When researching a company, it is important to know whether it is public, private or a subsidiary of a larger company.

Subsidiaries of public companies can be difficult to research because the parent company is not required to report on each of them individually. Therefore, when researching a subsidiary, you often have to read carefully through reports about the parent and look for references to the subsidiary.

Information about a company's ownership can be found in company profiles. Company profiles can summarize company history, executives, financials and other information. They are often offered by business information services as part of extensive information databases, business browser solutions or single company research reports.

Business information is produced from 3 main stakeholders: companies, industries, and news sources. Based on the type of information you are looking for, you might need to jump between these stakeholders

Business Information Triangle courtesy of Ilana Stonebraker, Purdue University. Retrieved on MGMT 451: http://guides.lib.purdue.edu/mgmt451