earnings, End of Period
Statement of Changes in Financial Position
• Cash flow statement• Shows how cash is generated &
spent• Certain items are on financial
statement as a cost, but there is no money spent
Statement of Changes in Financial Position
OperationsInvestmentFinancing
Increase (Decrease) in CashCash, at Beginning of PeriodCash, at End of Period
Notes to Financial Statements
• Integral part of financial statements• Explanation and details of information
found in financial statements
Guides to Reading Financial Statements(note that these are all pre-Sarbanes-Oxley)www.prars.com/ibm/ibmframe.htmlhttp://instruction.bus.wisc.edu/corecourses
/..%5Cmcarpenter/readings/financereport.pdf
Annual Report/ 10-K
• Management Discussion & Analysis• Auditor’s Report• Financial Statements• Notes to Financial Statements
• 10 Year Summary (usually)• Promotional/additional material in
annual report
Quarterly Report
• Unaudited financial statements• Comparison to previous quarter and to
same quarter previous year• Interim management discussion &
analysis
• Proforma financial statements• EBITDA (Earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation, and amortization)
Proxy Statement
• Announcement of annual general meeting
• Selection of board of directors, auditors• Provides details of executive
compensation• Lists major shareholders (over 5% in
U.S.; over 10% in Canada)
1000 Nicollet MallMinneapolis, Minnesota 55403
PROXY STATEMENTANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
May 19, 2004
The Board of Directors of Target Corporation solicits the enclosed proxy for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held at The Children's Theatre, 2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Wednesday, May 19, 2004, at 9:30 a.m., Central Daylight Time, and for any adjournment thereof.
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE MEETING AND VOTING What is the purpose of the Annual Meeting? At our Annual Meeting, shareholders will act upon the matters described in the accompanying notice of meeting, including the election of five directors, appointment of the Corporation's independent auditors and approval of the Target Corporation Long-Term Incentive Plan. In addition, our management will report on the performance of the Corporation during fiscal 2003 and respond to questions from shareholders.
Who may vote? We have one class of voting shares outstanding. Only shareholders of record of our Common Stock at the close of business on the record date, March 22, 2004, are entitled to receive notice of the Annual Meeting and to vote the shares of Common Stock that they held on the record date, at the meeting, or any postponement or adjournment of the meeting. As of the record date for the Annual Meeting, each share of Common Stock had one vote on each matter to be voted upon.
Insider Trading
• Rules and regulations for directors and officers of companies regarding the sale or purchase of company stock
Disclosure
• Prompt disclosure of material information• Definition of material
• Move to plain language• Fair Disclosure (FD) regulation• Sarbanes-Oxley Legislation
• Executive certification of disclosure• Shortening of reporting deadlines
Common U.S. Filing Documents
• 10-K – annual filing document• 10-Q - quarterly filing document• 8-K - change in material status• 14- - proxy statement• S- - registration statement• 13-D - securities ownership
statement
Financial Ratios
• Mathematical function representing relationship of one number to another
• Used to evaluate company financial statements
Financial Ratios
Types of ratios:• Liquidity• Profitability• Efficiency• Debt• Value
Debt Ratios
• Measures how well a company can deal with its debt obligations
• Examples:• Debt/Equity Ratio• Interest Coverage Ratio
Debt/Equity Ratio• Measures debt outstanding to the
monies invested in & earned by the company
• Leverage ratio - the extent to which the company is financed by debt
Interest Coverage• Measures how much the company earns
in relation to the interest it must pay
Value Ratios
• Measures the worth to investors of a company’s shares or the return on owning them
• Examples:• Earnings per Share• Price-Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio)
Earnings per Share• profit per share
Price-Earnings Ratio• comparison of market price to EPS• higher P/E ratio normally means
company is viewed more favourably by investors
FINANCIAL SOURCES
• www.sec.gov• Hoovers – www.hoovers.com – also on
Lexis• Mergent - Dialog• Standard and Poor’s - Dialog, Lexis• EdgarPlus – Dialog, Lexis• Cancorp financials (Canadian) – Dialog,
Lexis• www.sedar.com (Canadian)• Extel (British) – Dialog, Lexis
Life Cycle of Business Information
• Press release• Wire service• Daily news• Newsletter• Weekly• Monthly
Ojala, Marydee. (1996). “The life cyle of business information.” Database, June/July, p. 79-81.
Industries
• Government Statistics• Associations• Investment Sources• News and Magazine Articles
Industry Search Strategy
1. Government sources - be creative• Census Bureau, Commerce department, Statistics
Canada, Strategis, Energy department
2. Industry overviews in trade journals3.Trade associations4.Specialized reports on the industry (either
ongoing or special)5.Articles in the press or in periodicals
(databases)6.Consultants, accounting firms7.Competitors8.Experts
Issues
• Specificity of data• that is, is the data available at
the detail you need
• Currency of source• Currency of data
Industry Sources• Mergent Industry Reports• Standard and Poor’s Industry Reports• Hoover’s Industry Snapshots (data
comes from Plunkett Research) – Lexis• Business & Industry database – Dialog• Tablebase (database) – Dialog• Investext – Dialog, Lexis• Gale Group PROMT – Dialog• Gale Group Trade & Industry - Dialog
S&P Industry Survey Contents
Current EnvironmentIndustry Profile
Industry TrendsHow the Industry Operates
Key Industry Ratios & StatisticsHow to Analyze a …. IndustryGlossaryIndustry ReferencesComparative Company Analysis
General SourcesEncyclopedia of Business Information
Resources. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. Annual.
Moss, Rita W. (2004). Strauss’s Handbook of
Business Information: A Guide for Librarians, Students and Researchers. 2nd ed. Westport, CT.: Libraries Unlimited.
Weaver, Maggie. (2001). The Canadian B2B
Research Sourcebook: Your Essential Guide. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association.