MBA Core

1
MBA Core

• Researching Companies

2
You will learn

• Why research companies?
• What kinds of information are available
• Where to start your research
• Private company v. public company research
• Key sources for news, rankings, company
  financials, career-related information

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Why research companies?

• Shows you are a serious, motivated job candidate
• Your valuable research skills will benefit your
  employer
• Research skills will be useful throughout your
  career

4
Types of information

• news sources, periodicals
• financial data, filings
• annual reports
• marketing materials
• career sites
• message boards

5
Topics

• Company history, direction
• Growth risk outlook
• Stage of company - eg, IPO?
• Customers
• Competitors
• Suppliers
• Partners
• Innovation/Entrepreneurship
• Reputation
• Recent News
• Speeches by executives

6
Vault.com

• useful site for interviewees
• career profiles
• company and industry profiles
• typical interview questions
• job ads
• message boards
• interviews with successful candidates, e.g.,
  Siebel
• similar site Wetfeet.com

7
David Lam Company Research Guides

• Available through the subject guides listing on
  the David Lam Library web site
• Separate guides for public company research and
  private company research
• Article indexes
• Sources of financial and numeric data
• Corporate filings
• Directories
• Rankings

8
Private Companies v. Public Companies

• There are far more private companies than public
  companies about 98 of all companies are
  private.
• Private companies are more challenging to
  investigate than public companies as they do not
  issue public financial statements or annual
  reports.
• To quote Forbes "Private means private." Be
  prepared to work to find available information.

9
News/Periodicals Sources

• Article indexes - good for competitive
  intelligence, market share data, profiles of
  executives, etc.
• Business Source Elite
• LexisNexis Academic - Industry information, news,
  press releases
• Canadian NewsDisc
• Canadian Periodical Index
• CBCA (Canadian Business and Current Affairs)
• News wires on the web
• Canada Newswire
• PR Newswire
• Yahoo! News - can set up alerts
• Business Wire
• Google News New!

10
Financials

• Provide lots of valuable information concerning
  financial depth, track record, share price,
  comparison with competitors, ownership, stage
  (startup, etc.), if ESOP is available
• Sources
• EDGAR
• SEDAR

11
Rankings and Listings

• Specialised rankings and lists are especially
  useful, e.g., by industry
• Often one of the few sources of information on
  private companies
• See Subject Guide for sources of rankings
• Drawbacks
• Published infrequently, out-of-date
• Usually give minimal information
• Usually cover only the Top ___ Cos

12
BC Business Top 100

• Includes Top Private Cos, Top Crown
  Corporations, Top Employers, etc.
• Last 2 years
• revenues
• of employees
• CEOs name

13
Business in Vancouver Book of Lists

• Business in Vancouver annual book
• ranks top BC companies by industry
• lists top 100 private cos in BC
• majority shareholder, primary business
• gross revenue, assets
• number of employees, year founded
• other specialized lists include other private
  cos
• Call Ref HD 5073 V3 B882

14
Lists - ROB Private 300

• top 300 Canadian private cos
• revenue
• profit, ROC
• assets
• major shareholder

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Message Boards

• individual investors
• lots of hype
• lots of rude language
• approach carefully
• only for public companies
• http//biz.yahoo.com/i/
• http//www.ragingbull.com
• http//www.vault.com

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Recap

• Types of information
• news and periodical articles
• financial (company filings, etc.)
• directories and ranking
• message boards

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Contact Information

• We are here to help, and we look forward to
  meeting you again soon!
• Jan Wallace, Head
• jan.wallace_at_ubc.ca
• 604-822-9392
• Kristina McDavid, Reference Librarian
• kristina.mcdavid_at_ubc.ca
• 604-822-9390