Researching the Case Situation

Researching the case situation

It would be unwise to restrict yourself to the information written in the case unless your instructor says you should. Outside research is encouraged in a case analysis. Outside research should be taken about the environmental setting.



Check the decision date of each case and information gathered should not surpass the date,then after gathering the sufficient information needed, you should screen the business periodicals for that time period. An understanding of the economy during that period will help you avoid making a serious error in your analysis.

You can use computerized company and industry Information services such as compustat, bloomberg, factset, compact disclosure, hoover's online corporate directory (www.hoovers.com), the Security Exchange commission Edgar database (www.sec.gov) or online at the library. These resources provides access to corporate annual reports and 10k forms.

A Form 10-K is an annual report required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), that gives a comprehensive summary of a company's financial performance. A company's annual report and SEC 10-K form from the year of the case can be very helpful. The company's financial statement helps to give an insight to the analyst because it does not only contain the statement of comprehensive income and statement of financial position, but it also contains cash flow statements and notes to the financial statements indicating why certain actions were taken. Sec 10-Q forms Include detailed information not usually available in an annual report. SEC 10-Q forms include quarterly financial reports. SEC 14-A forms include detailed information on members of a company's board of directors and proxy statement for annual meetings.