Company Research

Company Profiles & SWOT

A Company Profile provides information about the background and history of the company, its executive officers, number of employees, products, industry, competitors, and more.

A SWOT provides a strategic overview of a company's current state. SWOT stands for:

Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats

A Company Profile is used to gain insight into the background, history, and current positioning of a company.

A SWOT is used to analyze the status of a company and determine directions and goals. A SWOT helps to understand the current state of the company and where to focus effort. Examples of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats might be:

Strengths: Positive brand recognition, strong supply chain, dedicated, long-standing employees
Weaknesses: Lack of representation in key markets, low supply of key resources, supply chain challenges
Opportunities: Under-served markets; emerging consumer demographic
Threats: New competition in marketplace, new environmental legislation

Use the following databases to find company profiles and SWOT analyses and the steps below to perform a search.

Business Source Premier
Business research database. Covers all areas of business, accounting, economics, finance, management, information systems and marketing. Includes company profiles, SWOT analyses, industry and market research reports.
Statista

Contains more than 1,000,000 statistics covering 170 different industries and includes market and consumer data, forecasts and outlooks.
Canadian Business and Current Affairs
Multidisciplinary Canadian research database. Covers the topics of agriculture, business, education, politics, health, history and social sciences. Includes trade publications, radio/television transcripts, news and dissertations.

Business Source Premier
Business research database. Covers all areas of business, accounting, economics, finance, management, information systems and marketing. Includes company profiles, SWOT analyses, industry and market research reports.

How to use Business Source Premier to find company information

To find a "company profile" in the Business Source Premier library database:

Enter the name of the company and the words company profile into the search box of Business Source Premier
Note: not all companies are covered in the database so "no results" may appear if the company is not included

Screenshot of a Company Profile Search in Business Source Premier

To find a "SWOT analysis" in the Business Source Premier library database:

Enter the name of the company and SWOT into the search box of Business Source Premier. SWOT analyses will appear in the results
Note: Not all companies are covered in the database so "no results" may appear if the company is not included

Screenshot of a SWOT search in Business Source Premier

Statista

Contains more than 1,000,000 statistics covering 170 different industries and includes market and consumer data, forecasts and outlooks.

How to use Statista to find company information

Simply type the name of the company into the search box in Statista
Or, from the top navigation menu, choose "Reports/Companies & Products reports" and then enter the name of the company

Screenshot of Companies & Product Reports in Statista

Here are some of the more common icons you will see in the result list in Statista:

The red folder icon indicates a collection of various charts.

Folder icon in Statista

The blue chart icon indicates a single chart.

Statista chart icon

The orange report icon indicates a report. Click the link and then be sure to click the blue "Download" button to download the report.

Report icon indicates a report

The green square icon indicates a market insight. Click the link and then be sure to click the blue "Download" button to download the full insight.

Statista green market insight icon

Canadian Business and Current Affairs
Multidisciplinary Canadian research database. Covers the topics of agriculture, business, education, politics, health, history and social sciences. Includes trade publications, radio/television transcripts, news and dissertations.

How to use Canadian Business and Current Affairs (CBCA) to find company information

The library database Canadian Business and Current Affairs contains newspapers, industry trade journals, and magazines.

Type the name of a company in the search box to locate news articles about it
You may find trends and analyses about the latest developments regarding a company that you can use for your SWOT analysis

Other Tips

Not finding any results? Double-check to make sure you've spelled the company name correctly and that you have the correct name!

A search in Google can sometimes help you to identify the correct name of a company. Scan the results lists for the company's website and check to ensure you have the correct company name and spelling
Not all companies are included in the library's databases. Try searching the websites listed in the "Company Research" box in the tab "Websites" located on the "Resources" page of this Guide

Company news can provide you with an idea of the trends and issues a company is facing. Knowing about trends and issues is helpful for both assignments and job interviews as it shows that you have an up-to-date view of the company and any challenges and/or opportunities.

