RESEARCH STRATEGY

1) Compile a list of sources of information which could be used to quickly research North American companies. Outline the kind of information that can be found from each of these sources.

Company website

A good starting point for obtaining information about a company, and the English vocabulary used to describe its operations and industry, is the company's own website.

Type the following search query into Lycos (www.lycos.com):

knight ridder

Among the first few hits, the search returns entries for Knight Ridder's corporate website, www.kri.com or www.knightridder.com. Clicking on this link takes you to the start page of the website.

The start page of the Knight Ridder site contains general information regarding the company and its organisation, as well as investor information, recent news, etc.

The information included on a company website is usually rich in industry-related vocabulary. In the case of Knight Ridder, we find vocabulary such as advertising share, electronic media enterprises, web-based marketing solutions and local online consumer and advertiser business. In addition to helping you describe the company and its business accurately in your memo, this terminology can also help you formulate other online research strategies.

Furthermore, general information on a corporate website regarding its operations, financial position and officers is often easily found and can be printed out in the form of an annual report.

Finally, names of subsidiaries, affiliates and partner companies may also be listed on the site, making in-depth research into the industry even easier.

Industry and business intelligence aggregators

There are numerous online services which collect, organise and provide information about companies and the industries in which they work. These can be valuable sources of relevant industry vocabulary. Generally, these companies charge a fee for their services. However, free basic corporate information is often provided in the form of a summary.

Using the Google search engine (www.google.com), enter the following search query:

"company information"

NB: Ensure that you are using www.google.com (Google’s main international site), and not the Google service specific to your own country (e.g. Google France).

The first ten or so entries are under Sponsored Links. Below this list you will find the web results. One of the first entries will be Company Information from Hoover's including business reports and ... . Hoover's is a popular subscription service which also provides brief summaries of companies without charge.

Click the Hoover's link. You will then be able to enter the name of the company, industry, name of an officer, etc, in the Hoover’s search field. Enter "Knight Ridder" in the search field and click the Go button. Click on the link to Knight Ridder, Inc in the Hoover’s Company Name Matches section. The corporate summary returned by Hoover’s provides valuable information about the company and the industry. It includes basic contact information, the New York Stock Exchange ticker name, basic sales data, information about the number of its employees, the names of its executives, and the name of its top competitors. Examining both Hoover’s profiles and the websites of Knight Ridder’s competitors will also be valuable in compiling industry-related vocabulary and business intelligence relating to research.

Media sources

Up-to-date information regarding a company and its associated industry may also be found in online media sources.

A number of services that charge a fee for access to their media archives are available on the Internet. However, a number of sources provide free, though less extensive, articles which allow text searching.

Go to Find Articles (www.findarticles.com) and enter the following search query:

"Knight Ridder"

The resulting hits from the query provide links to various articles, and indicate both the original source and date of the publication. The search field in Find Articles also allows you to limit your search to a number of categories, such as Business and Finance, News and Society, etc.

Another valuable source of media, and currently one of the most popular sites for free online industry research, is Yahoo! Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/). Choosing the News & Commentary tab on the menu bar allows you to enter the name of the company you are researching in a search field. In addition, the service allows you to sort the results according to the relevance and date of publication.

Stock exchanges

If the company you are researching is listed on a stock exchange, the stock exchange will provide basic data concerning that company. Knight Ridder is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Enter the following search query in Google:

"new york stock exchange"

Choose the link to the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Group, Inc. The first page of the New York Stock Exchange's website allows you, among other things, to search for the name of the company and to obtain information about the company by entering its stock exchange ticker symbol.

Knight Ridder's ticker symbol, KRI, can be obtained by clicking on the SYMBOL LOOKUP function. If you enter the symbol in the GET QUOTE field, the New York Stock Exchange site returns the data that it has regarding Knight Ridder. You can choose to view the company's profile, data, news and SEC Filings, which may provide valuable information about your research target and the documents it has submitted to the US Securities Exchange Commission.

2) Provide a one-page memo with detailed information on Knight Ridder, one of the companies your client is considering acquiring, including the following information:

• details of the services Knight Ridder supplies;
• key competitors;
• number of employees;
• name of chairman/CEO and CFO;
• sales figures and net income for last year;
• recent mentions in the media, including date and publication;
• current stock price;
• most recent SEC filings.

Make a note of which sources were useful for finding which pieces of information.

Revisit the sources that you explored above to find the information you need to write your memo. Make a note of which sources were useful for finding which pieces of information.