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My UMUC
WebTycho
Using
the Web for Research:
Company Web Sites
Contents:
- Company
Web Sites
- Examples
of Company Web Sites
- Tools
to Find Company Web Sites
- Issues
to Consider
- Practice
- Reference List
Company Web pages can be a good source of information on products, services, staff, and the general organizational structure of the company. From a company Web pages you may find:
- products and services
see what companies say about their own services
- investor information (if it is a public company)
stock prices, stock performance, annual reports, financial data, operating data, webcasts, presentations
- company history
milestones, acquisitions and merger information, changes in leadership
- company mission
mission statement, vision statement, leadership goals
- fact sheets
statistical data, sales, revenue, assets, honors
- top management bios
find bios on senior executives, speeches, and presentations
- philanthropic activities
information on the social causes the company supports
- news/press releases
new products or services, changes in the organization, new partnerships with suppliers, distributors, other organizations
- branch locations
use to find out information at a regional or local level; search the newspapers of a particular region to get specific branch company information (e.g. Seattle, WA - Microsoft, Chicago, IL- Firestone Decatur plant)
- job openings
see what positions are available, what duties are assigned to positions,etc.
Much of this information is available just by scanning the front page of the Web site and following the appropriate links. But there are tools available on most company web sites you may also find helpful to use to find information.
Site maps are organizational maps of an entire Web site. Use the site map to see what content is available across the entire Web site, without having to guess or navigate through lots of links.
Many company sites also have an internal search engine that you can use to find documents that may be buried in the Web site. For example, visit a company Web site and run a search using the internal search engine with any of these words and see what you get: presentation, ppt, power point, or type in the name of an executive with that company. (Bates)
- General
Electric
http://www.ge.com
From the GE Web page you can get to this company Fact Sheet.
- ConAgra
Foods
http://www.conagrafoods.com
From the ConAgra Foods Web site, see how much you contribute to their $12 billion in sales per year by viewing a list of all the brands they produce.
- Dell
http://www.dell.com- From the Dell Web site you can browse their financials.
- Read through the some speeches by Michael Dell.
- Check out the "case studies" on companies who have done business with Dell.
Tools to Find Company Web Sites
- Search Engines
Most Web search engines can be used to find company Web sites. Some of the larger search tools are:
- Specialized Search Tools
You can also try subject specific directories such as:
- Business.com
http://www.business.com
- Wall
Street Research Net
http://www.wsrn.com
- CorporateInformation.com
http://www.corporateinformation.com
- Business.com
- And of course, since many companies use their name or initials as their URL, you can always try to guess the URL and go directly to the company page.
Regardless what
Web pages you use, you should always evaluate them critically before
using any of the information you find. Check back to the introduction
to this workshop for general information on evaluating Web pages.
Some things to be specifically cautious about on company Web pages are accuracy
in the description of products and services. Most companies will naturally
paint their products and services is the best light. Getting 3rd party reviews
of the company will help temper the information you find on the company site.
You also may want to check for currency of the information. Even though the
page night look good, with nice Web design, the information within can be old
or out of date. Check the last updated dates before relying on what you find.
In addition to these suggestions, you may want to visit this page on evaluating business/marketing web pages, prepared by Jan Alexander and Marsha Ann Tate at Widener University.
What can you learn about Pepsi from the Pepsi Web site? Start at Pepsi (http://www.pepsi.com) and try to find answers to the following questions:
- What are the
different divisions in Pepsi?
- What's the "revolutionary
new product formulation" in Pepsi One that distinguishes from
Diet Pepsi?
- How did Pepsi earnings per share fare in the 3rd quarter of 2001?
Bates, M. (2001.) Distilling CI insights from the Web. Presentation at SCIP 2201 annual conference. Retrieved October 16, 2001, from http://www.batesinfo.com/speeches.html