Tip: Use the date limiter to refine your search to ensure you find the most current articles on your topic. All databases have a date limiter but it can be found in different places on the search screen. Usually, the date limiter is located on the right or left of the results list after you complete a search.

Example: In the Canadian Business & Current Affairs database, you can limit by date range after completing a search. The date limiter is located on the left side of the results list. Click the slider to adjust the date and then click "Update"

Screenshot demonstrating the date range limiter

The following resources are recommended for finding news about a company:

Business Source Premier
Business research database. Covers all areas of business, accounting, economics, finance, management, information systems and marketing. Includes company profiles, SWOT analyses, industry and market research reports.
Statista

Contains more than 1,000,000 statistics covering 170 different industries and includes market and consumer data, forecasts and outlooks.
Canadian Business and Current Affairs
Multidisciplinary Canadian research database. Covers the topics of agriculture, business, education, politics, health, history and social sciences. Includes trade publications, radio/television transcripts, news and dissertations.
Regional Business News
Multidisciplinary database containing full text regional business publications for the United States & Canada.
MasterFILE Elite
Multidisciplinary research database. Covers a wide range of subject areas including business, health, education, general science and multicultural issues. Includes articles, reports, reference books and an extensive image collection.

Enter the company name into the search box. You may want to combine the company name with another search term if you are examining a particular trend or facet.

For example: climate change, employee rights, employee engagement, profit, etc.

In this case, your search could be, for example: BP Oil and climate change

Refine your search by date range to ensure you find the most current news - the example shown below is in the Business Source Premier database where you can limit by date on the search page under "Filters"

Screenshot of a search in the Business Source Premier database

Databases
Websites

Business Source Premier
Business research database. Covers all areas of business, accounting, economics, finance, management, information systems and marketing. Includes company profiles, SWOT analyses, industry and market research reports.
Canadian Business and Current Affairs
Multidisciplinary Canadian research database. Covers the topics of agriculture, business, education, politics, health, history and social sciences. Includes trade publications, radio/television transcripts, news and dissertations.
Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLii)
Legal research database. Provides access to judgments from all Canadian courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada as well as consolidated statutes and regulations of every Canadian jurisdiction.
Quicklaw (Lexis Advance)
Legal research database. Contains a vast array of legal information in English and French covering every jurisdiction in Canada, and many foreign jurisdictions. Includes court and tribunal cases, legislation, and international cases.
Regional Business News
Multidisciplinary database containing full text regional business publications for the United States & Canada.
Statista

Contains more than 1,000,000 statistics covering 170 different industries and includes market and consumer data, forecasts and outlooks.

Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada produces statistics that help Canadians better understand their country—its population, resources, economy, society and culture.

Public companies sell shares on the stock market and are legally obligated to disclose their financial information to shareholders and legislative bodies. In an effort to fulfill this obligation, public companies create annual reports that provide important financial information.

If a company is not publicly traded information can be difficult to find.

Below are some helpful links for beginning company research.

Annual Reports
International source. Provides access to over 2,000 reports for companies that trade on the AIM, MEX, ASIX, LSE, NASDAQ, NYSE, OTC, TSX TSX-V stock exchanges. This is a free service.
Bloomberg
Use the 'search' function to find companies.
Company Database
Information on top companies and products in all major industries and regions with detailed company overviews and rankings, including revenue, number of employees, company value, stock price, and major competitors.
CrunchBase
Investment information on companies and investors in Canada and globally.
Directories of Canadian Companies
Find companies that can supply your organization with the goods, search for competitors or check a company's incorporation status.
Google Finance Canada
Good source of financial information and news about public companies (those which trade on the stock exchange).
Government of Canada - Charities
Look up a registered charity and explore reporting periods.
SEDAR
SEDAR's makes publicly-traded company's filed information available to enhance investor awareness of the business and affairs of issuers and to promote confidence in the transparent operation of capital markets in Canada.
Globe Investor
Investment news and analysis from the Globe & Mail.
Toronto Stock Exchange
Find company profiles that show financials, comparisons, news, etc.