Begin your research by determining the company type, public or private, domestic or international. Also try to find a company's corporate relationships, i.e. parent company, subsidiary or division. You may use Wikipedia for this information.
IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS:
Public or publicly traded company: Trades on a stock market and sells stock to the public; Required by the federal government and most state governments to disclose company information, such as operational and financial data.
Private or privately held company: Owned by a set of individuals (sole proprietor, partners, etc.); Does not sell stock to the public, and normally exempt from disclosing company information.
Parent company: Operates and controls other separately chartered businesses.
Subsidiary: A separately chartered business that is owned or controlled by another company.
