Understanding a Company
To better understand a company, its performance in the market and the factors that affect it, you need to understand the whole picture of that universe. This includes the following types of information:
- Company’s financials
- Products and services
- SWOT reports (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats)
- Industry pressures and challenges
- Competitors
- Analyst or investment banking company reports
Generally Library databases fall into specific categories of what type of information they contain. Exceptions are Hoovers (formerly OneSource) and Business Insights: Essentials which both aggregate a wide range of information types from different sources. There is some content overlap and some unique content in these two databases. Both of these databases contain SWOT reports and more. Be aware that the company's website gives you its viewpoint and that SWOTs and analyst reports give you an external opinion about the company.
Additional SWOTs can be found as shown below.
Business Source Complete: You can find historical SWOTs here which can help understand what issues have long standing.
NOTE: By using the company stock symbol, you'll ensure that you are comparing the same company, and not any subsidiaries.
Database: Hoovers
Hoovers
Contains company profiles, analyst reports, SWOTs, and market research reports under the NAICS code link..
- Search by Company Name
- Once on the results page, click on the link for the PARENT company
- Use the left hand menu to select specific pieces of information on that company.
Example of SWOT analysis from Hoovers:
Additional Company Databases
- Gale Business: Insights This link opens in a new window
Company chronologies, company histories, journals, market research reports, market share reports, rankings, recent news, SWOT reports, videos, industry information. Comparison chart tool.
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Covers most business areas: management, marketing, economics, finance, accounting, & international business. Includes company reports, SWOT analyses, working papers, country reports, industry reports, case studies, etc.
- FactSet This link opens in a new window
FactSet is a financial platform that provides comprehensive data and analytics on global financial markets, economic measures, and companies. Any current Vanderbilt student, faculty or staff member can access FactSet for academic and non-commercial use. First-time users must register for a personal account using their Vanderbilt.edu email address, which can take up to 7 days to be processed. For faster access, FactSet is available on the computers in the Walker Management Library- no personal account needed.
- PitchBook This link opens in a new window
Private equity and venture capital database with in-depth information and statistics on a wide range of companies including startups. Establish benchmarks, find real time data on deals, identify and analyze comparables, and search investor details. Users are limited to 10 downloads per day and 25 downloads per month. Licensed for academic & curricular uses only. All accounts are reset in May of each year to ensure compliance.
- PrivCo This link opens in a new window
Business and financial data on major, non-publicly traded corporations: family owned, private equity owned, venture backed, and international unlisted companies. Company financials, M&A deals, valuations, venture capital funding, private equity deals, etc.
- Refinitiv Workspace This link opens in a new window
Source of financial and economic data, news, and information. Provides access to analyst reports and select SDC data from the M&A section. Users must register for a personal account, which will be reset each semester. It is available to authorized users from Vanderbilt University for non-commercial, academic research. View, download, and printing limit for analyst reports and pdf documents of 150 pages per day, reset daily at midnight local time. Download limits for SDC data of 199 rows of excel data per day. Download limits for other types of data may apply.
