Subject Guide
Choosing a Company
Tip: Choosing a public company, one that is traded on the stock market, will make finding this information much easier. The company profile in Nexis Uni will tell you whether or not it is public or private.
- Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowTo find the Company Dossier in Nexis Uni, click on Find in depth company information on Dossier in the Find a Company box below the search box. Enter your company's name or ticker symbol in the search box. Once you have searched for your company you will see something like Private - Parent or Public to right of your company's address on the results list. To see a report on the company, click on the company name. If it is a public company, make note of the ticker symbol.
To determine if a company is part of an ownership group, see the company hierarchy under Company Information. It will show a company's parent company if it is a subsidiary or its subsidiaries if it is a parent company.
Gathering Stockholder Reports, Retail Statistics, etc.
Stockholder Reports
See the company's website. If your company is a public company, look for a link that says something like "for investors," or "investment information." Also, if the company is a U.S. publicly traded company, look the company up using EDGAR. Enter your company's name or ticker symbol and select the company from the auto suggest list. The most recent 10-K reports can be found under Selected Fillings. These reports contain quite a bit of information.
Finding Retail Statistics, Business References, Trade Publications, etc.
Articles from journals, magazines, and trade publications such as Women's Wear Daily, can be found in Business Source Complete. Type your company name in and click on Trade Publications in the left column under Source Types. These sources often contain industry research and statistics.
Company Background
To find Company Profiles in Business Source Complete, put your pointer over the More button above the search box and select Company Profiles. Type your company name in the box, if your company is on the results list click on MarketLine Report link. These reports are for both public and private companies.
General Business Information
These sources will help you determine if your company is part of an ownership group and find your company's sales volume, number of employees, headquarters location, and names of executives.
- Data Axle Reference Solutions This link opens in a new windowData Axle Reference Solutions is an online directory of businesses in the U.S. Here is how you can look up a company.
1) Click on U.S. Business.
2) Enter your company name (Note: If you know where the headquarters is, you might select that state from the dropdown box).
3) Click on View Results.
4) Find your company on the results list. To see the company hierarchy, click on the up arrow to the right of the company name. (Note: You may have to click more than one arrow to get to the top).
5) Click on a location and then Business Demographics in the left column. - Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowThe Company Dossier will help you determine if a company is part of an ownership group. See the company hierarchy under Company Information in the left column. It will show you if the company is owned by another company or if your company owns other companies. To find the Company Dossier in Nexis Uni, click on Find in depth company information on Dossier in the Find a Company box below the search box. Enter your company's name or ticker symbol in the search box.
How the Product is Produced
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new windowArticles from Business Source Complete may be helpful. The may include trade publications, magazine articles and industry reports all of which may include information about your product or about the clothing manufacturing in general. Search using your company's name and keywords such as "production" or "manufacturing." The Company Profiles may also contain information about whether or not they manufacture their own goods.
Product Advertising and Distribution
The following databases will help you determine how a design company advertises and distributes it products.
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new windowMarketLine Company Profiles in Business Source Complete tell what products and brands are associated with a company. Articles will also be helpful in finding out how a company markets their products. Do a search using your company's name and keywords such as "advertising" or "marketing."To find Company Profiles, click More and select Company Profiles. Enter your company name to see if a report is available.
Articles from Business Source Complete may also help you identify the target market. Substitute your company name in the following search and paste it into the search box. Your company AND (advertising OR "Fashion marketing" OR "marketing strategy" OR "product distribution" OR "physical distribution") - Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowThe Company Dossier in Nexis Uni may have a list of your company's brands. To find the Company Dossier in Nexis Uni, click on Find in depth company information on Dossier in the Find a Company box below the search box. Enter your company's name or ticker symbol in the search box. Once you have found your dossier, look for Brands in the right column. Not all reports have this link.
- Standard and Poor's Net Advantage This link opens in a new windowThe Standard & Poor's Retail (Apparel) industry surveys report covers issues, trends, and outlooks for that industry. Hover over the Markets tab and click on Industry Surveys under Market Research. Then click on the "sort" icon in the Headline column and look for the Retail (Apparel) report.
Note: Check your company's website to see what stores carry their merchandise.
Corporate Responsibility
Articles from the databases linked below may be helpful in discovering how well your company reflects the values expressed in the Family and Consumer Sciences professional code of ethics.
Tips:
- Combine your company name with keywords and related terms found in the professions code of ethics or corporate responsibility, or social responsibility.
- Brainstorm for terms. For example, one of the core values relates to family. You might research your company's employment policies related to families such as insurance, family and medical leave act, et al.
Useful sources can include articles from trade publications, as well as newspaper and magazine articles. You can also use these databases to research the issues you identify, child labor, for example.
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new windowArticles from trade publications and magazines found in Business Source Complete may give some insight into the corporate responsibility of your company.
- Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowDo a search for your company using the main search box. Click on the Negative News facet in lower left hand column of the results list (you may have to scroll down to see it). This may provide interesting news related to ethical problems and issues.