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Master of Business Administration

Finding company information

When researching a company, it is important to know whether it is:

  •     public
  •     private
  •     a subsidiary of a larger company

Public companies are the easiest to research because they are generally required to provide detailed information on a quarterly basis and must also issue annual reports.

Private companies are not required to release any information about themselves and consequently are more challenging to research.

Subsidiaries of public companies can be difficult to research because the parent company is not required to report on each of them individually.

Directories are useful sources for determining if a company is public, private, a subsidiary of a larger company, or an international company. They provide basic company information such as address, phone number, type of business, number of employees, names of key executives, and sales figures.

Finding company information via Library databases

Federation University Library provides access to a range of databases that contain company profiles and other types of information about markets, industries, and companies. These profiles can include market performance and forecasts, industries and company contact details, and detailed SWOT analyses.

Search these databases and sites for company-related data:

Business Searching Interface
How to find company information with Business Searching Interface:
IBISWorld
IBISWorld support & tutorials
Australian Securities Exchange