As a student of Thomas Jefferson University, you have access to business intelligence in several library subscription databases. Some corporate financial information is also freely available to the public on the Web. This research guide highlights data resources for your analysis report for MBA 628 Accounting for Management Decisions.
Other Gutman Library Research Guides that you may find useful in your time as an MBA student:
Please contact the business librarian listed on this guide with any of your research questions during your time at Jefferson.
Best Bets:
Access these subscription databases on or off campus with your campus key and password. They are worth exploring, so take your time digging into what they have to offer.
Mergent Intellect - company financial details, including historical financials, income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, ratio, price chart, and historical pricing. Some charts can be downloaded as PNG and JPEG images if you need visuals for your report.
Gale Business: Insights - Read through the offerings on the home page of this database, because it is full of information on companies, industries, business news, MarketLine and Plunkett reports, Refinitiv statistical data, Market Share/ Rankings, and Market Research Reports. It has charts and graphs that can be downloaded as PNG and JPEG images.
NetAdvantage - Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage is a comprehensive, professional source of proprietary analysis on industry trends, corporate activities, and investments. Includes S&P Industry Surveys, Stock Reports (S&P Equity Research), and now with Markets tab for drill downs to key ratios, benchmarks, constituents, etc. by sub-industry. Company data covers a global universe of over 3 million private and public companies. *See especially "Research Reports" under both the Companies and Research tabs for propriety investment research.
Value Line - An electronic, Web-based version of the venerable investor's publication, Value Line Investment Survey. However, the electronic version is much enhanced. In addition to supplying the traditional Value Line company and industry reports, a powerful stock/company screening tool is available. This makes Value Line Research Center an excellent tool for identifying companies according to a nice range of financial variables.
Also try:
Some popular websites for stock quotes, company financial statements, and investment research include:
EDGAR - SEC filings for public companies, including the annual 10-K and quarterly 10-Q reports.
Mergent Intellect - Search for a company to see the "Financial Details: Ratio" tab for profitability ratios, valuation ratios, and liquidity indicators. Also, click the tile on Mergent's home screen for Dun & Bradstreet's Key Business Ratios on the Web, which includes both industry and company ratios.
NetAdvantage - Search by company name in the search box at the top for company reports, then click "Ratios" in the left menu. Search for industry ratios by selecting your industry under the "Markets" tab, then clicking the "Industry Profile: Key Stats & Ratios" link in the left menu.
IBISWorld - Once you pull up an industry's report, click "Financial Benchmarks" in the left menu. Click the financial ratios you want using the slider bar (individual ratios turn red when you select them, and the chart changes with your selection). You may download the data into a CSV file. You may also download the "Key Ratios" table as a CSV file.
If you are interested in looking at ratios in hard copy, the Gutman Library holds the most recent 4 years of RMA's Annual Statement Studies: Financial Ratio Benchmarks in the Reference section (call number R338.0973 R642a).
IBISWorld - Search United States Industries by NAICS code, by sector, or by keyword. Industry reports include these sections: At a Glance, Performance, Products and Markets, Geographic Breakdown, Competitive Forces, Companies, External Environment, Financial Benchmarks (with ratios), and Key Statistics. Download graphs and tables as PNG or CSV files.
Mergent Intellect - Select the "Industry Details" tab on your company's page to retrieve Dun & Bradstreet's First Research Industry Reports by NAICS codes. Backfiles for these D&B First Research Industry Reports are available in Mergent Archives.
ABI/INFORM Collection - Includes Plunkett Analytics Reports on many industries. Click "Publications" to search for Plunkett Analytics Reports, then scroll through the list or add an industry name to the search.
Provides access to the full-text of newspaper articles (no numeric data or tables) from WSJ back to 2010.
The social sciences typically use APA style. Look for citation help in any database you research, but (unlike our book and article databases) many of the proprietary business information databases do not provide citations. See the Thomas Jefferson University Libraries' Citation Style Guide for help.
