IDS: 107 - Career Exploration - James

Public Company (also called a Publicly Traded Company)

• Traded on the exchanges (by general public shareholders)
• Required to provide ongoing detailed information in filings made with the Securities & Exchange Commission

Private Company

• Owned by a closed group
• Not required to release information and can be more challenging to research
• Can range from small businesses to large well-known companies (Hallmark Cards and Mars Candy, for example).

Affiliated with Another Company?

• Linked or related to larger firms
• Several are household names but are difficult to research until one establishes its relationship to the larger company (e.g., American Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) is owned by Disney)

Source: Baruch College, Newman Library, Subject Guide http://guides.newman.baruch.cuny.edu/content.php?pid=67719&sid=564563

Library Databases for Company Research

Find Company Information on the Free Web

A company's mission statement will usually be the company's own website. Try using a search engine such as Google or Bing and search for the company's name and the phrase mission statement -- for example:

starbucks "mission statement"

On a company's website, look for a link to “Corporate Information,” “Investor Relations,” “Company Information,” or similar terms.

Looking at a company's social media can also provide information about its mission and values.  You can view a company's posts without needing to create accounts. For example, you can try searching the company's name and Facebook.