MGT 101 Fortune 500 Paper

MGT 101 Fortune 500 Paper

General Overview

SCC Library has a lot of good business resources that can help you find good information about your company.
A list of the different business databases can be found on the library’s page under the heading “Topic Databases.” Click on the “Business Databases” link.
Be sure to search by the full/correct name of the company; i.e. “Walt Disney” will get you better results than Disney and “Wal-Mart” will work better than “Walmart.”

Business Databases: Hoover's and Business and Company Resource Center

Hoover's
Hoover’s is an excellent resource for company information and gives information about the history, people (including CEOs), financial data, and reports about your company. It is an easy to use, one stop shopping place for this assignment.

To search, enter company name in box. Then click "SEARCH." Be sure "companies" is selected. Note that you can also search by people (good for finding the CEO profile) and search for news articles about the company and/or its leaders. In the example, we are doing a search for the company "Walt Disney."

This will take you to a list of companies with "Walt Disney" in their name. If you are not sure which one is right, take a look at the location and sales information as clues (if the location is outside of the United States, it isn't the correct company). Look to see if the New York Stock Exchange Symbol (NYSE) is listed. Also, notice that the location type should be listed as "headquarters."

Clicking on the company name will take you to the profile of that company. Up at the top there is the physical address and the address of the company's website. Notice on the left there is a column titled "Browse Company Record." This includes links to the company's history, people (with information about people like the CEO), Financial Data (usually going back 2-3 years), etc. Spend some time looking for what you need-a lot of it is here.

Citing information in Hoovers: For examples on how to cite an article from Hoovers in MLA format, go to the Library's MLA handout, http://library.sccsc.edu/handouts/mla_formats.htm, and look at the Hoovers Online section.

Business and Company Resource Center
Business and Company Resource Center is set up to search by company, industry, and can also be used to do an article search on different topics such as people, events, etc.

Enter the name of the company in the search box. Be sure that "Company Search" has been selected. Then click on "Search." In the sample, we are searching for "Exxon Mobil."

This will take you to a list of companies with "Exxon Mobil" in the title. To be sure you get the right one, look at the location and revenue. If the company has a New York Stock Exchange Symbol, it will be by the company's name in parenthesis.

By clicking on the company's name, you will get to a company profile. Notice above the company name, there are several tabs. Clicking on these tabs will get you to further information about the company such as Histories, Financials, News and Magazine Articles, etc. Also, notice on the left of the screen there are links to different articles about the company divided by topics such as financial data, people, etc. Click on these tabs and links to get to further information about the company.

Citing information in Business and Company Resource Center: The information needed to cite the articles is located at the beginning of the article. Business and Company Resource Center is a Gale database. For examples on how to cite an article from one of the Gale databases in MLA format, go to the Library's MLA handout, http://library.sccsc.edu/handouts/mla_formats.htm, and look at Gale:Gale Databases Journal Article or Gale:Gale Databases Magazine or Newspaper Article.

Using the Company's Website

The URL or web address for your company's website can be found in Hoover's or by doing an internet search.
Oftentimes, you can find good information on the website, such as the company history, annual reports or its mission statement. There is often a section of the website that is set up for stockholders where you may be able to find financial information such as the annual reports. Look for sections with names such as “investor relations,” “shareholder relations,” “publications” or “financials.” Also look for links entitled "community relations" or "about us." Sometimes there is a search box you can use to find information. Remember: each company will set up its website differently so spend some time looking for what you need.
Some companies provide a search box on their website you can use to find information.
Be aware that a company's mission statement isn't always called "Mission Statement." It may have other names such as "Vision Statement," or it may not have a title at all. A company may have the mission statement on their website or not list it at all.
Other ways you can find the mission statement are by sending an email to the company or by calling the corporate office. If you do this, be sure to be very business-like in your correspondence.
The library also has "The Mission Statement" book (see the Business Research Guide). Not every company's statement is listed in this book, but many are.
For examples on how to cite a website, go to the Library's MLA handout, http://library.sccsc.edu/handouts/mla_formats.htm, and look at "Entire Internet Site" under the section on Websites.