Business Research for “Non-Business” Librarians OLA Superconference February 4, 2005 Helen Katz Manager Research & Information Services Ontario Ministry of Finance

Outline Business and Management Topics People Industry Codes Companies Industries

Business and Management Topics Terminology Sources

Terminology Dictionaries Google – define function (still need to evaluate sources) Example: Define: initial public offering

Sources of Management Information ABI/Inform Proquest – Dialog, Factiva, Lexis, Firstsearch Business and Management Practices - Dialog Business Periodicals Index (Wilson Business Abstracts) – Firstsearch, Dialog Canadian Business and Current Affairs (CBCA) – Dialog, FPInfomart

Proquest - ABI/Inform Classification Codes 9110Company specific 9120Product specific 9150Guidelines 9160Biographical 9510Multinational companies 9520Small business 9540Nonprofit institutions

People Biographical sources Regulatory filings News & magazine articles

People Company officers Directors

People Sources Company web sites Canadian Who’s Who / Who’s Who in Canada FP Directory of Directors - FPInfomart Standard & Poor’s Register of Corporations, Directors, and Executives – Dialog, Lexis Annual Information Form, Proxy statement News articles from business periodicals, national or local newspapers – FPInfomart, Factiva, Dialog, Lexis

Industry Codes NAICS – North American Industrial Classification System andard/naics/2002/naics02-index.htm SIC – Standard Industrial Classification

Other Industry Codes Product Codes Trade Codes International Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) is used for classification of foreign trade

Companies Public or Private Large Companies Financial Information Regulatory Filings

Basic Company Information Company address Officers and directors Background/history Financial Investment/stock Corporate families Bankers/Accountants/Lawyers

Basic Company Sources D & B Canadian Key Business Directory - Dialog D & B Principal International Businesses - Dialog Standard & Poor’s Register of Corporations, Directors, and Executives – Dialog, Lexis ReferenceUSA Canadian Business Data Scott’s directories Specialized directories – by geography or industry

Companies Private company does not sell securities (shares) to the public Federal or provincial registration Federal Corporations Data Online corpdir/ dataOnline/search.cgi?lang=ehttp://strategis.ic.gc.ca/cgi-bin/sc_mrksv/ corpdir/ Public company sells securities to the public Has greater disclosure responsibilities

Companies in Canada 2,228,572 Canadian companies (June 2003 Business Register) 24,052 companies with 100 or over employees About 1,400 companies listed on TSX Over 2,000 companies listed on TSX Venture Exchange

Large Companies Financial Post 500 Canadian Business Investor 500 ROB Top 1000 (Globe & Mail)

Fiscal Year Full year of operation Date to end the year is set for financial purposes Often December 31 for retail – January 31 (or 52 weeks ending early January)

Financial Statements Six components: Auditor’s Report Earnings Statement Balance Sheet Retained Earnings Statement of Changes in Financial Position Notes to Financial Statements

Auditor’s Report Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) U.S., Canadian, International Opinion of auditor

Earnings Statement Income Statement, Statement of Revenue & Expense, Profit Statement, Results of Operations Operating Income – earned from operations of company Other Income – investment income Money earned & spent over the course of the fiscal year

Earnings Statement Revenue from Sale of Goods Expenses incurred from Sale of Goods Operating Income Non-operating Income Income before Taxes Income Taxes Net Income

Balance Sheet Three parts: Assets Liabilities Shareholders’ Equity Snapshot at the end of the fiscal year

Assets What is owned by a company Cash & investments Inventories Property (land & buildings) Equipment What is owing to the company Accounts receivable

Liabilities What a company owes Payments Loans Bonds Definition of Current Assets and Current Liabilities

Shareholders’ Equity Shareholders’ ownership or investment in company Capital stock Earnings retained (Cumulative retained profit) Difference between value of capital stock and market capitalization

Retained Earnings Link between Earnings Statement & Balance Sheet Cumulative profit Also known as Consolidated Statement of Shareholders’ Investment

