Business Research Sources -ch 15: Ward´s Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies

15. Directories

Recommended Supplement: Ward´s Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies

According to its editors, Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies, (800) 877-GALE, has been the leading source for hard-to-find cover

information on private companies. It lists approximately 135,000 companies-90 percent of which are private. Ward's assists market researchers in identifying market participants and analyzing market share; plus, it helps sales managers identify potential clients, create targeted marketing, and determine parent/subsidiary relationships. For you young merger and acquisition specialists, Ward's is a valuable tool in analyzing market position and locating specific data on targeted companies.

Ward's Business Directory covers domestic private and public companies in seven volumes. Volumes 1, 2, and 3 provide current company information in a single A-Z arrangement and offer valuable data even on America's smallest companies. In addition to contact information, Volumes, 1, 2, and 3 include:

Financial figures.

Number of employees.

Up to four four-digit SICs with descriptions of products and services offered.

Up to five executive officers' names and titles.

Year founded.

Ticker symbol and stock exchange of publicly traded companies.

Immediate parent name for corporate tree linkage.

Volume 4 is a geographic listing of the companies in Volumes 1, 2, and 3 (arranged by Zip code within state) and includes:

Total number of companies, employees, and sales for each state.

Special features, which offer at-a-glance evaluations of industry activity through rankings and analyses.

Volume 5 offers rankings by sales within SIC codes at the four-digit level. Volume 6 ranks companies by sales within 1987 SIC codes at the four-digit level, arranged by state, and provides an alphabetic company name index.

Another Gale Research Inc. product is Ward's Private Company Profiles (ISSN 1071-9555). Privately held companies account for much of the business activity in the United States and thus play a vital role in our economy. Moreover, many innovative products, services, marketing tactics, and management styles originate in these enterprises. It seems somehow ironic, then, that comprehensive information about private companies is difficult to locate.

As any good business student knows, public companies are required by law to reveal detailed information (see Chapter 28) about their business, finances, and operations. From these reports, which are widely available, a plethora of reference sources are published. Private companies are not obliged to release such information, so researchers must pore through a variety of sources to gain a true portrait of a private company.

The basic company data in Ward's Private Company Profiles (WPCP) was culled from Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies, which lists more than 135,000 U.S. companies. The primary components of WPCP entries are articles and excerpts from a broad range of sources including Cleveland Plain Dealer, Business Week, and Graphic Arts Monthly.

Volume 1 of the annual series covers 150 privately held U.S. companies (see also: Hoover's Handbooks in Chapter 2). These companies represent the full spectrum of economic activity in the United States, from agriculture to construction to retailing to transportation.

A great deal of useful reference material is made available, including:

Address and phone number, including fax, telex, and toll-free numbers.

SIC numbers, parent company, number of employees, sales, revenues, etc.

Excerpted and full-text articles arranged under topical headings, such as corporate overview, historical information, management; corporate operations, product/service news, employee news; corporate citizenship, environmental practices, and community relations, etc.

Anytime someone says directory most people will think telephone. That being the case, it seems natural that a phone directory is included in this section. According to its editors, Business Phone Book USA, formerly The National Directory of Addresses and Telephone Numbers, lists the largest and most important businesses, organizations, agencies, and institutions in the United States, as well as a selected number of high-profile individuals. The present edition (19th) contains more than 122,000 individual listings, presented both alphabetically by name and a classified subject arrangement.

Listings in Business Phone Book USA provide the company or organization name, address, and telephone number, and most include fax numbers. Toll-free telephone numbers are given where available; and electronic mail and World Wide Web addresses and Internet resources are also provided.

The Business Phone Book USA's best assets include:

World Wide Web addresses for nearly 8,000 listings.

E-mail addresses for more than 4,000 listings.

Toll-free telephone numbers for some 33,000 listings.

Top lists (e.g., Forbes 200 Best Small Companies in America).

Time zone map; mileage chart; airport codes; federal information center.

While the principal emphasis of listings in Business Phone Book USA is on businesses, extensive listings also are provided for organizations that serve as important information resources for businesses, including:

Associations and organizations

Chambers of commerce

Colleges and universities

Consulates and embassies

Convention centers

Foundations

Government agencies

Libraries

Magazines, newsletters, newspapers

Military bases

Political organizations

Research centers

TV news and talk shows

UN agencies and missions

An example of a listing would be:

MacArthur John D & Catherine T Foundation
140 S Dearborn St. Chicago, Il. 60603 312 726-8000 fax 920-6235
Toll free: 800 662 8004 http://www.macfdn.org, gopher.macfdn.org:3016/1

Something to Do

One very useful telephone number is that which lists all organizations listed on the 1- (800) directory: 1 (800) 555-1212. One number you may not think to call too often is the White House. Also, you can e-mail the president himself. Can you find the telephone number and e-mail address of the White House? Can you find the telephone number of Business Phone Book USA?