Company Information Guide: Company information
Finding company and industry information
Some company information is found directly via the company's website, however there are other sources of information about companies. Publicly listed company information is the easiest to find, but some of our specialised sources will contain information on privately listed companies.
Industry profiles can also be used to look at entire industries and will outline that industry's current performance, outlook, major companies and key statistics. Some sources include data that you can download and manipulate. The main databases for this kind of information are IBISWorld and MorningStar DatAnalysis.
Using library subscribed databases to find company information
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How to search DatAnalysisThis is a self paces presentation on how to search this database.
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Emerald Insight How to search user guide.Downloadable document from Emerald Insight.
Databases - scholarly sources
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IBISWorld This link opens in a new windowAustralia’s most comprehensive collection of Industry Market Research, Industry Risk Ratings and Company Research. Includes public and privately listed companies.
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MorningStar DatAnalysis Premium This link opens in a new windowDatAnalysis is Australia’s long-standing premium research tool for information on companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
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Scopus This link opens in a new windowScopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and delivers a comprehensive overview of the world's research output in the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
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Emerald Insight This link opens in a new windowJames Cook University's subscription to Emerald Insight includes access to journals and some book series, covering the fields of health & social care, education, and management.
Your librarians
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Bronwen ForsterLiaison Librarian
Ground floor Library Building, Cairns
(07) 4232 1035
Companies - what types?
It can be helpful to consider what type of company you are seeking information on:
Public listed / quoted
- Trade stocks or securities on an exchange (e.g. the ASX).
- Are required to disclose information about their operations and performance, this means a lot of information is available in the above databases and on company websites.
Private / proprietary / unlisted
- Not always required by law to disclose information for public inspection, therefore they can be harder to research.
- Resources to research private companies include databases listed at left (as indicated), news sources and company websites.
- In Australia, large proprietary companies are required to lodge financial information for public inspection, therefore information is available in the databases.
- Subsidiary
- A subsidiary company is one that is owned by another company.
- Financial information on a subsidiary is sometimes not available and it is necessary to read the reports of the parent company.
Non-profit organisations / Not-For-Profit / NGO
- Can fall into a number of categories including associations and not-for-profit unlisted public companies.
- For information on a non-profit organisation, in addition to the databases try the Australia Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission - government regulator, with basic financial and company information for registered charities.
- Government
- IBISWorld has company profiles for many Australian government bodies
Other company information resources
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Australian Effie Awards WinnersListed Australian marketing and advertising award winners and Case Studies
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Listed Companies - ASXListed Australian companies sorted by company name, includes detailed company information
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ABN LookupProvides access to the information provided by businesses when they register for an Australian Business Number (ABN)
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ABN Super Fund LookupContains publicly available information about superannuation funds that have an ABN
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Australian IndustryThe data presented include all activities of businesses classified to each industry, some of which may be activities other than those normally associated with that industry.
Queensland Historical Company Information
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Queensland Companies Index 1863-1959This links to the State Archives website and contains records of companies no longer in existence.
Consumer Behaviour
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Google TrendsGoogle Trends is a useful tool that publishes aggregated search data. It has a myriad of uses for researchers, marketers, planners helping them understand audience search behaviour segmented by country, time and Google index.
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