Retained Earnings Retained Earnings, Beginning of Period Net Earnings for the Period Dividends Declared Retained Earnings, End of Period

Statement of Changes in Financial Position Cash flow statement Shows how cash is generated & spent Certain items are on financial statement as a cost, but there is no money spent

Statement of Changes in Financial Position Operations Investment Financing Increase (Decrease) in Cash Cash, at Beginning of Period Cash, at End of Period

Notes to Financial Statements Integral part of financial statements Explanation and details of information found in financial statements Guides to Reading Financial Statements (note that these are all pre-Sarbanes-Oxley) %5Cmcarpenter/readings/financereport.pdf

Annual Report Management Discussion & Analysis Auditor’s Report Financial Statements Notes to Financial Statements 10 Year Summary (usually) Promotional/additional material in annual report

Quarterly Report Unaudited financial statements Comparison to previous quarter and to same quarter previous year Interim management discussion & analysis Proforma financial statements EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization)

Proxy Statement Announcement of annual general meeting Selection of board of directors, auditors Provides details of executive compensation Lists major shareholders (over 5% in U.S.; over 10% in Canada)

Insider Trading Rules and regulations for directors and officers of companies regarding the sale or purchase of company stock

Disclosure Prompt disclosure of material information Definition of material Sarbanes-Oxley Legislation (U.S.) Executive certification of disclosure Shortening of reporting deadlines Impact on Canadian rules Fair Disclosure (FD) regulation (U.S.) Impact on Canadian regulation

Common Filing Documents Annual Report Management Discussion & Analysis Annual Financial Statement Quarterly Report Management Information Circular (Proxy) Annual Information Form

Financial Ratios Mathematical function representing relationship of one number to another Used to evaluate company financial statements

Financial Ratios Types of ratios: Liquidity Profitability Efficiency Debt Value

Debt Ratios Measures how well a company can deal with its debt obligations Examples: Debt/Equity Ratio Interest Coverage Ratio

Debt/Equity Ratio Measures debt outstanding to the monies invested in & earned by the company Leverage ratio - the extent to which the company is financed by debt Interest Coverage Measures how much the company earns in relation to the interest it must pay

Value Ratios Measures the worth to investors of a company’s shares or the return on owning them Examples: Earnings per Share Price-Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio)

Earnings per Share profit per share Price-Earnings Ratio comparison of market price to EPS higher P/E ratio normally means company is viewed more favourably by investors

FINANCIAL SOURCES FP Historical Reports, Investor Reports, Analyzer (FPInfomart) Corporate Retriever (Canadian) – Micromedia ProQuest

Life Cycle of Business Information Press release Wire service Daily news Newsletter Weekly Monthly Ojala, Marydee. (1996). “The life cyle of business information.” Database, June/July, p

Industries Government Statistics Associations Investment Sources News and Magazine Articles

Industry Search Strategy 1. Government sources - be creative Statistics Canada, Strategis, Natural Resources 2. Industry overviews in trade journals 3.Trade associations 4.Specialized reports on the industry (either ongoing or special) 5.Articles in the press or in periodicals (databases) 6.Consultants, accounting firms 7.Competitors 8.Experts

Issues Specificity of data that is, is the data available at the detail you need Currency of source Currency of data

Industry Sources Mergent Industry Reports (include Canada) Standard and Poor’s Industry Reports Business & Industry database – Dialog Tablebase (database) – Dialog Investext – Dialog, Lexis Gale Group PROMT – Dialog Gale Group Trade & Industry - Dialog

Performance Benchmarking Performance Plus Uses Small Business Profiles from Statistics Canada Most current data is from pp.nsf/en/Home

General Sources Weaver, Maggie. (2001). The Canadian B2B Research Sourcebook: Your Essential Guide. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association. Encyclopedia of Business Information Resources. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. Annual. Moss, Rita W. (2004). Strauss’s Handbook of Business Information: A Guide for Librarians, Students and Researchers. 2 nd ed. Westport, CT.: Libraries Unlimited.

Helen Katz Manager Research and Information Services Ontario Ministry of Finance