Purchasing and managing an established product or company as a means of growth and diversification.
APA Style Guide
Set of guidelines for effective scholarly communication that helps writers present their ideas in a clear, precise, and inclusive manner.
Asset
Tangible or intangible possession that has value in economic terms and can be listed on the positive side of a balance sheet.
Balance Sheet
Statement of the total assets, liabilities, and equities of a corporation in a fiscal period.
Business Description
A short statement about the company's mission, goals, and operations.
Business Research
The process of gathering relevant information regarding a company's business activities and using it to maximize profit.
Citation
A note inserted in the text of your research paper to briefly document the source of your information.
Company
Commercial enterprise. A company may be private, public, limited, joint-stock, chartered, or registered, whether incorporated or not. Companies are supervised and regulated by government authorities and their structure is well defined in law.
Company Profile
A written introduction to a company that tells the reader about its activities, mission, goals and strengths.
Company Structure Chart
Also called a company organization chart. A visualization of the ownership, governance, and management relationships among legal entities of a single enterprise (a collection of companies).
Competition
A situation in which companies producing similar products and services try to gain business from the same potential customers.
Corporation
A legal entity, operated by persons authorized to conduct a specific business, to raise money for this purpose, and to acquire or sell property.
D-H
Database
An organized electronic collection of information according to a schema that is built into a database management system.
Dossier
A file containing detailed records on a particular person or subject.
EDGAR
Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval. A service that the Securities and Exchange Commission uses to transmit company documents to investors.
Equity
Beneficial interest in a property, comprising its value less its liabilities.
Firm
Business organization or partnership as a discrete entity.
Fiscal Year
Accounting period, also known as a tax year or assessment year.
Form 10-k
Annual report mandated by law to the US SEC by companies listed on any of the national stock exchanges. Includes business description, income statement, balance sheets, and CEO pay, among other items.
Gross Income
Also called total revenue or total profits. Amount of money earned from business activities, before accounting for expenses.
Holding Company
Parent company that holds shares in other companies without necessarily managing them.
I-M
"in millions"
A statement at the top of financial statements, to indicate the true value. This means to add six 0s after the number. $37 becomes $37,000,000. And $1,200 becomes $1,200,000,000.
"in thousands"
A statement at the top of financial statements, to indicate the true value. This means to add three 0s after each number.
Income
Sum of money earned by a person or organization as a salary or as profit, rent, or interest.
Incorporation
The legal process used to form a corporate entity or company.
IPO
Initial Public Offering. The first sale of shares by a private company to the public.
Liability
Debt incurred in the course of a business transaction that must be legally discharged.
Merger
A combination of two or more businesses with equal standing, resulting in the creation of a new company.
Mission statement
A simple and direct expression of a company's goals and objectives, as well as the vision animating its products and activities.
N-O
NAICS
North American Industry Classification System. Business classification system developed through a partnership among the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This classification system facilitates the comparison of statistics of all business activities across North America. Companies are classified and separated into industries that are defined by the same or similar production processes.
NASDAQ
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations system, an electronic marketplace, founded in 1971.
Net
Amount remaining after specific deductions are made, as in net assets, net earnings, net dividends, net income, net investment, net profit, receipts, net value, and net worth.
Net Income
Revenue less all expenses, also called net profit.
New York Stock Exchange
NYSE. Principal US stock exchange, founded in 1792.
P-R
Press Release
An official statement from an organization that gives information to newspapers, magazines, television news programs, and radio stations.
Private Company
Firm owned by a few people. Ownership not traded on any stock exchange.
Public Company
Enterprise whose ownership is held by the general public, including individuals, officers, employees, and institutional investors. A publicly held company has stock listed on an exchange and must file financial statements and reports with the SEC.
Proprietary Information
Information a company wishes to keep confidential.
Public information
Any information, regardless of form or format, that an agency discloses, disseminates, or makes available to the public.
Reference List
A detailed list of the sources cited in a text.
Research
Investigation with a purpose.
Revenue
Gross income generated by selling goods or performing services.
S-Z
Scholarly Publication
A publication comprised of articles and devoted to research and scholarship in a specific discipline or field of knowledge. Articles undergo a rigorous review process before acceptance.
Security
A fungible, negotiable financial instrument that represents some type of financial value, usually in the form of a stock, bond, or option.
SEC
Securities and Exchange Commission. US Government agency created in 1934 and charged with the responsibility of overseeing compliance of public companies traded on the exchange. Its principal divisions are corporation finance, market regulation, enforcement, investment management, and compliance inspections and examinations. It enforces seven major securities legislations: Securities Act of 1933, Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Public Utility Holding Act of 1935, Trust Indenture Act of 1939, Investment Company Act of 1940, Investment Advisors Act of 1940, and Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
Share
Portion of the title to a company, as evidenced by a share certificate. Shares are divided into ordinary shares with voting rights and preferred shares without. Shares in a public company are bought and sold in a stock exchange. Also termed Stock.
SIC
Standard Industrial Classification. A system for classifying industries by a four-digit code as a method of standardizing industry classification for statistical purposes across agencies.
Stock Exchange
Market in which securities are bought and sold; its primary function is to raise capital.
Stock Symbol
A unique series of letters assigned to a security for trading purposes.
Trade Publication
A magazine or newspaper used by professionals in specific industries to inform and share information about that industry with one another.
Year Founded
The year a company was created.
Year Incorporated
The year a company filed the articles of incorporation, not necessarily the same as year founded.