Research Guides: STRA 5370: Strategic Managment: Research Resources

Company Resources

Company websites
Navigate to a company website then locate internal information under About or Corporate Information. This is a fine place to start, but should not be your only resource. Be aware that all information is from the company’s point of view.
Analyst Reports
Select analyst reports that discuss more than simply buying or selling stock. Reports that concentrate on technicals are not as useful for strategic insights.
Read both an optimistic and a pessimistic view before coming to your own conclusions

Business Insights: Global
Click 'Investment Reports' link on the company's results page. Trefis reports frequently have useful strategic insights.
Morningstar Direct
Click more... below for login information. After selecting a company, click Analysis. Risk and Economic Moat are both useful sections.

Restricted to only current SMU students, faculty & staff. Available in the Business Library only. Allows for 38 simultaneous users. ***NOTE: To access Morningstar Direct, sign in with the username and password found in the Box folder.***
NetAdvantage
From a company results page, select Research/Equity Research.
Select Financials/Key Stats, which you can download to Excel.
Select Quick Comps, then use the Template dropdown to choose Operating Statistics, which are more helpful as a strategic comparison.

If NetAdvantage asks for a log in, please clear your history, cache and cookies, or use a different browser to access the database.
Factiva
Many company documents can be found on the website, but they are also searchable in this database.
Company = company name
Subject/Content Types = Interviews (with executives), Press Releases, and/or Transcripts (then put "conference call" in top search box

View the Finding News and Company Searching tutorials for more insights.

Industry Resources

Industry Reports
Use industry reports to find trends, opportunities, performance drivers, supply chain, and market share.

Mergent Intellect
Search by company and click on the Industry Details tab to access First Research reports.

To access First Research industry reports, click on First Research below the main search box and then, the orange Submit button on the left side of the page.
View the Company Searching tutorial for more insights.
IBISWorld
Search by NAICS code or keyword for U.S.-based industry information.

View the Industry Research tutorial for more insights.
Business Insights: Global
Search by company and select industry or search by NAICS code. Reports include both American and Global perspectives.

Article Resources

1. Select topics from the industry reports above.

2. Find articles to support/refute.

3. Create your analysis.

Library Search
Useful for finding articles in newspapers and across a wide variety of sources.
Dallas Business Journal Portal
Click more... below for login information. Use this portal to find business news by city.

***NOTE: To access DBJ Portal, sign in with the the username and password found in the Box folder.***
View the Finding News tutorial for more insights.
Factiva
Factiva contains many international sources.

View the Finding News and Company Searching tutorials for more insights.

Sample APA Citations

This example is based on APA 6th edition. Check with your professor regarding the appropriate citation style for your course.

The following is an example of references on a reference page for the type of sources you will be using for this assignment. Examples of in-text references can be found in Citing Business Sources.

References

American Airlines Group, Inc. (2020). American Airlines Group, Inc. [Corporate structure]. Retrieved from http://www.aa.com

Clarence-Smith, L. and Knowles, T. (2020, June 6). Elon Musk ‘considers Bristol for new Tesla factory’. Times Newspapers Limited. Retrieved from Factiva database

FTSE Russell. (2020). Wireless telecommunications services [Industry profile]. First Research. Retrieved from Mergent Intellect database

Gale Group. (2020). Reinsurance Carriers. Encyclopedia of American Industries. Retrieved from Business Insights: Global database

Gambardella, A. (2020, April). Private equity, hedge funds, and investment vehicles in the U.S. [Industry outlook]. IBISWorld Industry Report 52599. Retrieved from IBISWorld database

Hoopfer E. (2020, April 15). Come and take it? Not so fast. Dallas Business Journal. Retrieved from www.bizjournals.com

Morningstar Direct. (2019). Apple Inc. [Company profile]. Retrieved from Morningstar Direct database

Standard & Poor. (2020). Tesla, Inc. [Quick comps Operating statistics]. Retrieved from NetAdvantage database

Sysco Corporation. (2020, May 5). Sysco Corp CEO Kevin Hourican on Q3 2020 results -- earnings call transcript >SYY. Retrieved from Factiva database

The NBA’s top earners. (2021, February/March). Forbes, Inc. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database

Thomson Reuters. (2020). Amazon.com, Inc. [Investment report]. Retrieved from Business Insights: Global database

Why Do I Need This Guide?

You are doing a strategic analysis of a company within an industry. This requires you to use high-quality research resources to investigate the company and industry in order to arrive at your conclusions. You will need to integrate financial, accounting, marketing and management sources. Start with the resources on this page.

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