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Doctorate of Business Administration

This page links to a series of helpful guides and video tutorials relevant to company and industry research.

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Research@UWW

The first step in company research is to determine the legal status of the company -- private, public, subsidiary, branch, or parent. Watch the following video:

 

Private companies enjoy the right to not share any details about their company, specifically any financial data. They are harder to research. Watch the following video:

 

Public company information is readily available since they are required to share their information with the government and their shareholders. Watch the following video: 

Many business reference sources such as company directories or industry analyses use the federal government's numerical codes (SIC or NAICS) to describe types of businesses. Use the links below to identify your code, and thus help identify who else is in your industry:

The purpose of trade associations is to represent and promote the interests of its members. The organizations produce reports that examine the industry and its key players (often its own members) and also provide statistics.

IBISWorld highlights relevant national trade associations according to industry.  Watch the following video to learn more: 

Gale Business Insight homepage banner with a red arrow pointing to the Advanced search function below the search bar

Business Insights: Global (Gale)

Provides access to International, National, and local Encyclopedia of Associations. Click on the above link and sign in with your NetID and password. Start from the Advanced Search Screen

Use the right arrow to advance the tutorial

Screen shot of the search limiters at the top of the Gale Business Insights advanced search with a red arrow pointing to the by content type filter and a red box around the associations filter tag

Once in the Advanced Search, scroll down to the by content type section and select: Associations.

Screen shot of the search limiters at the bottom of the Gale Business Insights advanced search with a red arrow pointing to search button and a red oval around the search button

Leave all the search boxes empty, scroll down to the bottom of the Advanced Search screen and click: Search.

Screen shot of the filter your results box in Gale Business Insights with a red number one and a red arrrow pointing at the publication title button, a red number 2 and arrow pointing to the checkbox beside Encyclopedia of Associations national organizations of the U S a red number 3 and a red arrow pointing at the apply button

  1. On the right, under Filter Your Results, select Publication Title, and you will be provided with three Encyclopedia of Associations choices.
  2. Choose the encyclopedia of associations you need. If in the United States, you'll be using the second one, Encyclopedia of Associations: National Organizations of the U.S. 
  3. Select: Apply.

A screenshot of the filter your results box in Gale Business Insights with a red arrow pointing to the search within button and another red arrow pointing to the the word airline in the search bar

On the right again, under Filter Your Results, select: Search Within, then type in your industry in the search box.

For example, Airlines. Click: Submit. 

Screenshot of the Gale business insights search results page with a red arrow pointing to the word associations under which are the search results

In the results page, under the Associations section, you will see the first few listings. In order to see the entire list, click on Associations at the top of the section.