A company’s own website can be an important source of information and the easiest way to navigate to a website is through a Google search.
Through a company’s website, you can usually expect to find information about the company’s mission statement and their corporate values. If they are public companies or not-for-profits you can expect to find their annual reports - useful documents produced by the company itself highlighting their performance and focus over the preceding year, as well as corporate social responsibility or environmental policies.
Usually a company website will include a news section, which highlights information which the company feels is important for its audience. Look for sections of the website with titles like:
Remember, a company’s website is essentially a marketing tool which will highlight the positives, while glossing over or omitting any negatives. Look for evidence elsewhere - in journal or newspaper articles or independent company profiles - to gain an unbiased view of company performance.
Orbis is a database that provides information on both public and private companies from a range of different countries.
Use Orbis to find information about the following company types:
Public companies
Private companies
Not for profit organisations
Subsidiaries (limited information)
Government organisations
Australian companies
International companies
The database may provide you with:
IBISWorld provides links to easy to read reports on the top 2000 companies headquartered in Australia and New Zealand. Large public, private, and government organisations are covered.
Use IBISWorld to find information about the following company types:
Large public companies
Large private companies
Not for profit organisations
Subsidiaries (limited information)
Government organisations
Australian companies
International companies
IBISWorld company reports include:
Particularly useful within IBISWorld reports is a section focusing on Industry Averages for a number of financial and growth ratios which compare your chosen company’s performance against an industry benchmark.
In addition to providing access to journal articles, Business Source Ultimate also provides access to a large collection of Marketline reports. Reports for public, private, not for profit and government organisations are included in the Collection, which can be accessed by selecting More and then Company profiles from the menu at the top of the screen.
Access Marketline reports in Business Source Ultimate for the following company types:
Public companies
Private companies
Not for profit organisations
Subsidiaries (limited information)
Government organisations
Australian companies
International companies
Marketline reports from Business Source Ultimate include:
DatAnalysis premium (Morningstar)
DatAnalysis provides information on Australian and New Zealand public companies. That is companies that are registered to either the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) or the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX).
Use DatAnalysis to find more information on the following company types:
Public companies
Private companies
Not for profit organisations
Subsidiaries (limited information)
Government organisations
Australian companies
International companies
DatAnalysis provides access to:
The WARC (World Advertising Research Centre) database is mainly focused on marketing and advertising subjects. However, the database also provides access to 200 Euromonitor company profiles. The profiles included in WARC are for public, international companies operating within the consumer and service industries.
Use WARC to find information about the following company types:
Public companies
Private companies
Not for profit organisations
Subsidiaries (limited information)
Government organisations
Australian companies
International companies
The Euromonitor reports provide analysis on the strategy and business of the profiled companies, with comparisons to key competitors in the relevant industry. You can expect to find: